JP Artisan Advent series Solid Aluminium ITX computer enclosure; Final Development

[IMJP]

JP Artisan present

Cable Management Pictures

Advent Series is a small desktop ITX computer enclosure. With form over function in mind, this case is designed with a whole piece of 2mm aluminium sheet as the main housing (Shell). The case is not breaking any record for smallest or quietest case. It is simply a bonafida solid case with minimalist design and construction.

Dimension wise (L) 301mm x (H) 285mm, (W) 165mm


Configuration Layouts

Supports:

• ITX motherboard
• SFX, SFX-L PSU
• 2 pci expansion slot, easily support dual slot graphic card up to 10.6 inch in length. It can fit tall graphic card such as the ASUS GTX 970 Strix Series but its not recommended due to ease of installation.
• 2 x 3.5 inch HDD and 1 x 2.5 inch SSD on a removal HDD storage bay.

Cooling Support

• Low Profile CPU cooler (Noctua L9i or similar height)
• 120mm AIO support, can support two 120mm AIO when mounted in the correct position and depends on the radiator dimensions (Antec Kuhler 620)
• 240mm AIO support, supports up to 38mm thick radiator (Corsair Hydro 105), HDD storage Bay and front panel USB 3.0 cabling must be removed when using this configuration.

Build logs

Noctua L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler Build

Status

29/10/2016

And I am back, see the latest post for update

10/08/2016

Work is taking a much of my time at the moment, I do apologise for the late replies on the emails. As a side note, shipping for USA is more than half of the cost of the case if anyone is wondering.

Spoiler: Design Notes

Design Notes

Work in Progress

Thermal Notes

I managed to compile the thermal results of the 3 configuration builds into one data table. The load test are from playing BF4. I don't like synthetic test as it doesn't show real world usage.

Personally, I like the 120mm AIO configuration because it hits the sweet point of cooling sufficiency. I like to overclock my CPU because

1. I can do it without any extra effort
2. I'm Asian. I expect every penny worth from a Z chipset and K series Intel CPU .

I can still retain my front panel USB 3.0 connectivity and the HDD bay which is a big plus compared to 240 AIO. I noticed that the pumping noise is more quieter on the 120mm AIO as well. I don't mind the noise during gaming as I use headphone. Case fan noise can be easily reduce if you don't overclock the CPU or GPU. I really wished Noctua L9i can handled mild OC but it is literally fighting for its life. The fan has to compete with the SFX and the case fans.

On the topic of airflow

Even before the initial sheet metal prototype was conceived. I made some mock-up of the case using corrugated plastic cardboard to see if there is any major flaw of airflow. After many unscientific testing, there weren't any issues with the design. Testing include raised feet, more vents on the back side etc.

FAQ

A series is now officially called Advent Series

1. What is JP Artisan?

We are from Melbourne, Australia. Website is live

www.jp-artisan.com

2. We still have some cases left from this run

PM if you are interested or email at sales@jp-artisan.com

3. What is the slot next to the power button and USB ports?
The slot is for attaching a metal hook for hanging a headphone, the hook is still an idea.

 

[ignsvn]

Congratulation, the case looks beautiful.

Just wondering, why you said it is not suggested to use tall graphic card like the Asus Strix 970?

 

[jtd871]

Welcome, JP!

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Welcome to the forum!

I really quite like this design. I think the solid wrap-around aluminum panel is particularly gorgeous. The texture, the "feet", all of it.

How/where did you make this?

 

[jeshikat]

Looks great! Got any pics of the inside, with and without parts?

 

[Tek Everything]

Gorgeous case!

 

[FCase]

Welcome Jp Beautiful case.

Looks great! Got any pics of the inside, with and without parts?

Yeah what he said.

Mal

 

[Phuncz]

I like the design, although I'd prefer a silver sidepanel or smoked glass one. It does remind me of the InWin 901, in a good way.

 

[CC Ricers]

Got a look at it at [H] already, looks real clean and elegant. I'm a fan of the anodized finish. I agree with Phuncz that a smoked glass side panel would look real good there. I could always mod in an acrylic panel, but a glass one would say "premium"

 

[FCase]

Got a look at it at [H] already, looks real clean and elegant. I'm a fan of the anodized finish. I agree with Phuncz that a smoked glass side panel would look real good there. I could always mod in an acrylic panel, but a glass one would say "premium"

Here's the link: JP Case

It looks like an Osmi layout that has been elongated to house reference GPUs and a 240mm radiator.
I like it.

Where do you mount the HDD when a 240 is used?

Mal

 

[IMJP]

Congratulation, the case looks beautiful.

Just wondering, why you said it is not suggested to use tall graphic card like the Asus Strix 970?

It does fit into the case however the ease of installation is troublesome >.> . Furthermore the thermal notes isn't that bad. The GPU temperature and fan speed is highly dependent on the speed of the fan of the AIO.

Welcome to the forum!

I really quite like this design. I think the solid wrap-around aluminum panel is particularly gorgeous. The texture, the "feet", all of it.

How/where did you make this?

Thanks!, its made in Melbourne Australia, I had access to sheetmetal fabrication. The case love to scratch your desk if you drag it ;P

Looks great! Got any pics of the inside, with and without parts?

I get an image hosting provider and put more pics later

I like the design, although I'd prefer a silver sidepanel or smoked glass one. It does remind me of the InWin 901, in a good way.

