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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1Angelreloaded - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Would have rathered they ditched the handles and expanded the internal space of the case itself internal airflow is more a concern.tim851 - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Looks just like a Silver TJ08-E ?????? In what universe? I don't think it could look a whole lot more different than a TJ08-E.As for the people saying the Prodigy was "too large": it sold in bunches. The market has spoken. Just like the iPhone isn't too small and the Galaxy Note isn't too big. We don't have a planned economy. If a product sells, it's good.
jensend - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Big Mouth Billy Bass sold considerably better than the Prodigy. Your definition of "good" is bogus.tim851 - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
A Boeing 747 is considerably bigger than the Prodigy. Your definition of "big" is bogus.SithSolo1 - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
"If a product sells, it's good."Yeah, you run with one. It sold well because of the price and the fact its huge makes installation so easy anyone can have an ITX build. Coming in multiple colors for the "Hey, check out my case from space" crowd didn't hurt. It also happens to be a good product but not "because it sells."
tim851 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
Aha, so a fair price, easy installation and choice of colors don't make a case good? Pray tell, what does? Enlighten me with some objective truth!starlyte - Sunday, March 22, 2015 - link
Seems your definition of "good" is some what subjective, but if others find it easy to use, nice coloured and good price too, what ISN'T good about that? I find it great for what I want for my purposes. Maybe for other purposes, I'd not get this box, but a mATX server is good in this box.Piano Man - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Exactly. I wanted to build a SFF super PC last year, and I found out the mATX Temjin TJ-08E was actually smaller than the ITX Prodigy. This new mATX prodigy looks like its going to have awful airflow. Where is the fan to blow on the GPUs and System Board?tim851 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
>Where is the fan to blow on the GPUs and System Board?2x 120mm on top, 2x 120mm/1x 200mm at the bottom. Yeah, that thing has terrible airflow...
cjs150 - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - link
Nice but would have been more impressed if they had kept to the original Prodigy design of horizontal motherboard (fatter case), and a couple of HD trays below motherboard. Maybe they were worried about weight flexing the motherboard in that orientation