Advice Yet another Dan A4 H2O build - first SFF build, advice?

[valouris]

It's finally time for my new build, my 6700k and 1070 are now unfortunately (almost!) too old, and this will be my first SFF PC. I've been monitoring the scene for a couple of years, and I'm close to finally biting the bullet. What do you It's finally time for my new build, my 6700k and 1070 are now unfortunately (almost!) too old, and this will be my first SFF PC. I've been monitoring the scene for a couple of years, and I'm close to finally biting the bullet. What do you guys think about this build? Probably popular part picks, but I want to ask your guys' opinion concerning balance, compatibility with the case, noise and thermals etc (that's why I picked a 3 fan GPU, for noise). For 240mm AIO I was looking at the Corsair stuff, but I got confused because there are so many with similar names, to the three that are listed to be compatible at the LianLi subreddit. So I ended up going with this cheap solution. Will it be OK?

This will be a primarily gaming PC aiming for 1440p resolution, but also used for all around stuff. I like strategy and sim games, hence I'm going for the overkill CPU instead of a 7600X, but I think it will be worth it. Please let me know what you think, where I could maybe save, or get more perf for the same price. Prices are in CHF (basically 1-1 with Euro), and are from the toppreise.ch website which shows the cheapest available prices from the region.

Case A4H2O - 140CHF

MoBo MSI B650I Edge - 213CHF

CPU 7800X3D - 362CHF

GPU Gigabyte Windforce OC 4070 Super 12gb - 554CHF

RAM Corsair 2x16gb 6000 DDR5 - 80CHF

Cooler CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML240 AIO - 60CHF

SSD WD Blue SN580 2TB - 102CHF

PSU SF750 Corsair 750W - 151 CHF

Total 1662 CHF

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

GPU Gigabyte Windforce OC 4070 Super 12gb - 554CHF

PSU SF750 Corsair 750W - 151 CHF

Well, if you go with the SF750, make sure its the 2024 ATX 3.1 version. Else you wont have much fun with the Super

Aside of that: Plan EVERY STEP thoroughly. Esp. if this is your first SFF build.

The A4-H2O is a solid case, but its also somewhat inflexible. So cable routing can be a challenge.
Eg. I'm currently in the last few steps of build, and compared to similar small cases, there is next to zero options of hiding away the ATX + EPS cable. There is just no space left between the mainboard and the PSU cage.

To me, thats not a big thing, but only because I planned everything very thoroughly - and also I've done my share of SFF builds.

TL;DR: Planning and measurements are the key elements.

Some cases are more forgiving, etc. the Meshlicious / Meshroom S, but also the S300 and S400, but others arent or are less friendly

cu, w0lf.

 

[valouris]

Thanks for the reply! The SF750 is actually not available at the moment, so I'm looking at alternatives. Do you have any recommendations? And what was wrong with the older SF750 revisions?

My main concern is the AIO to be honest where I have little experience, and the official communication from Lian Li on their reddit is quite old. There are much newer AIOS or newer versions, and I am not sure if they will be compatible. Is there a comprehensive resource of the SFF community where everyone inputs their build and what they used? For compatibility reference.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Thanks for the reply! The SF750 is actually not available at the moment, so I'm looking at alternatives. Do you have any recommendations? And what was wrong with the older SF750 revisions?

Nothing is wrong with the older SF750, its just that it doesnt have support for current 12VH (however its spelled) GPU power.
You'd have to order a set of cables (Type 4) seperately from Corsair.

Other options include: The new released SF850 and SF1000 (beware: there are also SFX-L units; thats NOT them).
If you want go for a struggle, because SFX-L, take the Asus ROG Loki (starts at 750W I think) or the Fractal Design Ion SFX 650. Both are great

Other PSUs that are really good, but have less than nice cables: Silverstone 850R, SeaSonic Focus SGX / SPX.
Phanteks might be another option, they are usually built by SeaSonic, so basically for 20 - 30 Euro / USD less you get the same as the already mentioned models, but with a different branding

Cooler Master + Lian Li are a worse option, because of their noise levels.

FSP Dagger Pro is ... abysmal. The PSU itself might be ok, but the cables are - disgusting. Like they took the rest of the scraps they had sitting around from some failed other project and shoddily fumbled them together. Yeah, THAT bad. I get stomach ulcers just by looking at them.

My main concern is the AIO to be honest where I have little experience, and the official communication from Lian Li on their reddit is quite old. There are much newer AIOS or newer versions, and I am not sure if they will be compatible. Is there a comprehensive resource of the SFF community where everyone inputs their build and what they used? For compatibility reference.

You should really look into the official case thread, where Don Dan, the creator of the case, communicates, plus other people.

A lot of people posted about it in said thread, you can just use the forum search to see if one of the AIOs you intend to use is already mentioned there.

But for a guideline:

" The radiator + fan space is 133x280x55 "

Found at: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/lian-li-dan-a4-h2o.16201/page-46#post-284324

CPU block max height is 55 mm, too.

There is a sheet in the SFF PC Master List which shows most of the currently available AIO CPU block and radiator dimensions, so thats another good guideline. That one is sortable and filterable by different sizes etc, too.

For comparison, regular radiator thickness tends to be 27 mm, so with the 120 mm fan standard size of 25 mm you'd be at 52 mm overall height. Generally speaking, thin radiator + thick / regular fan is better than thick radio + slim fan, so you could eg. go for a Silverstone Vida 240 + T30s for max performance, etc.

From my building experience, whats going to fit:

- Thermalright Frozen Edge 240 - I just finished my build with it THIS VERY MORNING (ordered via Amazon)
- Silverstone Vida 240 - built in the S396 mod, which has similar dimensions (and thus, tight spaces) as the A4-H2O
- be quiet Silent Loop 2 240 - the 280 CPU block fits, and that one is the same dimensions across the whole SL 2 series, so the 240 should fit with no issues whatsoever

 

[valouris]

Hey man, wow, thanks for taking the time to reply, even though with such a popular case all I would have to do would be to search a bit better. I really appreciate it!

And mentions of a build finished this morning, without pics? This gives your post 10/10, instead of 11/10!

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Hey man, wow, thanks for taking the time to reply, even though with such a popular case all I would have to do would be to search a bit better. I really appreciate it!

And mentions of a build finished this morning, without pics? This gives your post 10/10, instead of 11/10!

I need to up them first to the puter, then sort out horrible ones (or ones that might accidentially dox me), and then dump a few in here.

Did an initial insta, but havent had the time yet to post the current ones from the finished / nearly finished build.

cu, w0lf.