Bitfenix Prodigy owners club

[m4sopmod]

Any suggestions guys?

Bitfenix Prodigy White
Intel Core LGA1155 3570K
Noctua L12 CPU Cooler
Sapphire 7850 2GB OC
Pioneer DVR-220LBK
G-Skill Ares 16GB (8x2) 1600Mhz
Noctua NF-F12
OCZ 120GB SSD
WD 2TB Green
Asus P8Z77-itx
Corsair AX-650

All under $1420

[t8y]

Originally Posted by Duste

140mm in the front (GPU loop), 120mm on top (CPU loop).

Any bigger on the front and you're drastically reducing your ability to use long graphics cards.

As for the top...even if you decided to drill holes for a bigger radiator, you would lose the ability to mount the optical drive bay, and would also start impeding on your rear case fan's space. If you don't need the optical drive bay, however, then 240mm is good to go.

I'm starting up a worklog on another forum tomorrow, may do the same here, else I'll simply post the photos of my mock-up arrangement here.

yeah, have not used optical for some years now. only require 2 drives, one 3.5", one 2.5", so removing all the bays is fine also. ill work out something else for putting those, thinking perhaps next to the PSU or behind it.
do have a USB DVD drive for the times i have required optical, though. everything else i need is either on HDD in .iso format or installed via other means (like games via steam/origin etc)

as per this video (quite long but its somewhere in there lol) it seems anything in front that is 120mm wide will still leave room to clear a super long GPU, as the GPU area is offset enough from the centre of the case. 140mm rad in front might be another matter, though. feel free to correct me there though, as more rad=better in my books
otherwise, sounds like i might just have to do a fat 240rad push/pull in top, fat 120rad push/pull bottom.
there wont be enough clearance for monster cards with the 200mm rad in the front

besides that, im also trying to work out the pump/res options.
not sure now if i want to get a swiftech apogee drive2 and have no res (just run a T line to a fill/bleed point), to keep the loop as compact as possible, or do a proper setup - which will use more room for dedicated res/pump..
the latter is possible of course but it just doesnt offer that many advantages.

[mrbean_phillip]

Originally Posted by t8y

*snip* otherwise, sounds like i might just have to do a fat 240rad push/pull in top, fat 120rad push/pull bottom *snip*

I have to wonder why these monstrous push-pull fan setups?

I mean, if you want an all-out power-pc, built one for that purpose, a setup like this, with mini-itx, single 240rad and 2x fans, will get you 95% of where a big system with same GFX will get you....

Again, if it is because you can, no worries BUt for any reason, there won't be much of a practical benefit....

[Duste]

Originally Posted by t8y

as per this video (quite long but its somewhere in there lol) it seems anything in front that is 120mm wide will still leave room to clear a super long GPU, as the GPU area is offset enough from the centre of the case. 140mm rad in front might be another matter, though. feel free to correct me there though, as more rad=better in my books
otherwise, sounds like i might just have to do a fat 240rad push/pull in top, fat 120rad push/pull bottom.
there wont be enough clearance for monster cards with the 200mm rad in the front

The photo looks a bit deceiving, but there is at least 5mm space between the PCB and the 140mm fan. Once you reach the radiator, however, you're going to strike issues. Keep in mind this is a Gigabyte GTX 580 3GB at 280mm long - you would probably max out with a 300mm card.

I've started a worklog (http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...php?p=14518606), so there's a few photos in there to further illustrate my setup.

[Hood]

Originally Posted by m4sopmod

Any suggestions guys?

Bitfenix Prodigy White
Intel Core LGA1155 3570K
Noctua L12 CPU Cooler
Sapphire 7850 2GB OC
Pioneer DVR-220LBK
G-Skill Ares 16GB (8x2) 1600Mhz
Noctua NF-F12
OCZ 120GB SSD
WD 2TB Green
Asus P8Z77-itx
Corsair AX-650

All under $1420

Looks alright, only comments I would make are: whats the dvd for? any brand of SSD except OCZ (worst reliability ever). and most people favour seagate over WD greens now (again high failure rate).

[t8y]

Originally Posted by mrbean_phillip

I have to wonder why these monstrous push-pull fan setups?

I mean, if you want an all-out power-pc, built one for that purpose, a setup like this, with mini-itx, single 240rad and 2x fans, will get you 95% of where a big system with same GFX will get you....

Again, if it is because you can, no worries BUt for any reason, there won't be much of a practical benefit....

i'm not a firm believer in the benefits of watercooling, tbh.
previous watercooled PCs, the small benefits (to OC potential) were cancelled out by the cost and effort.
i have no illusions about the sorts of results ill get on water.. lets be honest, its 90% aesthetic wank, 10% performance boost
i have bench rig & ln2 pots for more extreme adventures.

having said that;
i do like to put a bit of effort into my own personal gaming rigs.
its something to show off a bit at LANs, and show my "normal/gaming" system building skills to others (i work in a PC store and so its also a good showcase for business too). most locals have NFI what im doing when it comes to subzero stuff. at least this, they can relate to.

