Building with the C4 Case: A Top-Tier ITX Gaming Solution

I'm excited to share my thoughts on the new Encase C4 case, which I believe is one of the best options for building a gaming PC. As we all know, finding an ITX case that can handle the power consumption of modern graphics cards like the 4090 Fe has been a challenge. However, the C4 seems to have finally solved this problem with its unique design and beefy radiator support.

One of the first things I noticed about the C4 is its ability to cool even the most demanding components. In my test build, I used the AMD 7950X3D processor, which is known for its high power consumption and heat generation. However, with the C4's custom liquid cooling setup, I was able to keep the temperature of this chip under control, even in extreme workloads like cinebench. The D12L liquid cooler I installed performed flawlessly, and I was only able to reach temperatures around 145 watts of power draw, which is impressively close to the 150-155 watts that I've seen with larger liquid cooling setups.

But what really sets the C4 apart from other ITX cases on the market is its ability to handle high-power graphics cards. In my test build, I was able to fit a 4090 Fe into the case without any issues, and it ran at full load, consuming over 400 watts of power. This is no small feat, especially considering that many ITX cases are not designed to handle such high power consumption levels.

Of course, cooling performance isn't the only thing that matters when building a PC. Noise levels also play a crucial role, especially if you plan on using your computer for extended periods of time or in a shared living space. Fortunately, the C4's design makes it easy to install 120mm fans at the top of the case, which provides excellent airflow and noise performance.

In fact, I installed two 120mm fans on the top of my test build, which made a huge difference in terms of cooling performance. The additional fan support also gave me the flexibility to experiment with different fan configurations, such as running smaller 140mm fans for even better airflow. This level of customization is exactly what makes the C4 so appealing to PC enthusiasts.

But how does the C4 compare to other ITX cases on the market? I'd say it's definitely one of the best options available right now. The NR200P Max and DNA4 H2O cases are certainly worth considering, but they don't quite match the C4 in terms of cooling performance and build quality.

One thing that I do want to note is that the C4 is not without its quirks. The 7950X3D chip can be a bit finicky when it comes to CPU cooling, reaching temperatures of up to 90 degrees in cinebench, even with some of the best liquid coolers on the market. However, this was easily resolved by using the D12L liquid cooler, which performed flawlessly.

In contrast, I've seen some users report issues with other cases when trying to cool their 4090 Fe or 7950X3D processors. This is a clear testament to the C4's ability to handle even the most demanding components.

As for the case itself, it's definitely built on top of the successful design of the Encase M1. The only real difference here is that the C4 is larger and upside down, which makes it easier to install modern ITX graphics cards without having to remove any screws from the motherboard tray. This is a significant improvement over the original M1 case.

Speaking of which, I think one of the best ways to look at the C4 is as an upgrade from the Encase M1. The new case is not just larger and upside down; it's also significantly more powerful and capable. While the M1 was a great case in its own right, the C4 takes things to a whole new level with its custom radiator support, beefy fan installation, and exceptional cooling performance.

In fact, I think the C4 is so good that it's almost as if Encase has taken all of their best design elements from previous cases and mashed them together into one cohesive package. The result is a case that's both powerful and efficient, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to build a high-performance gaming PC.

Now, I know some of you might be thinking, "But what about the cost?" Well, I'm happy to report that the C4 will be priced at around 200 Euros when it goes on sale. This is not bad considering the level of quality and performance that's packed into this case.

In conclusion, I think the Encase C4 is an excellent choice for anyone looking to build a high-performance gaming PC in an ITX form factor. With its custom liquid cooling setup, beefy radiator support, and exceptional cooling performance, it's hard to imagine a better option right now. Of course, as with any case, there are some trade-offs to be made, but overall, I think the C4 is a no-brainer for anyone serious about building a powerful PC.

