BitFenix Prodigy M Review

Up Close:  Interior

A large CPU cut out should make changing coolers a piece of piddle, however it is the only cut out there is so you can forget any thoughts of cable routing round the back.  Fortunately there’s a large area behind the PSU where all unwanted lengths of cable can be stashed discretely away.  A pair of 120mm fans are situated in the base and the rear of the case, with both set on extract.  Our thoughts on this are well documented in the review of the Phenom M so we’re not going to go in at great depth here. 

    

 

The front of the case is dominated by a large unfiltered mesh area.  It’s through this that the PSU gets it’s air.  We know you can orientate the PSU so that the fan faces inside the case, but as you’ll see when we come to he build there are good reasons for not doing so with the Prodigy M.  Above the PSU area there’s a bracket for a 5.25″ device with a corresponding punch-out on the exterior grill

       

 

The rear corner of the case is relatively un cluttered, with just the vented PCI clot covers and a mesh area to its right.  Up in the roof we have room for 2x120mm fans or a 240mm rad.  If fitting a rad it’s going to be necessary to remove the 5.25″ bracket.  

     

 

We weren’t expecting to find a lot round the back, and we weren’t disappointed.  The Prodigy M takes the record for the least number of cable tie points, having a grand total of none (we counted them twice).  Granted there are a few round the front though which is where most of the cables will end up anyway.  There’s also not a fat lot of room back here, but again it’s not really as issue as we doubt we’ll be routing cables in this space.

     

 

Most PC case side panels have a pretty easy life, maybe housing a window, or perhaps the odd fan.  The life of a Prodigy M case door is a little more involved than that though.  The Front I/O for starters, with its wiring for power, reset, activity lighting as well as audio jack ports and a pair of USB3.0s.  Now add in a handy dandy rack for stashing away some 2.5″ drives and you might star to feel a little sorry for it.