Originally Posted by Duste

image

The photo looks a bit deceiving, but there is at least 5mm space between the PCB and the 140mm fan. Once you reach the radiator, however, you're going to strike issues. Keep in mind this is a Gigabyte GTX 580 3GB at 280mm long - you would probably max out with a 300mm card.

I've started a worklog (http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...php?p=14518606), so there's a few photos in there to further illustrate my setup.

cheers for that, hadnt spotted it. i've subbed to your thread
i see you've mounted the 140 rad sideways. does it fit with the in/outlets at top (or bottom)?
curious if it allows more space for cards if mounted as such, as the end tank wont be in the way.

but at the least, its shown that likely no matter what, a 120mm rad shouldnt have clearance issues even with my 5970 (which is a whopping ~320mm, iirc)

[Duste]

Originally Posted by t8y

i see you've mounted the 140 rad sideways. does it fit with the in/outlets at top (or bottom)?
curious if it allows more space for cards if mounted as such, as the end tank wont be in the way.

This was one option I explored, and technically you can, but you're really pushing it. If mounted vertically, the top of your rad will be touching the optical drive bay (as seen below), and you can only just get the mounting screws in.



You'd also want only a single res/pump combo if you were to mount it vertically, else the inlet/outlets of the radiator will be smack-bang were your res/pumps are; single setup you could mount it central and have the radiator inlet/outlets either side.

Hope this helps.

[mrbean_phillip]

having said that;
i do like to put a bit of effort into my own personal gaming rigs.
its something to show off a bit at LANs, and show my "normal/gaming" system building skills to others (i work in a PC store and so its also a good showcase for business too). most locals have NFI what im doing when it comes to subzero stuff. at least this, they can relate to.

Good one, thanx for getting back to me

Enjoy the phase-change stuff, good fun!

[t8y]

Originally Posted by Duste

This was one option I explored, and technically you can, but you're really pushing it. If mounted vertically, the top of your rad will be touching the optical drive bay (as seen below), and you can only just get the mounting screws in.

image

You'd also want only a single res/pump combo if you were to mount it vertically, else the inlet/outlets of the radiator will be smack-bang were your res/pumps are; single setup you could mount it central and have the radiator inlet/outlets either side.

Hope this helps.

thanks for that.
id be fully removing the optical bay in order to accomodate the top rad/fans i guess, so unless the 140 would interfere with those i dont see any further clearance issues.
(depending on orientation and/or thickness of rad, number of fans used, though)

its looking like a case of "get the case, measure things up" i think though. i wont know 100% for the gear i want to use, until im trying.
i dont mind chopping/changing the case to fit things

Originally Posted by mrbean_phillip

Good one, thanx for getting back to me

Enjoy the phase-change stuff, good fun!

np

[WarezNimph]

Originally Posted by mrbean_phillip

Heya Mate,
You can have a read through a few of my earlier comments wrt PSU's in this thread, alternatively, have a look at what I am doing. Link in my sig.

There's also another member doing a similar mod, his name is Tazor - I think his log is in the Xtreme Cooling section though...

Depending on the 160mm PSU you get, there may or may not be a small amount of modding involved.

Let us know what you decide on.

I also ended up modding my case to fir my original 750W "SilverStone" ST75F-P that was purchased, see thread of my specs

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...7&postcount=17

Will up some pics when i copy from camera, but still not too much room, but easy mod to do.

great case btw....

[Duste]

BitFenix is already working on an extension bracket which extends the PSU bay out the back of the chassis

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/B...Prodigy/4.html

I think I will hold off on modifying my power supply bay just yet.

[Hood]

Nice review, "This also means that the Prodigy wobbles slightly when you poke it" like so many other things...

Interesting Bitfenix are doing a PSU extension bracket for this case, i suppose they want to keep those 2 ssd mounts on the psu cage.

not happy Jan, my prodigy's have been pushed back to July 20th for shipment. gah.

[sammy_b0i]

Just saw this on Gumtree for anyone in Melbourne who is after a white one ASAP.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/melbo...new/1003814699

[Hood]

I wonder if the 670 would fit in without having to remove the hdd cage, that could be a huge advantage in a prodigy build.

[RezZed]

Just picked up my first small package from the post office. Only major bits in there was the Silverstone short cable kit.
The cables included are just what I need and they seem fairly high quality.
Other than that my main shipment still hasn't left Melbourne and I'm in Albany until Thursday . Can't wait.
-RezZed