DAN C4-SFX

Navic

Master of Cramming
Jan 6, 2019
587
1,341
Ah, yes, yes. The more options the better! Especially as long as they are Ncase M1 clones that look slightly different and support 280mm AOI. Very nice.
By your logic, all sandwich style cases are the same, or all standard layout cases are the same, and we don't need them. We just need the originals.
The Ghost S1 is just a bigger and more premium Dan A4, is it not? Except it isn't. It has features that set it apart, like the tophats that allow for extra drives or different types of cooling. And it also looks better (though this is subjective). The T1 is just an S1, right? Wrong, it's a sandwich case that can support 2 slot or 3 slot GPUs, with support for certain 240 AIOs and most 120 AIOs by default. The NR200 is just an Ncase, right? Also wrong, it's the same layout as the Ncase, but bigger with more support for certain features and it's also cheaper. What about the DA2? That's just a bigger, all aluminum Ncase, right? Except it's not, it has a flexible rail system that allows the case to support many different configurations.

The Ncase design is simple and works very well, if people want to make their own visions of it that support different configurations, why shouldn't they? We shouldn't settle for one thing and not have other people invoke their vision. Not everyone's needs will be filled by one case, so it's up to the case designers to make different cases with these features to appeal to those people. More options, more better.

SFF cases have trends, just like smartphones, so some are going to be very similar, but different in their own ways that appeal to certain people. And just like smartphones, people will buy what either looks nice, is in their budget, or has the features they want.
 
Last edited:

Notional

Trash Compacter
Sep 5, 2019
45
54
Well, the writings been on the wall for a long time, and I remember pushing Dan for more than 2 slot GPU's (back in the original design). Since then both AMD and NVidia has scrapped blower style coolers on reference gaming cards. Well now NVidia has taken it a step further. The 3090 will be a mastodont 3 slot card with 10-12cm fans. I think high end SFX cases needs to cater to at least 3 slots now. The arbitrary 10L size is simply not adequate for next gen high end machines.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Madhawk1995

abelbanko

Case Bender
New User
Aug 22, 2020
2
2
welcome to dumb questions with me

is their a email list to get on for release? wanna make sure I get this before it sells out when released...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Detonator

Navic

Master of Cramming
Jan 6, 2019
587
1,341
welcome to dumb questions with me

is their a email list to get on for release? wanna make sure I get this before it sells out when released...
There is not. Just check back here every once in a while to get the latest updates
 

ironwilly

Chassis Packer
Mar 15, 2020
13
19
@dondan If the case is made wider to allow for an bottom mounted 280 AIO, would this mean that it is enough space to deshroud an 2,7 slot gpu like Asus Dual (58mm thick) in vertical position?

Turns out bottom mounted radiator not the best solution:


So maybe flip the case, so the gpu is on top and mount the radiator in parallel to the motherboard, but I am not sure if that fixes the issues mentioned in the video.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,710
1,649
I'm actually a bit sad with the situation we have here. At the moment, we have 65-165 W TDP CPUs, and 300mm 3 slots GPUs. But 5-6 years forward, will 100-200W TDP CPUs become the new mainstream, and 4-5 slots GPUs become the new normal? And will we still be SFF?

I can't help to think that even today, the SFF population is already diverged - one that prioritize performance, and one that prioritize dimension. And perhaps this will be even more obvious in the future.

But it seems there's an opportunity as well here: case makers can create different versions (volume) of their cases (as long as it's economically viable). Velkase & Modivio cases are actually already on that path since day one: each brand has one visual identity, shared & spread across different case volumes.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,601
2,717
Turns out bottom mounted radiator not the best solution:


So maybe flip the case, so the gpu is on top and mount the radiator in parallel to the motherboard, but I am not sure if that fixes the issues mentioned in the video.
That was a very informative video and really explains why so many A4 users complain about pump noise and poor performance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bonusround

nightshift

Airflow Optimizer
Jul 23, 2020
269
169
I'm actually a bit sad with the situation we have here. At the moment, we have 65-165 W TDP CPUs, and 300mm 3 slots GPUs. But 5-6 years forward, will 100-200W TDP CPUs become the new mainstream, and 4-5 slots GPUs become the new normal? And will we still be SFF?