So, if you're in the market for a new ITX case and want the best of the best, I highly recommend taking a look at the Encase C4.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso this is actually the fastest gaming PC that you can build right now and it is ITX uh believe it or not in here is a 40 90 and a 7950x3d and it runs pretty damn good uh so some of you might remember this case from some of my previous videos some of the earlier prototypes and the kind of early revisions but what we have here is finally the finished model it is the new Dan C4 sfx and so I kind of wanted to explore today what was possible with the most powerful Hardware on the market and also just most of all see how it compares to some of the other really optimized really small cases that I've built in like the T1 the M1 and the Dan E4 H2O and a good place to start is a size comparison overall this is about a 15 liter case that makes it slightly bigger than a lot of the stuff that I've built in previously T1 for example is about 10 liters and cases under 13. but this is still definitely what I'd call small you could have this thing sitting on your desk right next to your mouse pad or beside your keyboard for example it doesn't take up much space at all everything is made here out of 1.5 millimeter aluminum so side panels top panel all of the kind of metal that makes up the frame of the case as well if you're familiar with the build quality of something like an encase M1 or a dna4 H2O same factory makes this case which is Lee and Lee so the kind of Machining and the premium feel is basically the same I would say that the panel feel is maybe a bit stronger actually than what you'll find on an nk71 and the push pins as well just feel a little bit dialed in and kind of like more locked into the frame of the case than the end case overall though very nice looking case I mean very clean on the exterior zero branding at all there's just a power button and a USBC on the top and there will be an all-black model too but this two-tone silver and black definitely gets my vote now opening off the C4s FX for the first time to be honest it's a bit weird things just don't seem to be where they should be motherboard tray is upside down nothing really looks familiar and that's because the internal layout of the C4 is inverted basically everything is upside down GPU faces the top of the case power supply light and motherboard are at the bottom and this also means that your components will face the opposite side of your desk so seems a bit weird and off-putting at first but this is 100 the way to go if you want the best thermal and noise performance out of a case like this primarily having the GPU breathing from the top instead of the bottom the performance difference is just night and day and the new C4 can fit absolute monsters like putting the 4090 Fe in here was actually a breeze like for a case this size you'd imagine there'd be some wrestling or kind of like wiggling a bit of struggling at least but no you just kind of remove this bracket here drop that Behemoth of a GPU in there and it really is no problem actually there's quite a bit of room left over at the front in terms of length and even in terms of thickness as well the only exception is that you will need a custom power cable to kind of get that side panel closed uh yeah you won't be able to use the default kind of adapter that comes with the 40 series gpus and yeah I'll leave the one that I have here linked down below with that the side panels close with no problem at all but overall three Slot Cards up to 340 millimeters in length and 148 millimeters in width can fit here even up to 3.9 Slot Cards will technically be okay but they'll have to have a small compromise on the length and width now despite these very generous GPU Dimensions uh there are actually a lot of 4080s 40 90s and 7900 xtxs that won't fit in this so definitely make sure to double check what you're working with the 7900 XTX tough OC that I used in my previous build for example that has no hope of fitting in here at all it's both too wide and too long now something really interesting in the C4 that I've never seen in any other case is this vent that sits underneath the GPU this is designed specifically for Founders edition cards and kind of aims to prevent the GPU from heating up your CPU so before the heat from the graphics card can enter the rest of the case and start heating up different components it's caught and then vented straight out what's also pretty cool though is that it kind of doubles as a graphics card support bracket so the 4090 Fe that I have in there it's pretty heavy and it's resting on it pretty firmly thankfully there are some rubber grommets so it's not like a metal on metal situation and thirdly this thing also works as a cable management cover it kind of blocks any of those three cables from getting into the fan on the graphics card CPU cooling potential in the C4 sfx is also pretty strong you can install a 240 or 280 mil liquid cooler using the side bracket decent amount of thickness clearance there as well a bit more than you'd see in an end case M1 what's way more interesting to me though is air cooling because even for an