Completed Project Jolokia - Tiny but potent

[jeshikat]

Update: Pics of completed build and extra prototypes for sale

I'll be traveling overseas in a few months and I want to travel light, but I also want to have a powerful workstation for video editing, photo editing, CAD, and all the other stuff I normally do. I want something very compact, bag-friendly, has decent CPU cooling, an internal PSU (you won't catch me dead with an external brick on one of my desktops), sturdy, and have a good-looking minimalist design.

The upcoming L4 by @Lone is close but it's not quite what I wanted so obviously the solution was to design my own case from scratch

I've been carefully planning the design in my head over the last week or so and doing some basic experiments with part layout in SketchUp. But I purposely avoided starting any of the chassis work until now, because to challenge myself, I set a goal to do all the CAD for the sheet metal within one day. Yes, all the CAD work within a single day.

Now that CES is over I had some free time today, so to take a break from writing for the site I opened up SpaceClaim about 14 hours ago and now here we are

There's a few minor cutouts that I still need to do, but I'll let it slide because I need to measure some parts that I don't have on hand at the moment.

I'm tired and I have work tomorrow so more pics will have to wait until later. For now, enjoy this teaser

 

[jeshikat]

Updates:

Jan 10 2017: Now with images!

Jan 13: Timelapse of the CAD modeling

June 24: Completed build

 

[jeshikat]

Edit: Now with pictures!

Project Jolokia with the optional handle and feet attached.

Dimensions: 236mm x 113mm x 266mm (H x W x D) excluding feet and handle = 7.1L

I thought it'd be right under 7.0 liters but after double-checking I need to increase the height 4mm, oops

Construction is 2mm aluminum for the frame/brackets/feet and 3mm for the outer panels. Handle is a machined billet of aluminum.

Removing the side panel, we get a look at the interior. To achieve the slim profile, Project Jolokia is limited to low-profile video cards.

CPU heatsinks up to 88mm tall are supported. I'm still trying to decide what all cutouts I want on the rear. Suggestions?

There are multipurpose brackets that can attached to the top, bottom, or both. They serve as 92mm fan mounts, handle mount, feet mounts (which can be installed on either side, so the case can be flipped upside down), and mounts for the 2.5" drive brackets.

The frame front is also cut out for 92mm fan mounts. The stock front panel is solid but it could be swapped out with a vented panel (not sure if this will be offered or left to the user) or removed entirely.

The front panel is screwed onto standoffs that stick out past the frame, leaving room for the screws holding the fans/drive brackets/ whatever. It's symmetric as well, so it can be flipped upside to move the power button assuming there's clearance behind it.

Dual 92mm on the front. A single 92mm AIO could fit or if someone ever makes a slim 2x92mm rad it could go at the front.

Here's an example build using the HDPLEX 300W AC-DC and DC-ATX. This is the primary build this case was designed to since it's what I'll be using.

Not pictured but there will be a mounting plate to attach the DC-ATX to the front fan mounts.

And with an external brick and a picoPSU-style unit dual 3.5" drives can be mounted at the front of the case.

It's extremely tight but there's room for a 120mm fan+rad on the side panel. Other than the EK Annihilator 1U block though, I think this would only really be practical with a slim 120mm.

The placeholder rad is using the EK SE 120mm dimensions. There's room for a DC-LT pump in the bottom-front corner of the case, and maybe a DDC depending on what parts are used and how much room is leftover.

The feet can be swapped to the side! They attach to the screw holes that normally hold the side panel on.

And yes, I realize the feet look similar to the Dr Zaber Sentry. But I experimented with different designs and really this is the best design from an aesthetics, functionality, and manufacturability standpoint.

And here's Jolokia with it's eldest sibling Cerberus. I actually have another case design that's mostly finished but Jolokia got bumped up since I need it soon.


Thoughts? Suggestions? Criticisms? Let me know, I'm curious what you all think.

