DAN C4-SFX

[mkoclega]

That's a 24% increase in volume from the original concept.

Things have changed since the original concept had emerged.
I really do not see any reason why I should not choose e.g. Ghost S1 over C4-SFX. Great quality, expansible (if I need to change my cooling later) and sub-10 L in base version. FormD T1 is another great case, with 3-slot GPU support and possibly with better thermals than C4-SFX.
In my opinion this volume range is almost saturated. We need something new that these cases do not offer. In my opinion it should be either 280 mm rad or TG panels support.

 

[McPhee]

Things have changed since the original concept had emerged.
I really do not see any reason why I should not choose e.g. Ghost S1 over C4-SFX. Great quality, expansible (if I need to change my cooling later) and sub-10 L in base version. FormD T1 is another great case, with 3-slot GPU support and possibly with better thermals than C4-SFX.
In my opinion this volume range is almost saturated. We need something new that these cases do not offer. In my opinion it should be either 280 mm rad or TG panels support.

It offers tower cooler support. AFAIK that isn't currently offered in any (successful) SFF cases smaller than the Ncase.

 

[mkoclega]

Guys, take a look at this case:

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It is a copy of Ghost S1, I know, I know. But it is 10.4 L in basic version and offers 280 rad support with a tophat (13.5 L).

 

[mkoclega]

It offers tower cooler support. AFAIK that isn't currently offered in any (successful) SFF cases smaller than the Ncase.

Yes, you are right about this point.

 

[warspitebattleship]

Ghost S1 is very different. Or you go watercooling with large tophat (+price+size) or should limit processor.
It is very hard to find good air cooler. Big Shuriken 3 creates turbulent noise, you can bend Noctua L12 to fit, but it is not compatible with most VRM heatsinks.
U9S compatibility is a great feature for Dan C4. I will move from Ghost for sure.

 

[dondan]

@mkoclega: I do not undertand what is you ambition in this thread? Why do you advertise the AKILLA case in this thread? If this is a good case for you great get it and move on. I think I made my point clear that I am not interested in 280mm rad support for a ITX case like this. If the C4-SFX does not match your require ments get something different.

If I would do a 13L case I would add mATX support with SLI capabilities. And yes a case like this could take a 280rad in ITX mode. But mATX and SLI is nearly dead so currently 13L case is not going to happen.

 

[kamiKAZIK]

I've been a long time lurker in this forum, but since I finally see that C4 is going to happen, I wanted to chime in. I currently own Dan A4 and it's been great so far.

As a contractor software engineer, I needed a beefy machine with a high core count processor and powerful GPU, and all that needed to fit in a backpack, so that I can hop on a plane and go visit my clients from time to time. So I grabbed the A4 few years ago, showed 1700x and Vega64 LE into that shoebox, and it exceeded my expectations.

The width of the box will increase by additional ~3cm and height by ~4 cm, I can live with such increase. I will still fit in a regular 20L backpack.

I'm particularly interested in air cooling capabilities, since air travel will be involved. If this can fit C14S without any issues, I'm buying this.

 

[thelaughingman]

@kamiKAZIK C14S in low profile mode (115mm) will fit the C4's current spec (126mm)

 

[kamiKAZIK]

This is why I'm looking forward for the launch of this case. It's the smallest one that will be able to fit a bulky tower air cooler and triple slot GPU. The closest alternative is NCase M1, but it's noticeably bigger and it's impossible to get it delivered to EU at the moment due to all this "human malware" situation, lockdowns, etc. By the looks of it, the quarantine will take a while, so chances to get the M1 in EU by the end of the year are very slim. Since Dan is based in EU (Germany), I expect that shipping process will be smooth and without any issues.

 

[riba2233]

This is why I'm looking forward for the launch of this case. It's the smallest one that will be able to fit a bulky tower air cooler and triple slot GPU. The closest alternative is NCase M1, but it's noticeably bigger and it's impossible to get it delivered to EU at the moment due to all this "human malware" situation, lockdowns, etc. By the looks of it, the quarantine will take a while, so chances to get the M1 in EU by the end of the year are very slim. Since Dan is based in EU (Germany), I expect that shipping process will be smooth and without any issues.

They are made in the same factory, by lian-li and probably have similar logistics problem. But don't worry, by the time C4 is available, shipping will be fine again.

