Enclosure [SFFn] Streacom's DA2 - Versatility

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
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SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
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It's no secret that the majority of go-to cases found within our community are from the Indie scene, designed by fans and enthusiasts. Whilst Streacom may not be officially part of this Indie grouping, they are indeed a small bunch of enthusiasts determined to do something different in amongst the mainstream "SFF" offerings. Mentioning SFF by name in their mission statement, it seems the company has their eyes in the right place.

With this, the team at Streacom decided to create something to compete with the SFF stalwarts, with design decisions focused on space efficiency. We had our first eyes on this case at Computex 2018, and have been waiting for the case to hit market since. Let's see if it does indeed live up to the promise.

Read more here.
 

Windfall

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFFn Staff
Nov 14, 2017
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Only here do we see an in-depth box unboxing, such is the nature of true SFF Enthusiasts.

Seriously, though. That's a nice case, and is certainly cooL.

Thanks for the review. I'm considering it!
 
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annasoh323

Master of Cramming
Apr 4, 2018
424
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The modularity with the possibility of inverted orientation and vertical GPU are the most interesting aspects to me. Performance-wise, I'm not sure how a vertical GPU would work (except with a low-heat CPU and a very pretty GPU to make up for it). I'll have to review the literature for fan options. Also, I'd have to check the available images for size comparisons. It seems like a fairly sizable box in exchange for all of that great venting space.

Question I'm almost too afraid to ask: Can you pick it up by that slotted bit at the top? Is that a structurally sound piece of metal or just decorative?
 

Veryaton

Average Stuffer
Feb 28, 2017
65
31
Hello @confusis. I see you also did a test with Noctua NH-D9L, but you don't mention anything in the text. The temperatures with this last one are pretty good. With the D9L setup, wasn't there a fan exhaust hot air?
 
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tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
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Excellent review!

Good calling out the 'odd' position of the mains power cable. I suspect, the reasons of placing it there are (1) allowing the rear panel 92mm fan opening align better with the CPU socket (and thus, a rear exhausting air cooler) and (2) getting the cable away from the CPU socket as far as possible to minimize potential conflict with an air cooler.
But, from cable management and aesthetics point of view, it does look much better when the cable is raised to the top.

Not that I am very interested, but does Streacom mention anything about a passive version? IIRC, Streacom showed a passive side panel in the trade show. I wonder if this will become an accessory as well.
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
Original poster
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
4,129
7,057
sff.network
Hello @confusis. I see you also did a test with Noctua NH-D9L, but you don't mention anything in the text. The temperatures with this last one are pretty good. With the D9L setup, wasn't there a fan exhaust hot air?


So, how’d it do? Not bad! For a chassis that has no front intake, and no chassis fans installed, the Streacom DA2 handled the hefty hardware loadout fine! I designed this test as a worst case scenario – just the actual coolers themselves taking care of heat extraction. In a way, much like someone wishing to build a quiet system would go about things – a bare minimum of fans.


;)
 
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tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
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Hello @confusis. I see you also did a test with Noctua NH-D9L, but you don't mention anything in the text. The temperatures with this last one are pretty good. With the D9L setup, wasn't there a fan exhaust hot air?
I am curious too. As it is mentioned that each component uses its own fan for cooling in order to maximize quietness, no case fan was used.
I think, adding a 92mm rear exhaust fan could further improve the CPU temp.
Additionally, using NH-U9S might slightly improve more.
But, I bet, the best air cooler for this case is the 'newly released' Thermalright SilverArrow 130 (130mm tall fits right with the 145mm height limit of DA2).
 

Veryaton

Average Stuffer
Feb 28, 2017
65
31
the best air cooler for this case is the 'newly released' Thermalright SilverArrow 130
And top-down cooler? With 145 mm of clearance, in this chassis fits the Dark Rock TF. What is your opinion about this cooler? It should be enough for a 100-160W CPU, without need for more case fans?
 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
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And top-down cooler? With 145 mm of clearance, in this chassis fits the Dark Rock TF. What is your opinion about this cooler? It should be enough for a 100-160W CPU, without need for more case fans?
Sorry, I was not precise. I was talking about a rear blowing cooler (vs a down blowing cooler).
I think, unless the GPU is a blower type, it becomes thermally tricky to use a down blowing CPU cooler.
I mean, if both the CPU and GPU dump hot air inside a case, air flow management becomes complicated.
I have not read enough of the DA2 to think through this issue. But I will only build with a DA2 in late 2020, I have ample time to read actual builds by others to learn more.
 
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rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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And top-down cooler? With 145 mm of clearance, in this chassis fits the Dark Rock TF. What is your opinion about this cooler? It should be enough for a 100-160W CPU, without need for more case fans?

I was using a Dark Rock TF to cool my 8700k before delidding it, the cooler was more than capable of adequate cooling. I was using it in my Ncase M1 with just a single side intake fan, mainly wanted to make sure I had adequate motherboard cooling, but I think it would have been fine with no additional intake.

Great review @confusis, I have been waiting to take a closer look at this case. Now we just need to see some completed builds.
 

wywywywy

Airflow Optimizer
Aug 12, 2016
272
219
Hi.

Could you try mounting the radiator on the top and on the bottom please? Just find out what limitations we have.

Thanks.
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
Original poster
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
4,129
7,057
sff.network
@wywywywy
Yeah, that's not happening. At the bottom that would mean no GPU, at the top - no PSU. Or motherboard.



 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
Hi.

Could you try mounting the radiator on the top and on the bottom please? Just find out what limitations we have.

Thanks.

I could only guess that, with the coming vertical GPU mounting accessory, you can free up the space originally occupied by the graphics card at the bottom and then you might be able to fit a 240 rad there. And, the thickness of the rad/fan combo will be similar to the thickness of a 2-slot graphics card. I think, if you remove the bottom filter subsystem (ie the filter plus the inner and upper acrylic sheets), then the thickness of the rad/fan combo will be increased vastly. And, of course, without a filter, it is going to be exhausting rather than intaking.
 

ShaMana

Trash Compacter
Nov 27, 2018
49
27
I plan to stuff a 1080ti FTW3 in the case. All data shows that the case should be able to accommodate the GPU but any second options on that?