BitFenix Prodigy M Review
The Build
Published: 21st October 2013 | Source: BitFenix | Price: £74.95 |

The Build
The PSU is mounted to a removable bracket before being slotted into the case. It's a bit of a tight fit but no biggy. The Motherboard goes in inverted with the CPU lowermost and the expansion slots t the top.
Clearance between the GPU and the rear of the PSU is extremely tight. We mentioned earlier that it's best to have the fan facing outwards as to have the PSU rotated would mean the main 24 pin ATX supply would be directly in the path of the GPU. As it is the sockets on this modular PSU would impinge on the PCB of the GPU were it to extend much further. It's also worth considering that we're using a 160mm long PSU, as to use anything longer would drastically reduce the max GPU length from a very ample 320mm down to a paltry 230mm. As it is the ancillary power cables in the modular PSU would impinge on a GPU dropping the length down to 290mm or even 250mm should the lower rail be needed.
If you've read our review of the Phenom then you'll be familiar with the technique we used for "managing" the cables. Having researched our technique it appears we are practicing the ancient Japanese art of "stuffing it all in the big hole round the back"
Like cable management airflow management is also a bit of an art form when it comes the M-ATX version of the Prodigy. With both fans set to extract it's a not too obvious which way round to orientate your cooler. Even switching the base fan to intake and having the intake of the cooler mounted linear to it has it disgorging its hot air onto the rear of the GPU PCB. Whichever way you chose to mount your cooler you're not going to have to worry too much about size as anything up to 160mm will fit just fine. If you can live without the HDD cross brace then you can add another 35mm to that total
Regular readers will know that we'd usually give a separate section over to the cooling options of a case, but as the choices on offer with the M-ATX Podigy are exactly the same as with the recently reviewed Phenom M there seems little point in covering the same ground. Suffice to say that you can fit a rad up to 35mm thick in the roof, but to do so you'll lose te option of both having a second GPU and also anything installed in the 5.25" bay as this room will be taken up by the rad and fans
So here we have what modders around the globe have been creating in their sheds. A BitFenix Prodigy with an M-ATX board in it.
Most Recent Comments
The case is a bit cramped for M-ATX, with the itx version you have plenty of room for decent water cooling and good airflow. You were also not restricted on the length of the GPU either.
I think Bitfenix could of put more effort in and made the case slightly bigger for the M-ATX version. Either that or just stick to the itx design but make the case wider so you can fit a M-ATX board in the way you fitted the itx one in the original Prodigy.
It's not a bad case and does the job, but I can't help thinking it could have been much better.
Surprised it got a Gold Award if I'm honest, but it was still a good read

even more now. The others are right though, there does seem to be too much of a compromise, I'd rather go for the Bitfenix phenom .http://vorming.minatica.be/ict2013/B...henomMini1.jpg
Think I'm going for an mITX Phenom in white. Maybe slap a white Prodigy windowed panel on there, cause there's no windowed Phenom available...
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Welp, no Phenom for me, I thought they were different but must've got mixed up with something else.
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-mITX Prodigy
-mATX Prodigy
-mITX Phenom
-mATX Phenom
Both ITX cases are the same on the inside, as well as both mATX cases. I personally like the look of the Phenom more, but I'm not a fan of the mATX version of either.
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Both ITX cases are the same on the inside, as well as both mATX cases. I personally like the look of the Phenom more, but I'm not a fan of the mATX version of either. |
. Yeah, I do think the Phenom looks fantastic as well however I am leaning towards The Elite 130 in terms of ITX as I do love a LED front fan/black case combo for some reason 
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Ah right, thanks for clearing it up
. Yeah, I do think the Phenom looks fantastic as well however I am leaning towards The Elite 130 in terms of ITX as I do love a LED front fan/black case combo for some reason ![]() |

The Elite 130 is a good case though, very compact and can still fit some high-end gear. Cheap as well! I'm personally going with the Bitfenix case cause I think it looks better and it supports watercooling.
Either would make a nice Lanbox though!

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Haha, fair enough. I'm past the point where I liked LED fans
![]() Either would make a nice Lanbox though! ![]() |
, it'll either have an i5 or one of the budget X4 750k AMD cpus with my current 7870, it'll depend how much I spend on upgrades on my main pc...Greetz.
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panels could be switched but as for turning the front upside down you would also neeed to do the roof too.... Its not something I think we could answer now without going to rip the case apart again just to answer this. Youd be better hoping one of the members has one tbh.
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You might want to make a custom panel for the new top (former bottom) though, it won't look that pretty leaving it like it is.
http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/...ps59a1040c.png
@Lucas: If you want to dicuss this further I suggest you make your own thread in the Cases & Power section instead of using the review thread

http://forum.overclock3d.net/forumdisplay.php?f=26

"It's a Prodigy Jim, but not as we know it". Lets see what the familiar Prodigy looks like with an M-ATX motherboard squeezes inside.
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