Enthusiast gaming machine you really don't need a lot of CPU cooling power to kind of get the most frames possible like let's say for a 5800 X 3G the new 7800x3d or even for a 13600 key you can get away with a pretty decently sized air cooler which is exactly what we've done here this is the new noctua d12l which is one of the newest CPU coolers and it fits absolutely perfectly in the new C4 we've got 100 145 millimeters of clearance available here and the d12l is exactly 145 mils which is just super satisfying So Perfect Fit here and in the C4 you've got this removable panel at the bottom which you'll definitely want to make use of otherwise reaching all of those motherboard cables is basically impossible power supply installation is also pretty easy side bracket design works pretty well although that GPU vent does make it a little bit of a squeeze for the cables and for those wondering I'm using the sf750 Platinum from Corsair here which can basically run anything that you'd be installing in this case and that brings us to the finished build ryzen 7950x 3D plugged into the Asus x670i strix 32 gigs of 6000 cl32 memory three terabytes of m.2 nvme storage knocked to a d12l Corsair sf750 and that giant RTX 4090 up top for a sub 15 liter package it's pretty damn impressive I've also installed a 140mm fan on the side here which acts as exhaust so kind of pulling all of the hot air outside of the case oh this one is the optic p14 which seems to work pretty well I will leave it linked down below the amount of heat that comes out of this case uh with these kind of components is just really really insane so if you're building in the C4 definitely go with a side 140mm as exhaust that thing really does help quite a lot so for a bit of context on kind of what we have here it's about two liters larger than an encase M1 but in the M1 you can't fit a knock to a D12 and you can't fit a 40 90 Fe so you know a little bit larger than the end case but I think that extra space definitely gets put to some good use now I played around with this build for a bit you know tried to see how I could optimize the thermal performance as much as possible and the first thing that I wanted to test out was that GPU vent you know is it good or should we just remove it turns out if you're running a big Nvidia Fe card it does actually do its job GPU temps pretty much stay the same with or without it but CPU attempts did drop by a couple degrees with it installed keep in mind though that's with our CPU Cooler pulling in air through the rear of the case so not even taking in the warm air that's building up inside for AIO setups though I could see this having potentially a bigger impact even in this setup though you know I know it's only a couple of degrees but I do feel better knowing that the interior of the case will be a little bit cooler with the vent installed all at the same time of not really having any noticeable impact to the GPU temps what was super interesting to me though is how much you can improve the GPU temps by adding slim fans at the top as intake you might have noticed that the 4090 is getting a little bit toasty in there we can improve that by about seven to eight degrees with a pair of slim 120 mil fans and since the GPU is running a lot cooler now the fan curve is also quieter adding those fans ends up being a quieter setup so 40 90 sitting at 67 degrees at a pretty typical gaming load 370 to 380 Watts that's pretty damn impressive occasionally there are games that push the 4090 a bit higher than that though control here at 4K Ultra settings with Ray tracing maxed out and with no dlss we can push the 4090 to around 425 Watts even there though 75 degrees which is not bad at all do maternal 4K about 370 Watts here and about 70 degrees then when adding things like a dlss and frame generation you'll see GPU load and temps even lower and then occasionally you have games like Forza Horizon 5 which run extremely light on the power Just 63 there and look it's not what I'd call a silent gaming setup but it's definitely at the point where it could compete against some mid Towers I'll also note that while I've installed 120mm fans at the top here that do make quite a big difference you can actually install larger 140mm fans there instead which will get even more coverage across the graphics card and there you'll likely see even better thermal and noise performance now as for CPU cooling the d12l is 100 the way to go here if you're building a gaming Focus system I just really like that air cooling setup a lot but for heavy CPU rendering and encoding like if that's your job that you do for work a liquid cooling setup would be a better choice the 7950x3d here is a bit of an odd chip as we know at this point it kind of hits 90 degrees in cinebench no matter what CPU Cooler you use which is interesting but here with the d12l I was able to get it to around 145 watts of power draw which is pretty close to the 150 155 or so that I've seen with a much larger liquid cooling setups so not much of a difference on this particular chip but if you were using like a 13 700k or a 7950x non-3d then yeah a liquid cooling setup would be a better choice for all core workloads I think the