Thread: Prodigy M: Micro-ATX Build

I've been planning for a long time to make a smaller portable rig for taking places like LANs, extended work sessions, development parties like Game Jam, Quake-Con, media/living-room PC, and other scenarios where I don't want to move my main rig. Over the summer I began gathering some components for a micro-ATX build that temporarily through them in a case I got for free until something more suitable came along.

Well Bitfenix's popular Prodigy case (Mini-ITX, shown below) had my eye for a long time but I just wasn't willing to order a mini-ITX motherboard after I had already acquired my Micro-ATX one and I just accepted that I wouldn't be building in this case



A few months back, after the resounding success of the Prodigy - Bitfenix listened to the demand and released the Prodigy M, which is a dual form factor case supporting both Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX.



It was a dream come true! This weekend the case and the cooler came in the mail and I was finally ready to assemble



Pardon the crappy phone pictures...

Components list:

Bitfenix Prodigy M - Micro ATX case
Core i5 - 3570K CPU
Kraken X40 Liquid CPU Cooler (140mm)
ASRock B75M mobo
16GB (2x8GB) Crucial Ballistix Low Profile Ram
2GB Geforce GTX 650 ti
Corsair TX 650 watt psu
2 x Intel 520s SSD (120GB each)
Noctua 140mm case fan



My favorite feature by far is the sliding mechanism for the PSU. There is a power cable extension that runs along the bottom of the chassis beneath that thumb-screw mechanism. The whole rail slides out and screws into the bottom of the PSU letting you slide it back in and place it vertically into the case. This clears up a ton of free space for improved airflow.



Let me tell you, the Kraken x40 can be a pain to install in a little case like this. I was going to go with the Corsair H80i (120mm) cooler since this case has a butt-load of places for 120mm fans, but I was really interested in trying out what NZXT had to offer. (I have the H100i in my main rig so I've already had experience with Corsair)


The GTX 650TI card is so teeny-tiny. I love it - pops in and is so out of the way. If you aren't looking for a super gfx intensive rig but want a small card with some power, I highly recommend this one - the new ITX version of the GTX 760 is also great from what reviews are saying.



Here is the assembled build. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I've not yet fired it up yet, but will hopefully get to that soon and OC/burn-in within the next day or so. I'm pretty stoked to get this thing up and running.

Anybody else have/planning on having a micro-atx build? I thought I remember Wile posting something about a smaller rig a while back.

I dig the look of that case. I just did a Mini-ITX build for an HTPC. I will scrounge up some pics of it when I get a chance. Mine is just an HTPC and I am using an AMD APU, so no dedicated graphics card.