BitFenix announces the Prodigy M case - a Prodigy for mATX
by Ian Cutress on August 14, 2013 5:41 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- bitfenix
- Prodigy
- Prodigy M
One of my most used cases of last year is the Bitfenix Prodigy (my family own three between us), and Dustin gave it an Editor's Choice award back in June last year. It offered a slightly larger mini-ITX case with space for several storage drives and a large GPU. The Prodigy got enough of a following that requests were funnelled back to BitFenix to release a version, either the same size or slightly bigger for micro-ATX motherboards and dual GPU functionality. I saw some of the design factors that Bitfenix were working on during Computex, but today they are officially announcing the BitFenix Prodigy M, the same size as the Prodigy but enough to fit a micro-ATX motherboard inside.
As you can see, it is all a tight squeeze to fit a 5-bay mATX board inside. The Power Supply insert requires a unique cable (provided) to route the PSU to the front of the case, and both 120mm and slim 240mm water cooling radiators are supported. The Prodigy M comes with the same SofTouch surface treatment as the Prodigy as well as FyberFlex handles. By fitting the storage into the side panels and on the bottom of the case, BitFenix are claiming support for four 3.5" bays or five 2.5" bays, though I'd imagine that comes at the expense of certain other features. For example, it would seem that users have the choice of a second long GPU or an ODD.
We are told that the Prodigy M will be available in October, and UK retailers currently have it on pre-order for just under £70 (inc. tax), which would put it at the US$90 mark (without tax), although official pricing from BitFenix is an MSRP of $99. It would seem that intially the case will be available in white or black, although I would imagine we will see a more diverse color range as the orginial Prodigy has today.
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EnzoFX - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Slightly larger ITX Case? The Prodigy is a monster of an ITX case, I wouldn't even call it SFF, but whatever. As for this case, looks just like a Silver TJ-08E, except doesn't hold nearly enough drives. The TJ-08E (mATX), compared to the ITX Prodigy with handles on, are actually about the same size... hah.Death666Angel - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
The height BitFenix saves compared to the TJ-08E by having the PSU not on top of below the mainboard is eaten up by the stupid handles. Oh well.rqle - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link
These Prodigy ITX are size of TANKS and MATX is too. Don't understand why anandtech would give them a editor reward for ITX, it doesn't even fit the definition of an ITX case. 36 liters, or even the advertise 27 liters are size for a lot of tower cases. ITX with 1-3 expansion slots starts at 9-10 liters.Peanutsrevenge - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link
It's compatability that dictates whether a case is mini-ITX or not. Size is irrelevant. Many full tower cases are mini-ITX cases, it's just that they also support mATX, ATX, E-ATX etc. The Prodigy is mini-ITX only.The reason for the large size is for cooling. Very few people need > mini-ITX boards these days, but cooling the systems quitely still requires space.
Don't know why there's no handless version though, that just wasted space without modding.
Theremings759 - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
my classmate's ex-wife makes $78/hour on the laptop. She has been laid off for seven months but last month her payment was $19551 just working on the laptop for a few hours. great post to read http://jobs63.comHrel - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
Handles ftw.xbournex - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Should look at the Phenom if height is an issue. Prodigy MATX is the same size as the ITX case.jensend - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
No kidding- "slightly larger" is ridiculous, the thing has 5x the volume of many other mini-ITX cases. I couldn't understand its reason for existing at all; if you're getting mini-ITX you accept some compromises in the name of getting something smaller, and having a huge case negates that.This case seems considerably less ridiculous.
1Angelreloaded - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
These cases are more Lan Party luggage than anything, I've seen 2 many of them already at shows and parties, the ITX version is nice for watercooling and internal airflow, however this version is really bad at that and will likely suffer on the thermals end, Ill stick with the Bob Slay V2, or H2Go they are better for airflow meeting watercooling needs compared to this case.starlyte - Sunday, March 22, 2015 - link
I find that OK for ITX it is big, but for mATX with some hard drives, up to 5 x 2.5", and a DVD, it is perfect, with good cooling, so no overclocking problems. I'm using it for a compact virtual and physical home server, and I'm happy i found it. On the other hand, for an mITX, it's not what I'd choose, as my drives, and all the dossiers, will be in this box.