DAN C4-SFX

[rfarmer]

I think we all knew this one would fit in 13.37l but the reference cards can be hard to come by, hopefully some of the AIB cards will follow this trend and keep the cards more compact.

 

[Timeless]

I think all Aib models of the 7900 xtx are larger than the reference.

 

[Dampfbox]

Anyone waiting for years has already been rewarded with one case release from the extended C4 design effort.

That's a good point and I as well am glad that the A4-H2O exists

 

[D90]

Just make one while you wait :-)


This is a hacked up Meshlicious with a front mounted 4080 and a Noctua C14S with a top mounted slim 140mm for push/pull and 4 40mm fans set to exhaust. It satisfies my C4 layout until I can get one

 

[Clarin_D]

Just make one while you wait :-)


This is a hacked up Meshlicious with a front mounted 4080 and a Noctua C14S with a top mounted slim 140mm for push/pull and 4 40mm fans set to exhaust. It satisfies my C4 layout until I can get one

Vertical classic layout... What are you doing with the rear IO actually?

 

[D90]

Vertical classic layout... What are you doing with the rear IO actually?

What do you mean?

 

[Clarin_D]

What do you mean?

In your layout isn't the rear IO on the bottom?

 

[D90]

In your layout isn't the rear IO on the bottom?

Oh yea . There is a slim displayport 1.4 cable that is connected at the bottom of the videocard and runs out the bottom of the case and is long enough to come out the backside underneath the motherboard rear. I ordered it off of ebay. The motherboard io is still facing out the rear of the case just like as if it was still a stock case.

 

[dondan]

Here are the compatibility list of RX7900 XT and XTX cards:

	Dimension	C4-SFX 13.37L	C4-SFX 14.7L
AMD RX 7900 XT	L=276 W=113 2.5 Slot	fit	fit
AMD RX 7900 XTX	L=287 W=123 2.5 Slot	fit	fit
AsRock RX 7900 XTX Taichi 24GB OC	L=345 W=140 3 Slot	not fit	not fit
AsRock RX 7900 XTX Phantom Gaming 24GB OC	L=330 W=140 2.8-slot	not fit	fit
Asus RX 7900 XTX TUF	L=352.9 W=158.2 3.6 Slot	not fit	not fit
Gigabyte AORUS RX 7900 XTX ELITE	L=335 W=137 3.5 Slot	not fit	fit
Gigabyte RX 7900 XT GAMING OC	L=331 W=138 2.5 Slot	not fit	fit
PowerColor RX 7900 XTX Hellhound	~ L=318 W=??? 3 Slot	fit	fit
PowerColor RX 7900 XTX Red Devil	~ L=315 W=??? 4 Slot	not fit	fit
Sapphire RX 7900 XTX NITRO	~ L=318 W=??? 3.1 Slot	fit	fit
Sapphire RX 7900 XTX Pulse	L=313 W=135 2,7 Slot	fit	fit
XFX RX 7900 Merc 310	~L=340 W=139 3 Slot	not fit	maybe fit

Regards
Daniel

 

[rfarmer]

I know a lot of people were hoping for a 13.37l case but it really looks like 14.7l would be the smart move.

 

[loopaddiction]

14.7L would be my choice for the added versatility and future proofing this trend of more power hungry components.

Aesthetically, my only wish is for a silver anodized top grill for that super sleek mono-color look. It's one of the attributes that made the original silver A4 and Ncase M1 beautiful. Not a fan of how certain cases have all-black options for the stealth look, but the silver version doesn't do the same...I do understand 1 of the major reasons why: it's more cost-effective to manufacture 1 less SKU. Still, I would love if you can bring back the all-silver case aesthetic.

 

[SIIIII]

[TD]PowerColor RX 7900 XTX Red Devil[/TD]
[TD]~ L=315 W=??? 4 Slot[/TD]
[TD]not fit[/TD]
[TD]fit[/TD]

How exactly does the RED DEVIL fit into the 14.7L case if it takes up 4 slots? I thought the case had only room for 3,75 slot graphics cards.

 

[newtothegame]

I might be delusional here, but considering those cards are extremely niche products (not only due to their price but also because Nvidia sill outsells AMD by a sizeable margin), I'd imagine the choice for the bigger option isn't that obvious (this is a SFF case after all. People care about size, and they're probably also knowledgeable or present a certain degree of interest when it comes to hardware components and compatibility, right? Or maybe not, and I'm just being too disingenuous with this train of thought ).

 

[xthongyy]

There is no way of cooling a 4080 while retaining reasonable noise levels in an A4-H2O, also mounting everything is a complete pain when you actually go for a GPU that makes use of all the available space since there is just not enough room to route the AiO tubing (owner of Strix RTX3080 [370w] and A4-H2O here). I would not recommend the A4-H2O for anything higher end than RTX3070/RX6700 class GPUs from a thermal point of view, unless you don't cae about noise.


