Review: BitFenix Prodigy
Category : Cases
Published by Marc Büchel on 31.08.12
With the Prodigy, BitFenix has a compact, mini ITX compatible case in their portfolio, which is perfectly suitable to build a small but yet powerful system. Furhtermore this nice looking little case should also offer plenty of space in the interior.
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On the following pages we will show you the strengths and weaknesses of the BitFenix Prodigy.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Preview
Specifications
| Model | BitFenix Prodigy |
| Case Type | Mini Tower |
| Dimensions | 250 x 404 x 359 mm (W x H x D) |
| Material | Steel, Plastic |
| Color | Black / Weiss |
| 5.25'' drive bay | 1 x external |
| 3.5'' drive bay | 5 x |
| Expansion slots | 2 |
| Form factors | Mini-ITX |
| Cooling | 1 x 120 mm Front or 140/180/200/230 optional 1 x 120 mm Rear 2 x 120 mm Top optional |
| I/O ports | 2 x USB 3.0 Audio in / out |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Front
Overview |
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| The front of BitFenix's Prodigy is simple, elegant and therefore timeless. In this case you find a front plate made from white, matte palstic which comes with a black frame. Furthermore one can see the 5.25 inch bay, where optical drives can be installed. After removing the front plate you see the 120 millimeter fan, which has been mounted behind the mesh. You'll also see different mounting holes for fans with 140 millimeter, 180 millimeter, 200 millimeter and 230 millimeter diameter. | |
Back
Overview |
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| Next to the usual slot bezels, of which you're going to find two in this case, there is space for an additional 120 millimeter fan, which will be placed right behind the CPU cooler. In general the back of this case looks quite unspectacular. Both side panels are kept in place by the use of four thumbscrews. Something that looks a bit unusual concerns the hole where you'll find a motherboards I/O connectors. In this case it's alignment is horizontal to use the space inside the case more efficiently. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Right side
Overview |
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| The panel on the right side looks quite unspectacular. The only thing that is special about it concerns the power and reset button as well as the connectors. It seems that BitFenix did not want to mess with the nice and clean design of the Prodigy's front panel, which is why they put the buttons and connectors onto the right side. Regarding the connectors you find two USB 3.0 ports as well as one audio and one microphone port. |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Left side
Overview |
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| Like the right side, the left side panel is
unspectacular. You'll find a mesh design which allows powerful graphics
card to suck in plenty of air. Otherwise it's white like the rest of the
case, nice and white. Once you've taken the side panel off you'll see
the hard drive cages of which there are two. The upper one can be
removed easily. You'll simply have to push two plastic pieces towards
eachother and then pull the cage out. If you wish to remove the cage in
the bottom area you will need to remove six screws. If you decide to do
so there will be quite a lot of space to install a watercooling. In fact
it's no problem to even install a dual radiator in this small case. What we didn't like too much is the compartment for the power supply. We would love it if the entire case were between two to five centimeter longer. Like this there would be plenty of space to install a power supply with fully modular cable management. At the moment everything is really tight when it comes to the power supply. |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Top
Overview |
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| Taking a closer look at the top of this case show the flexible holding bows. Furthermore you can also see the washable air filters you can easily remove. To do so you only have to slide the lock to the other side and then you can take the filter out. | |
Bottom
Overview |
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| At the bottom of the case you find for example the six screws which have to be removed to take out the 3.5 inch hard drive cage. Furthermore there are the two feet which also come with the shape of flexible holding bars. Another neat feature is the air filter below the power supply. This one can also be removed and washed easily. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| The BitFenix Prodigy is a well though, mini ITX case where especially the interior layout is very well done and one can see from a first glance that the engineers at BitFenix have thought a lot to make this case practical. There really is only the compartment for the PSU where we think it isn't perfect. We think that that if the case was two to five centimeters longer it would have been absolutely perfect. But still this is a remarkably good case. | -
Design - Interior layout |
- Space for PSU | |
| Manufacturing quality / Ergonomics | + | - | |
| Overall the build quality is on a very good level. BitFenix didn't make the mistake to go for super thin side panel to save weight. They use solid metal sheets which gives the case good stiffness and a solid appearance. Furthermore putting the components in place is piece of cake until you get to the PSU, but this one we've already discussed. To make very sure, that even todays biggest aircooler fit in the Prodigy we placed a huge Phanteks tower cooler on out mini ITX board. It was kind of tricky to put the board into the case but ultimately it is possible. It turns out that this is the perfect case to build a mini ITX high performance gaming rig. | - Build quality - Interior Space | ||
| Design | + | - | |
| BitFenix created a very decent and good looking design for the Prodigy. BitFenix chose to move the buttons and connectors away from the front panel to the right side of the case. Like this they can keep the fron plain and simple. What make the design of this particular case interesting are the flexible holding bars. It really makes this little case look special. | - Design | ||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| We can recommend the Prodigy to everybody who's looking for a mini ITX case the offers plenty of space even for today's enthusiast level hardware. | -
Gaming-PC - Enthusiast build - Desktop PC - HTPC - File Server |
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| Rating | |||
| The BitFenix Prodigy gets very good four and a half out of five stars. The case comes at a price point of est. CHF 79.- (est EUR 66.-). | |||
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Right side |
Discuss this article in the forums
Redacted by: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch