DAN C4-SFX

Dampfbox

Cable-Tie Ninja
Bronze Supporter
Aug 9, 2022
145
194
If you want Lian Li case, go buy one from them. C4 is the one Dan designs (with help of community).
What kind of point is that even? The Lian Li A4-H2O is also "the one Dan designs". It is more niche, more impractical, less easy to build in - so there should be a smaller market compared to the C4-SFX, at least according to your logic. Still, it is widely available and I don't see LL cancelling it in the next few months, leaving a huge availability gap (6 months+) looking forward to some nebulous v2.

I personally do not care if a case is marketed as "DANcases" or as "Lian Li" - but I want hardware stuff to be available when I need one, because otherwise I am forced to buy products from competitors who are able to deliver.

A4-h20 is sold by Lian Li and made in mass production. They have resellers all over the world.
You see, that is totally my point. I would prefer the C4-SFX being sold by LL as well, because that would mean I could just order a unit whenever I need it.

From a customer's standpoint, there is no adavantage in the case being sold in mini-batches by DANcases instead of a mass produced case sold by Lian Li. So that leaves only disadvantages.
 
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dondan

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
DAN Cases
Feb 23, 2015
1,977
8,378
Update:

I write these lines to give you some more background information why I made the decision to not making another production run of the C4-SFXv1 and start developing the C4-SFXv2.

At first it was never be my attention to make someone feel sad about buying the v1 and it makes me feel sad about the current situation.

Why the v2 now and not later?
My products are made in batch production runs. My only chance to make a new revision is after a production run is sold out. Otherwise my resellers would be unhappy because it would create the risk of hurting sales on the available version. I communicate every step of my development with the community to get feedback and give you the chance to add wishes for the product. Yes I could wait another 2 month before talking about v2 but this would not change the situation and we are losing time in the prototype stage. Planning another production run of v1 between releasing the v2 is also very time consuming and does not give me freedom to work on v2. Furthermore I will need a minimum of 6 month to make everything ready + a minimum of 3 month for production and shipping to resellers.

Why was the v1 such a limited run?
It wasn’t very limited it was the biggest batch of cases I ever made. It was available for 4 weeks and everyone the really want one hat the chance to get it. See it like this if you like to buy an Nvidia 4090 FE you have a time frame of 5min to get it. At the release even lower. And you never know when it will spawn next in the Nvidia store. You need a web crawler to be pinged if it spwan. Yes they made multiple batches but for every batch you need a crazy amount of luck to get one.

What are the main changes on the v2?
The v2 will get a new look. Someone will like the v1 more other the v2. This will save here and there some millimeters and give me the opportunity to ship it flat packed. So the customer has to assembly the case by themselves. Shipping a case flat packed is much more economic and does not waste empty space in the shipping process.
While I could save some millimeters in the length I will add them to the height and shift the motherboard 5mm lower to fit also mATX next to ITX in the v2. mATX is limited to air cooling or 240 AIO support only because the PSU is mounted 90° rotated at the front. If you want 280AIO in the v2 you have to use a ITX board. The total volume of the v2 will be with 14.5L only 0.2L smaller than the v1. The GPU length will be the same at the v2 so there is no GPU on the market that does fit in the v2 but not in the v1.

I feel like being a beta tester?
The C4-SFXv1 was many years in the development it I tested it through many prototype revisions. The v1 isn’t a beta product it is awesome and will be also awesome after the v2 release. The v2 does nothing better than the v1. Maybe you even not like the new look of the v2.
I can understand that is does feel curious to buy a product and the new one is announced directly. But what does it change? Does make it your current product worse? No! It does it make it even more rare and special. Because the v2 isn’t a better version of the v1 it is just a different version. I do not want to sell it under a different name because it would be to close to the v1 this is why I made it for v2.

My plan was to release renderings of it after I am done with CAD. Here is a preview picture of my concept drawing to show you how the v2 will look like. The dimensions are 166 x 256 x 342 (w x h x l)



I hope these lines will clear the situation and I could make you understand why I did this move. I can only say it again it was not my plan to make you feel sad I like this community so much and is a honor to work with you on these products.

With best regards
Daniel <3
 

Dampfbox

Cable-Tie Ninja
Bronze Supporter
Aug 9, 2022
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I feel like being a beta tester?
I just wanted to tell you that I didn't mean to be rude when I said that.

Thank you for the write-up on v2 and thank you for sharing it with us so early. Some of us need to plan ahead with their products, so I got really upset when I heard there will be no steady supply for the v1, so again sorry about that.
 

blackreplica

Cable Smoosher
Sep 28, 2019
8
31
Hmm I personally prefer the V1 more rounded, organic design (although i guess such a panel shape makes it much harder to flat pack). Am glad i was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on a V1 but I don't think the V2 is any better or worse looking than the V1. There are some interesting revisions but since I will never use mATX its mostly not very useful for me

I think the major pain point was how quickly it sold out and how much longer prospective buyers will need to wait to get their hands on the V2 case for their build
 
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Krypteks

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jun 14, 2023
4
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I preordered from overclockers on the 8th of june and have no idea if I'm getting one as the webhelp won't say anything? Has anyone that ordered around this time had any updates?
 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
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Is this or is this not a catch 22 situation? Damn if you release another production run of v1, and damn if you do not and go straight to v2.