A sidepanel with brushed stainless steel will give a nice two tone design, reminded me of my Sharp aquos flip phone, if only I have access to liquidmetal ;o

 

[IMJP]

Got a look at it at [H] already, looks real clean and elegant. I'm a fan of the anodized finish. I agree with Phuncz that a smoked glass side panel would look real good there. I could always mod in an acrylic panel, but a glass one would say "premium"

The case is meant to put it on the side ish, so the face of the sidepanel is towards you. I design it so that the shell is like a frame while the side panel can be modded, from pinning instax films to adding windows to it . I really do like the anodised finish but of all the units in the run, every one of them has cosmetic damage in some sort of way. The fabricator did a great job as the shell doesn't showed any folding marks but its really hard QC finish.

Here's the link: JP Case

It looks like an Osmi layout that has been elongated to house reference GPUs and a 240mm radiator.
I like it.

Where do you mount the HDD when a 240 is used?

Mal

Yep, even though I can punch out 2 x 140mm fan holes, I restricted it to 240mm as a system builder could install a 120mm AIO unit for the CPU and a 120mm AIO unit for the GPU.At the moment, for 240mm AIO, the tubing hits the HDD cage, if I mount the radiator first, it will hit the power switch and front panel studs. Hence I'm thinking of moving the power button to the back and a complete removal of the front panel usb. What do you think? I like to know what people's system as I try to make the layout more versatile, however no high performance air cooling though and no ATX mount, due to the long 24 pins cable T_T.

 

[ignsvn]

It does fit into the case however the ease of installation is troublesome

I see.. yeah dimension wise things look OK but ease of installation is indeed another story.

 

[Phuncz]

I get an image hosting provider and put more pics later

I prefer IMGUR.com, for some reason they are free and still display years old images.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

I prefer IMGUR.com, for some reason they are free and still display years old images.

I almost always use them. No meaningful resolution limits, they don't ruin image quality, and I can't recall a time that an embedded imgur image ever didn't resolve.

SFF Forum also supports imgur natively, insofar that it automatically embeds the image with unmarked links. Ditto for galleries and image annotations and such.

 

[iFreilicht]

SFF Forum also supports imgur natively, insofar that it automatically embeds the image with unmarked links. Ditto for galleries and image annotations and such.

The native album integration is awesome, I love that feature!

 

[IMJP]

I prefer IMGUR.com, for some reason they are free and still display years old images.

Made one up, pretty good so far, especially gif!!

 

[IMJP]

Food for thoughts

Brushed stainless steel side panel in the future? Polished outer shell would look nicer with it but QC is simply hard. A sidepanel with brushed stainless steel should be doable as it is easy to re-grain one plane side only.

P.S image looks crappy due to low light, will take a better pic in the morning.

 

[IMJP]

Cable management with Silverstone PP05 Flat ribbon cables

Made everything far more easier to work with especially the (120MM AIO configuration with HDD bay)

A series easily fit tall graphic card like Asus GTX 970 Strix Series

Corsair Hydro 105 (38mm Radiator Thickness) with standard 25mm fans.

Thinking of moving this set of vents to back - side near the gpu areas

Also , you can add 2 separate 120mm AIO with the tubing facing the side panel, one for CPU, one for some graphic card with AIO or modified graphic card with the NZXT kraken G10 mod. HDD bay is rotate-able as well.

 

[IMJP]

Low Profile CPU Cooler Configuration, Build Log

This build is coming from 240mm AIO configuration, hence the fans and mobo are already there

1.) Add the Motherboard first with everything needed: CPU, RAM, I/O shield and CPU Cooler
2.) Plug the power switch Header cable

Afterwards, start with the HDD bay, if you have a SSD , screw it first with a short screwdriver then follows by 3.5 inch HDD's.

Bought this SATA cable in Japan when I was on holiday, I considered this as the best money can spent on cabling, I also bought a 3 X SATA Power parallel cable adaptor but the wire came loose after few months.

Screwing the bottom two thumb nuts are annoying but its not something you do everyday. Also the reason why i don't suggest of having tall (and long) graphic card like ASUS GTX 970 Strix is that you cant simply slot them in easily.

However if you want to, remove 2 case screw that holds the top and bottom panel. Be brutal and pry a bit of the shell and slot the graphic card in... Yea not recommended!.

I believe the standard screws for PCI expansion slot are screw with thread size of 6-32. Do not use them on this case as you will completely strip the threads. The screw holes in this slot are threaded for M3 screws. 2 thumbscrews are provided.

Don't really know why my graphic card is bendy looking, the position and the size of the HDD bay is accounted for the back plate of the graphic card.

Time for cable management, I slot the the cable of the front panel USB 3.0 Header between the gap of the HDD

The Silverstone PP05 flat ATX cable only provide 2 x right angled SATA Power connectors, hence i have to use my old cable as it has 3 X sata power connecters. I really wished i bought more thin SATA (SATA III !!) cables back in Japan. Slot all of the SATA cables between the HDD's to shorten the length and hide them.

The reason why i didn't want a 3 or 4 x 3.5 HDD bay is because that space is for cabling and 120mm AIO tubing. Secondly, it will be quite heavy.

One word, DAISO!!, its a Japanese discount store that has pretty much anything that you can "smartly" think off. The adhesive Velcro is for later build.

Time to add more cablings

All tidy up! I think future revision for the HDD bay is some punch out holes for zip ties. All neat and organised.

There we go !, i will post more on thermal notes. CPU and GPU setting are same as other 240mm AIO configuration. They both will be overclocked.

Edit: its funny how this case started because i wasn't happy with any ITX computer case at my local PC store back then ( must be picky as). I focused more of the footprint of a case compared to litre size, because you know, the case will be on the desk. Back then, when i build my system with SUGO 05, the ease of installation is pretty much annoying (i was using a modular SFX PSU! and i couldn't fit the HDD/optical bay thingy back into the case @____@, also the side cover is soo flimsy as well ) and that's pretty start this idea off.

P.S Back to air cooling, no more buzzing noise from AIO cooling!