Keep in mind that CPU thermals are not the main issue you have to adress - CPU temps are gonna be fine in an A4-H2O with 240mm rad. The major advantage of the C4 will be the greatly improved GPU temps on air cooling (+ability to watercool your GPU)

Waiting for the C4 will be a challenge though, since Daniel is most likely going to decide in favor of the 14L version of the case, which will mean another delay - this is no official statement from Dan Cases, just my personal take on the subject matter. Many of us here have been waiting for years now.

There has been multiple examples of people being able to fit even a 4090 in the A4-H2O and it running at adequate numbers including my own. The beefy cooler in the 4090 allows it to run relatively cool compared to Nvidia 3000 series cards so I cannot see how reason why a 4080, which consumes LESS power than the 4090, cannot be used. I have used my 4090 both at stock AND now with an 80% PL (while waiting to acquire the ASUS Loki 1000W SFX-L). It took me less than a few minutes of wiggling to get this card into the case.

The whole point of the opening on the GPU side of the A4-H2O is to be able to use up all of the available space to mount large 2.5-3 slots cards. What are you talking about? lol....

 

[Clarin_D]

Oh yea . There is a slim displayport 1.4 cable that is connected at the bottom of the videocard and runs out the bottom of the case and is long enough to come out the backside underneath the motherboard rear. I ordered it off of ebay. The motherboard io is still facing out the rear of the case just like as if it was still a stock case.

Ohhh I see, thought you managed to rotate the motherboard 90 deg as well and weren't using a riser cable anymore.
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Also just to say my piece on the volume debate: my problem with 14.7 L is that it steps on the toes of M1 Evo. Of course it's up to Dan whether he wants to directly compete or now. But point being, as a consumer, I obviously don't want to see two functionally identical cases on the market.

 

[D90]

Ohhh I see, thought you managed to rotate the motherboard 90 deg as well and weren't using a riser cable anymore.
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Also just to say my piece on the volume debate: my problem with 14.7 L is that it steps on the toes of M1 Evo. Of course it's up to Dan whether he wants to directly compete or now. But point being, as a consumer, I obviously don't want to see two functionally identical cases on the market.

No, actually the motherboard is in the same orientation it would be in for any other Mesh. I flipped the rear case panel so the morherboard is pushed back further in the case and now at the bottom of the case. It has a Thermaltake 300mm riser to connect to the 4080.

 

[Dampfbox]

The beefy cooler in the 4090 allows it to run relatively cool compared to Nvidia 3000 series cards

My Strix RTX 3080 uses exactly all the available space in the H2O, so I don't see how any card would have a beefier air cooler than that - at least not by a noticeable margin. With this amount of used space (and therefore cooler beefyness), it is not able to get rid of its 370w in a silent manner.

It took me less than a few minutes of wiggling to get this card into the case.

What 4090 did you use? Which AiO do you use?
For me, getting a proper tube routing was nearly impossible with both EK and Phanteks AiOs while the 3080 was installed...

What are you talking about? lol....

I'm talking about how bad of an idea it is to actually use up all the GPU space in an A4-H2O, as building experience and noise levels will be subpar.

 

[dondan]

The C4-SFX manual is ready!

Please review it and let me know if you are happy with the color shema and plz let me know if there are any mistakes:

Link: https://dan-cases.com/downloads/c4sfx_manual1.0.pdf


Regards
Daniel

 

[Dampfbox]

The C4-SFX manual is ready!

Looks clean, I like the soft purple colour scheme

- I would prefer the page numbering to be "1 / 42" etc instead of just "1"
- on page 5, the text in the purple box is not centered correctly (no top-bottom-centering if you understand)
- page 6: "empfohlene Luftkühlung Konfiguration" should be "empfohlene Luftkühlungs-Konfiguration"
- you could also add small titles for each step of the mounting procedure, e.g. "installing Motherboard IO shield" or "2.5 inch SSD installation (optional step)" (this is actually done with the "AiO installation" parts of the manual)
- page 33 does not clearly state the up- and downsides of removing this part. Personally, I don't get it. Is this the FE GPU air duct? Under which circumstances should I remove this said part or not?
- page 37: in english it's "case feet", not "case feets" and german would be "Gehäusefüße"
- page 37: "PCIe Slotblende" -> "PCIe-Slotblenden"
- page 37: "Grafikkarten Slotabdeckung" -> "Grafikkarten-Slotabdeckung"
- page 38: "www.dan-cases-com" -> "www.dan-cases.com"

 

[Bonusround]

The C4-SFX manual is ready!

One of the least-trivial elements of a tight SFF build is the selection of properly fitting components. I know there is a compatibility list of components on the website, but why not reiterate this information in the manual? When depicting the fans, CPU cooler, AIO, and even the GPU assembling into the C4, use that page to illustrate the maximum allowed dimensions of each.