best way to look at this case actually is like the perfect upgrade from the encase M1 I know there are a lot of you who are currently using an end case and you know it doesn't fit the newer larger graphics cards when you think about the new C4 it's basically an M1 but just larger and upside down you know there just aren't many ITX cases out there that can run a 4090 Fe at full load like we're talking above 400 watts and have reasonable noise levels as well again it's not the quietest 4090 machine out there but I'd say for you know sub 20 liters it's probably the best configuration for a 4090 Fe that you could build with I would say that T1 4090 build that we did recently was almost there I mean the kind of temperatures were pretty similar but the noise levels were definitely a little bit louder at the same time that was like a 5 liter smaller configuration which is pretty damn impressive in its own right so for me you know C4 versus T1 that comparison it feels pretty reasonable you know it's an even trade-off I feel in terms of cooling versus size and also the extra cooling potential that you get for the CPU the last thing that I'll mention is the custom Loop potential and the easiest way to explain it here is if you take a look at what I've done with my encase M1 and imagine two to 80 mil radiators instead of two 240s so the layout would be exactly the same one on the side and one on the bottom or in this case on the top pretty beefy radiator support overall and with that much cooling you could basically run any components that you'd want but yeah for now the C4 is looking like a pretty damn good like top tier ITX case like I think this is one of your best options at the moment still need to do like a direct comparison where I take the same components and put it in like an nr200p Max put it in the dna4 H2O see what kind of performs the best in terms of temperatures and noise levels but I mean at least for now you know building with a 40 90 Fe and a 7950x 3D you can tell that this thing is pretty damn confident when it comes to cooling but yeah if you guys are looking to build something similar I think it's a pretty damn solid configuration like if you want to go instead with a 7800 X 3D and a 4080 Fe up top man that is like a perfect ITX gaming build so I'll leave those parts linked down below as well as the ones that I've used here as well the c4sfx will be going on sale soon 200 Euros is what they're asking for it which seems pretty fair given the kind of build quality that you're getting and the kind of tier of case that we're working with yeah definitely gets my recommendation for sure otherwise huge thanks for watching and I'll see you all in the next oneso this is actually the fastest gaming PC that you can build right now and it is ITX uh believe it or not in here is a 40 90 and a 7950x3d and it runs pretty damn good uh so some of you might remember this case from some of my previous videos some of the earlier prototypes and the kind of early revisions but what we have here is finally the finished model it is the new Dan C4 sfx and so I kind of wanted to explore today what was possible with the most powerful Hardware on the market and also just most of all see how it compares to some of the other really optimized really small cases that I've built in like the T1 the M1 and the Dan E4 H2O and a good place to start is a size comparison overall this is about a 15 liter case that makes it slightly bigger than a lot of the stuff that I've built in previously T1 for example is about 10 liters and cases under 13. but this is still definitely what I'd call small you could have this thing sitting on your desk right next to your mouse pad or beside your keyboard for example it doesn't take up much space at all everything is made here out of 1.5 millimeter aluminum so side panels top panel all of the kind of metal that makes up the frame of the case as well if you're familiar with the build quality of something like an encase M1 or a dna4 H2O same factory makes this case which is Lee and Lee so the kind of Machining and the premium feel is basically the same I would say that the panel feel is maybe a bit stronger actually than what you'll find on an nk71 and the push pins as well just feel a little bit dialed in and kind of like more locked into the frame of the case than the end case overall though very nice looking case I mean very clean on the exterior zero branding at all there's just a power button and a USBC on the top and there will be an all-black model too but this two-tone silver and black definitely gets my vote now opening off the C4s FX for the first time to be honest it's a bit weird things just don't seem to be where they should be motherboard tray is upside down nothing really looks familiar and that's because the internal layout of the C4 is inverted basically everything is upside down GPU faces the top of the case power supply light and motherboard are at the bottom and this also means that your components will face the opposite side of your desk so seems a bit weird and off-putting at first but this is 100 the way to go if you want the best thermal and noise performance out of a case like this primarily having the GPU breathing