But life is like this. There are many things that one has to do what he has to and not everyone is pleased.
If I were dan, I would most likely make the same decision. In fact, perhaps not only me, many Taobao sellers of 'boutique' cases are making similar decisions (over the years). Many of them are small scale operation, often as small as a 1-man business. A case is designed and advertised for pre-order. Then, a production run is made to fulfill the number of pre-orders, plus some more extra. The batch is often small. So, if I see something I really like, I would jump in to buy one even though I am not doing a build. This is because, when a batch runs out, it would take many many months for the 2nd batch to come (if it is lucky enough to have a 2nd batch). However, if a 2nd batch does make it to production, it often has design changes and improvements and will be marketed as v.2. My recently bought COOJ Z13 (v2) is a good example of this situation.

Anyway, I reiterate the question of another member below:-

What happened to the Newegg release Q4 2023?

I suppose there will not be any Q4 release of v1 in Newegg.
How about v2? Will the DanCase storefront be ready by that time and then v2 will be available for sale there, just at the same time as other resellers worldwide?
 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
why is no one talking about this - I still remember unboxing the FormD T1 and thought to myself, the outer box is just about the same size as the A4-SFX LOL plus rebuilding the case itself from pieces is rewarding, LEGO for adult. Love it!
Because most people are still dazed by the news bomb just dropped a few posts earlier.
Once people recover from this 'flash grenade', people will regain rationality to talk about it. 😎
 

TheClash

Trash Compacter
Nov 13, 2017
37
53
Hey @dondan, thanks for the update re V2... really disappointed that a lot of us following for a long time and looking forward to building a C4 now have to wait until 2024... I literally have a room full of parts that are waiting for a case to go into...

Just wanted to check to see if pccasegear ever put in an order for the C4 with caseking? I put in a preorder weeks ago when they put their preorder page live but I suspect they didn't get any allocation at all?

Unfortunately my new PC parts need a home so will have to find an alternative case. If anyone has any recommendations for a SFF case that can house two 280mm rads please let me know.
 

Founti

Efficiency Noob
Jun 14, 2023
7
2
I really love my C4 tbh.
Regarding that Revision Topic going on right now.. i mean.. its not the first dan case. and it was always like that ...due to the fact that its made my lian li in production runs. there will always be some kind of improvement from version to version.
I dont feel like a beta tester... and if the changes made are useful for me.. i will buy the new rev then.

I just have one question ... i do use a 4090 FE in my system with a corsair pro cable for the 12VHPWR. The bend is ok.. but the cables do touch the side panel.. i wanted to use maybe a cablemod adapter ... the 90 degree is to thick afaik .. did someone use the 180 degree version or maybe the 90 degree version ?!

If someone wants some ARGB in his C4 ... Jonsbo HF1415 Slim work out pretty fine tbh ... and the rgb looks good through the holes of the top and sidepanel


 

dondan

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
DAN Cases
Feb 23, 2015
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Just wanted to check to see if pccasegear ever put in an order for the C4 with caseking? I put in a preorder weeks ago when they put their preorder page live but I suspect they didn't get any allocation at all?

I talked with Caseking today and PCCG will get some of the few left black ones. Silver is sold out. PCCG still did not placed internal order so this is proactive from Caseking.
 
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TheClash

Trash Compacter
Nov 13, 2017
37
53
I talked with Caseking today and PCCG will get some of the few left black ones. Silver is sold out. PCCG still did not placed internal order so this is proactive from Caseking.
Thanks for that, I wonder if I can swap to a black one!

Maybe all is not lost.
 

Krypteks

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jun 14, 2023
4
0
I talked with Caseking today and PCCG will get some of the few left black ones. Silver is sold out. PCCG still did not placed internal order so this is proactive from Caseking.
Did they mention when they are giving stock to Overclockers? thanks
 

Dampfbox

Cable-Tie Ninja
Bronze Supporter
Aug 9, 2022
145
194
Thanks for that, I wonder if I can swap to a black one!

Maybe all is not lost.
Where are you located? I might be able to ship you a black one (unused, unopened box).

edit: shipping to Australia costs around 50€. Priority air cargo service will add another 25€ (and reduces the shipping time from 40 business days down to 9-25)
 
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Albatross1486

SFF Lingo Aficionado
May 9, 2023
100
76
Just want to say, I love my v1 and I'm glad that revisions are happening quickly! I don't have any complaints, in fact I prefer the styling of the v1, but my other ITX pc is an M1 v6.1. Updates happen all the time, and I can totally understand why Dan doesn't want to make another round of v1s.
Which does remind me, I need to look at the Jake custom wood panels.
 
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TheClash

Trash Compacter
Nov 13, 2017
37
53
Where are you located? I might be able to ship you a black one (unused, unopened box).

edit: shipping to Australia costs around 50€. Priority air cargo service will add another 25€ (and reduces the shipping time from 40 business days down to 9-25)
Wow, thank you so much for the offer! I have reached out to PCCG here just to see if I have been allocated a unit.

If that falls through I will reach out!
 

Covuk

Average Stuffer
Jun 13, 2023
58
58
Did they mention when they are giving stock to Overclockers? thanks
OCUK have posted on the forum about this. As of last night they said that they were due to receive 133 cases and had 127 pre-orders so you *should* be reasonably confident if you've paid for one that it will be in the next batch to be sent. The page to order the case was removed 2 days ago though, so I assume they're keeping a few back for contingency.
 
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noxez

Case Bender
New User
Jun 14, 2023
2
0
I pre-ordered mine 30minutes after release on May 16 but Overclockers UK still haven't got my order fulfilled yet.
Does anyone else experienced this delay or they just don't have enough stock to begin with?
When I asked their support they kept saying I will get next batch of delivery but with the case being sold out does this mean I'm out of luck even though I pre-ordered early?