Advice Dan Case A4 - Quiet Cooling Advice

[DangerMouse]

Hi folks,

Just discovered this forum andam suitably impressed with the content here! However managed to go from being happy with my build plan to being totally confused in a short space of time! This will be my first SFF build.

Planning to go with a Ryzen Zen 3 5600X when released in a Dan A4. Initially planned to pair with the Black Ridge coolerbut having scoured out the reviews here I gather it’s not as quiet as I’d hope.

Any advice on what would be the quietest air cooling option for this case? Black Rudge + 120mm fan doesn’t seem an optionas I’d o prefer to avoid VLP memory.

Comments welcome!

Cheers,

Steve

 

[nightshift]

Ok ,so this will be more of an opinion rather than an advice, so it is ok to disregard it. It only serves as something to consider while making your decision: I think the L9a + fan duct is the best choice for a gaming build - paired with a low TDP processor and a full sized gpu. Should you need a more beefy processor not necessarily for games only, then I would check 120mm aio solutions and mini itx graphics cards. For some reason I'm getting drawn to the latter, it's just seem more interesting to me. While 92mm aio's seem downright appaling.

The 5600x sounds like a good candidate for the Dan A4, better suited than the other two coming along with it - them being 105 (or 95?) TDP. Despite how every reviewer will be focused on how much more performance it provides compared to the 3600 (while making the usual ahegao faces in the tumbnail like they just creamed their pants), what I want to see is a video about the 5600x tested with various coolers - starting with the L9a. ccording to AMD unlike the 3000 series, these cpu's will actually respect the TDP rating they've been given - THAT is what I would like to see proven before I ever buy one of them.
And I fear, that won't be in focus for a looong time.

Of course more variants will come, there'll be the regular 5600 (so without the X), around december or january when they update the BIOS for the b450 chips. What I really hope is an 8 core 5700 with a truly reliable 65 TPD. That's when I will purchase the last AM4 Ryzen into my b550-i board.

Right now all I really need is something to get by with, until that day comes (realistically about a year from now on). Perhaps the OC friendly 3100 sounds like the best choice atm as it will allow me to spend as little as possible for this little interlude and will prove adequate until then. I think this is the most sensible move for now when it comes to purchasing processors, then move to somehing from the new gen that ends up being the most fitting for the Dan A4 and settle with that. And I think that day won't arrive as early as this november.
If I would buy a 3700x, there won't really be any valid reason to upgrade to the upcoming series, as for gaming there's not much else needed with these Ampere cards. Even trading off a 3600 sounds kinda questionable to me. That's why I find the 3100 to make the most sense for anyone who purchase a cpu before 2021 and the increased selection of Ryzen 5000 series it brings (and hopefully proper reviews).

 

[DangerMouse]

Thanks @nightshift - some good advice here.

Agree with you assessment from what I've trawled through. I like the sound of 120mm AIO but not mini-ITX gfx card (I can want it all right?).

I'm currently wondering if there are any neat external PSU options out there. I don't mind the idea of a powerbrick but am a little petrubed that some of the options I've seen referenced look a little "DIY" for such an important component!

Steve

 

[nightshift]

That I understand. I think ideally we should fit everything inside the case, so any external component is out of the question for me. Using 120mm aio's are not popular with this case due to the gpu limitation it involves and I know that finding it alluring is just some lunacy of my own, not exactly something to recommend or follow. I do hope to see a mini version of an RTX 3070 though one day.
We know that even a Ryzen 3600 won't bottleneck an RTX 3080 and that is perfect with the L9a + fan duct (or the Blackridge) if we're building a gaming pc. This tells me that there's no need to purchase anything better than a 3600 or maybe a 3700x max. Or a 3100 now, then moving on to something from the 5000 series with also 65 TDP). These are perfectly fine with the above mentioned coolers, and they will let you use any full sized gpu of your choice.

I also have quite a few games that I definitely want to play through, and none of them have high system requirements (the Ryzen 3100 and an RTX 2060 will totally tear through them), so I'll be fine for the upcoming year, and then maybe I'll select something from the new generation then, we'll see. Again, this is just my situation. But to be honest, when it comes to 1080p gaming, none of the Ampere cards make sense at the moment. The 3080 is for 4K gaming, the 3090 is for 4-8K, that would involve me buying anothe rmonitor too. There's no point in paying for a 3080 and play on 1080p or 1440p with 200+ fps, when a lower, cheaper card that you might already have is already okay for 90-140 fps too which still seem smooth. An upgrade for a boost that will only happen above 140 fps is not worth spending money on. Only later when it's increased performance would mean the difference between 50 and 100 fps.

 

[DrLeroy]

I find the Noctual 92mm Fan ontop of the Cryorig C7c or g to be quiet enough, and that's on a 3950x in a Dan A4, with a 5600 or a 3600, i can't imagine the fan needing to run as hard as it does for my solution, a duct would improve on the noise profile also.