Don't get upset if I ignore cries to cut a bunch of features to make it smaller though, the design goal for Project Jolokia was to keep it relatively compact but smallest size possible wasn't a priority

 

[jeshikat]

Reserved

 

[NRG]

Gonna need more than one photo

 

[ricochet]

BUT

 

[ChainedHope]

I really hope this is a unibody case with a slide out motherboard tray.... Unibody cases just look so lovely. Especially one with curves....

 

[jeshikat]

Gonna need more than one photo

Oh there will be, but maybe not until after I get off work.

BUT

?

I really hope this is a unibody case with a slide out motherboard tray.... Unibody cases just look so lovely. Especially one with curves....

I guess it's unibody in the sense that there's a wrap-around panel and the "motherboard tray" slides out, though it's really that the panel slides of the frame that everything's attached to.


And for more teasers, here's a selection of the parts Codename Jolokia can fit (though not all at once):

• 6x 92mm fans
• 1x 120mm fan
• 92mm AIO
• 120mm slim AIO
• custom loop with separate pump (like DDC or DC-LT)
• 2x 3.5" drives
• 4x 2.5" drives? (it may be able to do more in theory).

All in 7 liters

 

[ricochet]

Tiny BUT Potent... yes?

 

[jeshikat]

Tiny BUT Potent... yes?

That's what I get for posting at 2am after only getting 4 hours sleep the night before

 

[ricochet]

That's what I get for posting at 2am after only getting 4 hours sleep the night before

I am a technical writer/research editor by education so my eye/brain picks up those kind of errors easily... cheers!

 

[ElinaNguyen]

Need more photos than one

 

[Phuncz]

I don't see any spots for RGB LEDs and no sharp corners, is this gaming-compatible ?

Seriously, it looks promising spec-wise. It seems to be designed for a reasonable price for manufacturing, am I extrapolating that correctly ?

 

[jeshikat]

Need more photos than one

There will be! But I just thought of a really cool feature this morning I want to check first, so ya'll will have to wait a bit longer

I don't see any spots for RGB LEDs and no sharp corners, is this gaming-compatible ?

That's a 16mm vandal switch on the front, so @iFreilicht just needs to finish his button and this too can be a cool RGB gamerz case

But yes, there is a distinct lack of sharp corners, which was one of the design goals. I wanted something that can be easily and safely slipped out of a bag for transport.

So I did big rounded corners on the exterior panels, and the panels extend past the rear of the case to protect the rear motherboard IO and the GPU retention flange.

Seriously, it looks promising spec-wise. It seems to be designed for a reasonable price for manufacturing, am I extrapolating that correctly ?

When I first started conceptualizing it was a very simple 3-piece design similar to the Lone Industries L4. As I got into it though feature creep became a problem, but I think I managed to get much, much more functionality without sacrificing size too much.

The design is more complex now, but it should still be much cheaper to make than Cerberus.

 

[iFreilicht]

I'll reserve judgement until I see more pictures, but the spec list doesn't sound bad so far.

That's a 16mm vandal switch on the front, so @iFreilicht just needs to finish his button and this too can be a cool RGB gamerz case

What a great showcase for that button it would be!

 

[alamilla]

You had me at custom loop with separate pump

 

[Arboreal]

I'll be traveling overseas in a few months and I want to travel light, but I also want to have a powerful workstation for video editing, photo editing, CAD, and all the other stuff I normally do. I want something very compact, bag-friendly, has decent CPU cooling, an internal PSU (you won't catch me dead with an external brick on one of my desktops), sturdy, and have a good-looking minimalist design.

Really interested to see this appear out of the woodwork , amazing work!
Internal PSU too; call me a heretic, but i just don't trust laptop bricks compared to PSUs. I'm sure that there are decent external out there; I've never got to investigate that aspect of running a rig.

Keep up the good work, waiting for more info and pics

 

[3lfk1ng]

Amazing work as always, cannot wait to see more pictures, especially of the internal layout and size comparison to the Cerberus.

 

[Sean Crees]

278x278x94mm?

 

[NRG]

Not to play the bad guy, but if that vandal switch is to scale, which I trust that you would have it so, then using your Photoshop scale trick that I learned from your stream, I could in theory work out the dimensions?