I don't think that there will be any changes within 5 or 6 years in this regard and when there will be, it'll likely be towards the other direction. CPU's will be more power efficient and gpu's will shrink with them. And with that, while suddenly every manufacturer comes up with M1 clones, it is a dead end.
Unless you're doing some serious heavy rendering, a maximum of 8 cores is enough for the 95% of us. Just make that 4-6-8 cores even more energy efficent and easily coolable. THAT should be the innovation for tomorrow, instead of flexing with the core-count for that 5% just because they can.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Madhawk1995

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,710
1,649
I don't think that there will be any changes within 5 or 6 years in this regard and when there will be, it'll likely be towards the other direction. CPU's will be more power efficient and gpu's will shrink with them.

I thought so too, but looking at the past few node shrinks & what we have now, I think we're not on exactly on the "efficient/cool/shrink" path. Efficient and cool technically yes, but not enough to shrink.

Unless you're doing some serious heavy rendering, a maximum of 8 cores is enough for the 95% of us.

Well I am still using my 7 years old 4c/4t Haswell for 1080p gaming & development works. It works perfectly well, so yeah :)
 

nightshift

Airflow Optimizer
Jul 23, 2020
269
169
Upon putting it more thought, actually the season of these 12-15L cases are just starting, since they could seem the ideal next step for people with big atx towers. I just hope that as the slice that is sff gets more wide, it will push manufacturers to make their products with that in mind, so while powerful, but more focused on being compact and efficient:)
 

teajanky

Chassis Packer
Feb 1, 2019
14
9
I thought so too, but looking at the past few node shrinks & what we have now, I think we're not on exactly on the "efficient/cool/shrink" path. Efficient and cool technically yes, but not enough to shrink.



Well I am still using my 7 years old 4c/4t Haswell for 1080p gaming & development works. It works perfectly well, so yeah :)

That depends on the games and your work flow tho. I wouldn't want to play assassins creed odyssey like that. It's hard to miss what you don't know but it's also hard to go back to 1080p 60 from my 1440p 144hz setup, at least for me. Anyway great it works for you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3dl1r and ignsvn

3dl1r

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 6, 2019
89
23
That depends on the games and your work flow tho. I wouldn't want to play assassins creed odyssey like that. It's hard to miss what you don't know but it's also hard to go back to 1080p 60 from my 1440p 144hz setup, at least for me. Anyway great it works for you!
Even 4c/8t cpus are useless nowadays for moderate demanding work. A good old i7 is a decent cpu but still cores will never be enough.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,710
1,649
Even 4c/8t cpus are useless nowadays for moderate demanding work. A good old i7 is a decent cpu but still cores will never be enough.

Btw may I know what do you guys perceive as (moderate) demanding work?

I usually think those are renderings, machine learning, or any kind of repetitive, number crunching computation, like geospatial works - but I'm no longer that young developer playing with the cool, bleeding edge technologies, so appreciate if you guys can share the latest updates.
 

Notional

Trash Compacter
Sep 5, 2019
45
54
Turns out bottom mounted radiator not the best solution:

Which is exactly why the old design upside down with the GPU at the bottom and on the left side of the case was the perfect version for me (the right one in black of course)

 

Navic

Master of Cramming
Jan 6, 2019
587
1,341
Which is exactly why the old design upside down with the GPU at the bottom and on the left side of the case was the perfect version for me (the right one in black of course)

The current version of this case is still flipable, so you can have the radiator at the top like in the picture you provided.
 

Notional

Trash Compacter
Sep 5, 2019
45
54
The current version of this case is still flipable, so you can have the radiator at the top like in the picture you provided.
You can, but the GPU will now be on the right side of the case and hanging from the PCIe slot. I always have my PC on my right side and I like tempered glass sides, which would be pointless with the new design.

Anyways, the perfect case doesn't exist (other than what I linked). At this point I'd rather just want it to be available than wait another year.
 

ironwilly

Chassis Packer
Mar 15, 2020
13
19
Which is exactly why the old design upside down with the GPU at the bottom and on the left side of the case was the perfect version for me (the right one in black of course)

While I do know leaks from aio are truly rare, I am just paranoid to have water running above such expensive hardware, so the gpu on top and aio parallel to the cpu is best in my head. So as long as case is flipable I am a happy boy.

And on topic of release I'd guess Dan might be waiting to see the situation/compatibility with next gen gpu.