DAN next project - A4-Nano/B4-SFX

[scatterforce]

@sneedster A common misconception: in the end the air is cooling, not the heatsink. Aluminium is better at dissipating heat to air than copper and the copper heatsink would just add mass that can be saturated. As soon as the copper is saturated the temps will be higher than with the Aluminium heatsink.

For bigger heatsinks the cheer size of the heatsink nullifies this effect due to the air cooling enough to prevnt saturation int he first place. But for these tiny as it can get heatsinks it matters as they saturate under load. Most likely the "adavantage" of the X36 in this test is just the fin orientation.

You can see in your linked test that there are basically no differences between the coolers - 1-2% could just be anything from measurement error, to thermal paste application, to room temperature.

Thermalright's full copper variants perform better than their aluminum versions across the stack, even under prolonged stress tests. Back in the day, the solid copper Cooltek LP53 consistently beat the pants off of Noctua's L9i, but they never updated their cooler for modern sockets. Granted, it is 42mm vs 37mm with the same fan, but the cooler design was nearly identical with a mere 2 heat pipes.

From a metallurgy standpoint, what you are saying is true.... but in the SFF space, copper makes a big difference. Personally, I think it's because coolers of this size category are limited by how many heat pipes they can effectively leverage. Copper spreads the heat more effectively, making better use of the fan and surface area. I've verified this myself with an AXP-47 Full Copper.

The link @sneedster shared was a good, but not great comparison. The frequencies were not locked, so temperatures won't be that different. What is significant is that the AXP-37 was cooler at a higher core frequency. Personally, I think a solid copper Noctua L9i would be a beast of a cooler and would see more gains going copper than the AXP-37.

EDIT: All of this is relevant to the DAN A4 Nano. I want to see a cooler that destroys the L9i in this space.

 

[Rollingstar]

Just throwing my hat in the ring for 200 mm gpu support, my evga 3060 to would appreciate it and the thought of actually having the flow through cut out at the end of the board be functional in such a tiny enclosure makes me excited. Very much looking forward to the nano either way though, the concept looks stellar!

 

[FoxTrotl_Alpha]

Damn, i just recently got my hands on the RAW S1 (mad discount) because im dreaming of building a Corsair One-es pc since i first saw it years ago.
And now my favorite case maker DAN is telling me hes thinking of making a similar case ...
Mate, my wife will kill me, but im buying a B4 if u release it, just so you know.

 

[Tesserae]

I think the Nano is a great option! As you well know, sub-5 liter cases come out, or are teased, and they are cool, but the feedback always pushes it toward something bigger so it can fit a 4070 or 80 or 90. Then it becomes 7 liters, then 10, then 14.
I'd love to see the nano come to market! All the media and publicity is on the high end and glamorous, but like @dondan said, a 30/4060 and Ryzen 5/Intel i5 honestly gets a majority of people all they really need.

 

[Jawbreaker]

What features should I look for in a motherboard when putting a part list together for the Nano? I'm considering i5-12400F, 3060, 16GB DDR4, and M.2 drive to start. It'll be end up being my daughter's first computer. All she does is play minecraft.

 

[Houdini]

Nano looks amazing! There are too few really small high quality cases out there.

 

[Tesserae]

What features should I look for in a motherboard when putting a part list together for the Nano? I'm considering i5-12400F, 3060, 16GB DDR4, and M.2 drive to start. It'll be end up being my daughter's first computer. All she does is play minecraft.

For those specs you list, I wouldn't be too worried about which motherboard, as long as it fits. I would look to make sure the motherboard has the USB-C header for the front panel, which isn't too hard these days. Always a shame if you have to use an adapter. While I have found the Asus ITX motherboards to be reliable and durable, they often have tall rear IO covers, and tall VRM heatsinks next to the CPU socket.
With your specs, I'd recommend saving a buck and going for the AsRock B660M-ITX/ac. I have found AsRock motheboards to be super reliable for the long term, and their no frills boards like this one are awesome.

 

[Tute]

What features should I look for in a motherboard when putting a part list together for the Nano? I'm considering i5-12400F, 3060, 16GB DDR4, and M.2 drive to start. It'll be end up being my daughter's first computer. All she does is play minecraft.

I would imagine the case to be restricted to components in a similar way to the Velka 3.

So you want an ITX motherboard (NOT DTX), a Flex-ATX PSU, a graphics card of similar length to an ITX motherboard (think 175-185mm), M.2 SSDs only, and a CPU that can be cooled by at most an Alpenfohn Blackridge, but plan more for a Noctua L9a/L9i (something with good performance at a 65-95W power limit).

RAM also could be a problem if it's taller than the CPU cooler.

I'm almost certainly going to be getting an A4-Nano and putting my current build into it - the only thing i'm missing is the PSU, of which I plan to invest in something 600W like the Silverstone FX600 or a Noctua swapped Enhance ENP-7660.

 

[IIF]

I saw that these are both slated for some time in 2024. Is there an estimated price you are shooting for, and will there be direct distribution in USA? I like the nano, and am looking forward to hearing the final specs.

 

[ScarletNemesis]

is it possible to build the nano with ryzen 9 cpu instead? max out the possible build

 

[L91]

is it possible to build the nano with ryzen 9 cpu instead? max out the possible build

You're a little early. These cases won't be released till 2025 or later and are just concepts for now.

 

[nightshift]

FSP Flexguru 250/300W both are quiet and perfect macht for the supported hardware

I'm looking at the 300w modular version. I hear that it's great when it comes to cooling - you mentiuon that it's quiet, which is nice to hear. Is it from first-hand experience? For it seems right for what I have in mind. It does not have a gpu 6+2pin, but I now have a cpu 8pin to 8 & 6+2 adapter which might solve that.

Due to it staying cool, I might go with this instead of the HDPlex GaN 250w passsive psu, which I heard can heat up quite much at higher loads.

 

[Quigonjinn]

I am curious. Why remove 280 aio support from original B4? No longer interested as T1 exists anyways (but has 240 support as a bonus).

 

[Tute]

Just to add for the A4-Nano, maybe it would be better to have the PSU in the bottom of the case. That way it reduces the footprint of the case itself to make it a bit taller - a tradeoff that I feel is worth it. Also it would mean not having to include a power cable running through the case from the back to the PSU.

Also you could make the case compatible with the HDPLEX models, maybe with an optional bracket? I mean they now do a 500W model and that would be plenty for most builds.

 

[Rhialto]

A new trend is coming, connectors on the back of motherboards for a no-cables look. Maybe think the A4-Nano with that in mind? I plan to get a new system when new CPU/motherboards will arrive and had hope the A4-Nano would be in the list of possibility but it seems to be still at the concept stage, am I right? No post since 2023!