i-Prodigy - Project for i-Wife

[mrbean_phillip]

Hello Gents,
Ah, finally the good ol' Bitfenix Prodigy arrived on our shores, and thus I can commence to fit the bits and pieces, purchased over the last 2 months, to this case.

This system will be a new gaming/daily use setup for my Wife, as I want to get rid of the monstrous Lian-Li P80 with quad-SLI adorning her study-desk. System must be reliable, and will mostly run 24/7, so a quality HDD is a must.

With that in mind, I selected the following components:
1) Motherboard - Asrock Z77E-ITX
2)CPU - i5-3570K
3) RAM - 8GB GSkill Rip Jaws
4)GFX - Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670

5) HDD - WD RE4 1TB Enterprise
6) PSU - Seasonic X660 Gold

7) Feser 240mm Rad
8) 2x 120MM Scythe 1600rpm Fans
9) ApogeeDriveII pump/block combination unit
10) Watercool Heatkiller X3 GTX 680 block and backplate - ordered from TKR 24.06.2012!

Why I appreciate comments and feedback, please keep it on-topic, much obliged

[mrbean_phillip]

Ok, let the modding commence.

First things first, needed to make sure the spare (and brandnew) Feser 240mm rad I have will fit to the top of the case:



and from below, no problems, all screw-holes line up, easy-peasy - probably the easiest case I had to foit a rad to, ever, hehe.



Just wish I could have made my spare old AC Ryan 2x 120mm rad-grill to fit, pity there is a cutout to make provision for Bitfenix's original top fan-cover.



Ah well, stock will have to do, and at least it provides some sort of dust-filtering....pretty innocuous looking, but will have to do for now....

[mrbean_phillip]

Next area of interest would be the PSU - I have to make the Seasonic X660 work in this case, shouldn't be to hard though.



Space between PSU and rear wall of the PSU-cage (approx 20mm):



and then between PSU-cage and bottom drive-bay (approx 10mm):



as mentioned in the Prodigy owners-thread, I have done some testing, and if you bent the Seasonic X660 cables pretty tight at right-angles, you can get the PSU with cables in without any modding, but I prefer modding the rear-plate anyway, will make it pretty easy and simple to add-remove cables without having to take out the PSU - of course, you will need to remove the bottom drive-cage, but no concern for me, a small sacrifice.

Need to remove a few rivets first - these 3 here,



then (only?) 2 at the bottom side,



and then these 2 here, on each side of the case:



So, all-in-all, only 9 rivets to remove, and you have the PSU-cage/ITX mounting-base out for some Dremel-action.

and you end up with this



and this

[mrbean_phillip]

Mark the area to be removed, like this - very difficult and involved



Some of the tools I am using, my trusty Dremel, and cordless Makita drill - makes life very easy when it comes to modding - here with the piece already clamped down:



and please, if you use powertools, especially when using the Dremel, please observe safety precautions, and use Safety Glasses, and earplugs!!



Midway through the cut:



and done



After cleanup with a fine-tooth metal file



and another angle

[mrbean_phillip]

Now, t replace the countersunk pop-rivets Bitfenix used to secure the PSU-cage, I used small 3mm metric-fine countersunk screws with SS-nuts and washers



and here you can see some of the nuts/washers



This will allow all the panels and pieces to properly slide over the screws, as there are a few areas where they have to sit flush.....otherwise side-panels won't slide on proper...

and a shot with it fitted and secured



Test-fitting the PSU again, but not expecting any hassles - this shot just for e-peen...hehe



and from a few different angles, to give you an idea what we're working with, and some help should you wish to attempt something similar, as I know the PSU-issue and what would work in this case is a hot topic...



and



and with the drive-cage fitted too - nice and open, and cable-friendly...

[mrbean_phillip]

Ok, time to fit the motherboard, and route some cables to see what goes where, and will it all work....

from the inside:



and from behind



and cables connected, and a few close-ups for you to see how easy the Seasonic X660 modular works with this case - I like



with drive-cage fitted



and



and

[mrbean_phillip]

Feedback/comments appreciated, hope the above is of help to you guys.

As mentioned in the first post, I will order the Watercool Heatkiller X3 GTX 680 for the Windforce GTX 670 on Monday, and next weekend I will install the watercooling setup, and finalise this (quick 'n easy) build.

As it sits now, I have it running on air, making sure everything is working as it should, and running on Win 7 Ultimate 32.

Will load drivers later tonight, and start setting up al the applications for the Missus, with only the watercooling and tidying-up remaining for next weekend.

I will post several more pics, no worries.

[Dr Evil]

Originally Posted by mrbean_phillip

Win 7 Ultimate 32.

Just out of curiosity why 32 bit? Forgot Win7 Ultimate came in 32 bit.. don't know why either.

But it does look neat & simple, no SSD??

[mrbean_phillip]

Heya Mate,
Don't need 64-bit for what the Wife will use this for, and might just have a little bit more compatibility with some of the older games/progs she refuses to get rid of....

Wrt SSD, there is a 80GB Intel Sodacreek mSata sitting on the back-side of the motherboard I might use this in my Pico LP-172 for my HP Blackbird setup though, let's see....

Anyway, the RE4's are pretty speedy drives, and with this system most likely on 24/7, wouldn't make that big a difference in day-day tasks....

[Hood]

32bit cant access more than 4gb ram and you have 8gb?

the cut in the PSU cage looks really good, hope bitfenix take this onboard and make it that way out of the factory.

[mrbean_phillip]

Heya Hood, wrt RAM, yes, I know - got the 8GB because it was pretty cheap, will most likely go 64-bit OS in the near future, let's see what Win8 holds, and if the Wife likes it.

Overkill for 32-bit OS, but will come in handy later

Thanx for the feedback though, and yes, let's hope BF take note - will make life a lot easier for most guys if they can punch the PSU back-plate at the factory.

[miicah]

Just install 64bit.

Why didn't you just pop rivet the PSU bracket back in?

[AudioFX]

This is going to be a sweet rig

Btw I prefer the look of the stock grill over that AC Ryan one.

Also you will really benefit from installing 64bit seeing as you have 8GB ram + the 2GB graphics card... but if she has programs that don't work on 64bit then I guess 32bit will have to do... Anyway there's a free performance upgrade in the future :P

[Gonadman2]

Heh, I have the same drill and the same dremel.

[t0mmy44]

totally agree with 64bit, these days there are no worries with program compatibility, you'd have to be using some pretty archaic and whackily coded stuff to run into much trouble.

as for the post in general, THANK YOU! i am planning a build in the black prodigy and your shots of the psu cage/mobo tray mod gave me more confidence in my plans! hat tip to you sir