from the top instead of the bottom the performance difference is just night and day and the new C4 can fit absolute monsters like putting the 4090 Fe in here was actually a breeze like for a case this size you'd imagine there'd be some wrestling or kind of like wiggling a bit of struggling at least but no you just kind of remove this bracket here drop that Behemoth of a GPU in there and it really is no problem actually there's quite a bit of room left over at the front in terms of length and even in terms of thickness as well the only exception is that you will need a custom power cable to kind of get that side panel closed uh yeah you won't be able to use the default kind of adapter that comes with the 40 series gpus and yeah I'll leave the one that I have here linked down below with that the side panels close with no problem at all but overall three Slot Cards up to 340 millimeters in length and 148 millimeters in width can fit here even up to 3.9 Slot Cards will technically be okay but they'll have to have a small compromise on the length and width now despite these very generous GPU Dimensions uh there are actually a lot of 4080s 40 90s and 7900 xtxs that won't fit in this so definitely make sure to double check what you're working with the 7900 XTX tough OC that I used in my previous build for example that has no hope of fitting in here at all it's both too wide and too long now something really interesting in the C4 that I've never seen in any other case is this vent that sits underneath the GPU this is designed specifically for Founders edition cards and kind of aims to prevent the GPU from heating up your CPU so before the heat from the graphics card can enter the rest of the case and start heating up different components it's caught and then vented straight out what's also pretty cool though is that it kind of doubles as a graphics card support bracket so the 4090 Fe that I have in there it's pretty heavy and it's resting on it pretty firmly thankfully there are some rubber grommets so it's not like a metal on metal situation and thirdly this thing also works as a cable management cover it kind of blocks any of those three cables from getting into the fan on the graphics card CPU cooling potential in the C4 sfx is also pretty strong you can install a 240 or 280 mil liquid cooler using the side bracket decent amount of thickness clearance there as well a bit more than you'd see in an end case M1 what's way more interesting to me though is air cooling because even for an Enthusiast gaming machine you really don't need a lot of CPU cooling power to kind of get the most frames possible like let's say for a 5800 X 3G the new 7800x3d or even for a 13600 key you can get away with a pretty decently sized air cooler which is exactly what we've done here this is the new noctua d12l which is one of the newest CPU coolers and it fits absolutely perfectly in the new C4 we've got 100 145 millimeters of clearance available here and the d12l is exactly 145 mils which is just super satisfying So Perfect Fit here and in the C4 you've got this removable panel at the bottom which you'll definitely want to make use of otherwise reaching all of those motherboard cables is basically impossible power supply installation is also pretty easy side bracket design works pretty well although that GPU vent does make it a little bit of a squeeze for the cables and for those wondering I'm using the sf750 Platinum from Corsair here which can basically run anything that you'd be installing in this case and that brings us to the finished build ryzen 7950x 3D plugged into the Asus x670i strix 32 gigs of 6000 cl32 memory three terabytes of m.2 nvme storage knocked to a d12l Corsair sf750 and that giant RTX 4090 up top for a sub 15 liter package it's pretty damn impressive I've also installed a 140mm fan on the side here which acts as exhaust so kind of pulling all of the hot air outside of the case oh this one is the optic p14 which seems to work pretty well I will leave it linked down below the amount of heat that comes out of this case uh with these kind of components is just really really insane so if you're building in the C4 definitely go with a side 140mm as exhaust that thing really does help quite a lot so for a bit of context on kind of what we have here it's about two liters larger than an encase M1 but in the M1 you can't fit a knock to a D12 and you can't fit a 40 90 Fe so you know a little bit larger than the end case but I think that extra space definitely gets put to some good use now I played around with this build for a bit you know tried to see how I could optimize the thermal performance as much as possible and the first thing that I wanted to test out was that GPU vent you know is it good or should we just remove it turns out if you're running a big Nvidia Fe card it does actually do its job GPU temps pretty much stay the same with or without it but CPU attempts did drop by a couple degrees with it installed keep in mind though that's with our CPU Cooler pulling in air through the rear of the case so not even taking in the warm air that's building up inside for AIO setups though I could see this having potentially a bigger impact even in this