 

[dondan]

@riba2233 Every single Ncase is shipped from Taiwan to endcustomer. For the C4 it is shipped by container to Europe.

@ALL: Today I will get the samples O.O

 

[warspitebattleship]

Wow, can we expect C4 at retailers like computeruniverse or caseking?

 

[kamiKAZIK]

Exactly what Dan said, they ship from Taiwan directly. Since EU is currently on strictest lockdown I will probably ever see in my life (hopefully), they are not able to ship their stuff here. I expect that intercontinental shipping times and services may be a bit messed up even few months after, nobody knows exactly how long this will last. Another thing is paying import taxes... Shipments are checked at customs and may be detained if your stuff has a value bigger than X, until you will pay an Y% amount of import tax, each country in EU has different tax, it's arround 18-21%. Normaly I try to avoid buying expensive stuff from overseas, once I bought a phone, by the time I got to hold it in my hands, it became 100EUR more expensive...

With shops inside EU, like caseking for example, all is splendid, I can get stuff delivered to my place as soon as next few days, no taxes, no hassle, no fuss, nada. So as soon as this case will be available at European retailers, I'm pulling the trigger (sorry wallet, but you have to take one for the team).

 

[thelaughingman]

@kamiKAZIK the case is manufactured by Lian-Li in Taiwan, so there is still that initial batch shipping from TW to EU that you have to wait for. Hopefully container shipping is not as affected as individual shipping.

Personally me for though, situated in Vietnam, I'd hope that there will be an option for shipping directly from TW, through W360MOD or whoever the retailers will be. That's how I got my A4 in just 2 weeks right when the pandemic broke out. EU retailers just don't ship to VN at all.

 

[kamiKAZIK]

@thelaughingman, yes, for you it totally makes sense, since you are much closer to Taiwan.

Large cargo shipments are pretty much unaffected right now, the retail however is another story, the B2B model in general got far less damage than B2C.

Waiting to see some photos of final(?) samples

 

[jaeparku]

@dondan the sanded down button looks more discrete and minimalistic and better

If you guys can make the exterior of the case similar to Ghost S1, where the panels are this superb quality blasted anodized aluminum, I will gladly switch from Ghost to the Dan C4

 

[jaeparku]

the M1's panels felt cheap and thin. Especially the pop-in feature.

 

[jaeparku]

In the meanwhile, I thought about two changes. Increase the case height to 238mm. This will result in a case volume of 11,1L. It will be possible to have 3 Slots in classical hardware layout and will give support for 240AIO + normal thick fans (25mm) instead of slim ones (17mm) in sandwich layout. Furthermore, I added a small cutout that will let you access a DVI or Displayport port on the second slot if the sandwich layout is used.

@dondan

I don't think it's a good idea. Most GPUs these are 2 slot cards. Sure, a 3 slot compatibility is nice, but SFF is about some compromises. Increased volume size would make this case too similar to M1. I was looking forward to have a smaller version of M1 for this case. I would like to fit a giant CPU tower cooler like Noctua D-15 but that's not gonna happen for SFFPC. If you want a giant cooler or 3 slot GPU, the person should be looking into ATX cases instead.

 

[kamiKAZIK]

@jaeparku I believe the increase is negligible, just a few mm, but it opens a whole segment of hardware compatibility and possibilities.

You will be able to shove NH-C14S in this box, a solid tower cooler capable of maximum 205W TDP. It should perform be ~2-3C behind the NH-D15S. There is also a good side effect of top down coolers - they can help with VRM cooling.

Throw in 3950x in there, slap the C14S on top and you will have yourself a productivity juggernaut.

 

[jaeparku]

@kamiKAZIK

The original 9 L design was perfect size. Then people wanted compatibility with this, with that, and now its looking like it's gonna be Ncase M1 size. There will be no differentiation between these two cases. At some point, you have to stop listening the vocal minority who want their compatibility with X and Y. Two slot GPUs are very common, and really should be the max size for a SFFPC.

Just like we reject ATX PSU in most SFFPCs and require users to have or purchase a SFX PSU, it should be the same concept for GPU. I think anything bigger than a 2 slot EVGA card is too big for a small case and the case size should not be increased to fit the needs of a few vocal minority.

I do appreciate the C14S compatibility though, because not many SFFPC around this size support it.