setup though you know I know it's only a couple of degrees but I do feel better knowing that the interior of the case will be a little bit cooler with the vent installed all at the same time of not really having any noticeable impact to the GPU temps what was super interesting to me though is how much you can improve the GPU temps by adding slim fans at the top as intake you might have noticed that the 4090 is getting a little bit toasty in there we can improve that by about seven to eight degrees with a pair of slim 120 mil fans and since the GPU is running a lot cooler now the fan curve is also quieter adding those fans ends up being a quieter setup so 40 90 sitting at 67 degrees at a pretty typical gaming load 370 to 380 Watts that's pretty damn impressive occasionally there are games that push the 4090 a bit higher than that though control here at 4K Ultra settings with Ray tracing maxed out and with no dlss we can push the 4090 to around 425 Watts even there though 75 degrees which is not bad at all do maternal 4K about 370 Watts here and about 70 degrees then when adding things like a dlss and frame generation you'll see GPU load and temps even lower and then occasionally you have games like Forza Horizon 5 which run extremely light on the power Just 63 there and look it's not what I'd call a silent gaming setup but it's definitely at the point where it could compete against some mid Towers I'll also note that while I've installed 120mm fans at the top here that do make quite a big difference you can actually install larger 140mm fans there instead which will get even more coverage across the graphics card and there you'll likely see even better thermal and noise performance now as for CPU cooling the d12l is 100 the way to go here if you're building a gaming Focus system I just really like that air cooling setup a lot but for heavy CPU rendering and encoding like if that's your job that you do for work a liquid cooling setup would be a better choice the 7950x3d here is a bit of an odd chip as we know at this point it kind of hits 90 degrees in cinebench no matter what CPU Cooler you use which is interesting but here with the d12l I was able to get it to around 145 watts of power draw which is pretty close to the 150 155 or so that I've seen with a much larger liquid cooling setups so not much of a difference on this particular chip but if you were using like a 13 700k or a 7950x non-3d then yeah a liquid cooling setup would be a better choice for all core workloads I think the best way to look at this case actually is like the perfect upgrade from the encase M1 I know there are a lot of you who are currently using an end case and you know it doesn't fit the newer larger graphics cards when you think about the new C4 it's basically an M1 but just larger and upside down you know there just aren't many ITX cases out there that can run a 4090 Fe at full load like we're talking above 400 watts and have reasonable noise levels as well again it's not the quietest 4090 machine out there but I'd say for you know sub 20 liters it's probably the best configuration for a 4090 Fe that you could build with I would say that T1 4090 build that we did recently was almost there I mean the kind of temperatures were pretty similar but the noise levels were definitely a little bit louder at the same time that was like a 5 liter smaller configuration which is pretty damn impressive in its own right so for me you know C4 versus T1 that comparison it feels pretty reasonable you know it's an even trade-off I feel in terms of cooling versus size and also the extra cooling potential that you get for the CPU the last thing that I'll mention is the custom Loop potential and the easiest way to explain it here is if you take a look at what I've done with my encase M1 and imagine two to 80 mil radiators instead of two 240s so the layout would be exactly the same one on the side and one on the bottom or in this case on the top pretty beefy radiator support overall and with that much cooling you could basically run any components that you'd want but yeah for now the C4 is looking like a pretty damn good like top tier ITX case like I think this is one of your best options at the moment still need to do like a direct comparison where I take the same components and put it in like an nr200p Max put it in the dna4 H2O see what kind of performs the best in terms of temperatures and noise levels but I mean at least for now you know building with a 40 90 Fe and a 7950x 3D you can tell that this thing is pretty damn confident when it comes to cooling but yeah if you guys are looking to build something similar I think it's a pretty damn solid configuration like if you want to go instead with a 7800 X 3D and a 4080 Fe up top man that is like a perfect ITX gaming build so I'll leave those parts linked down below as well as the ones that I've used here as well the c4sfx will be going on sale soon 200 Euros is what they're asking for it which seems pretty fair given the kind of build quality that you're getting and the kind of tier of case that we're working with yeah definitely gets my recommendation for sure otherwise huge thanks for watching and I'll see you all in the next one\n"