[section_title title=Conclusion]
Conclusion
Now I have been able to use the Prodigy for a couple of weeks and test it in most everyday situations, from general browsing and office use, to extended gaming sessions. Let’s see how my thoughts have shaped from using this chassis.
As with the majority of cases on the market today, people are buying them mainly for the looks and aesthetic appeal. The Prodigy is no different. We have already seen what a huge hit it has become all over the world with modders and system builders alike. Personally, it’s a design which has grown on me whilst using it. It does draw resemblances to the older Macs of years gone by, and maybe this was a good move on the part of BitFenix with the popularity of Apple continuing to grow.
I feel that BitFenix have done an admirable job fitting as many features as they have into such a small package. The fan support for both air and water cooling solutions at stock is excellent and still leaves a few options open for any aspiring modder. The removable hard drive cages further lend themselves to the water cooling scene. Allowing people the chance to use longer graphics cards, but also to fit in larger radiators and water cooling equipment. The tool-less implementation on the top hard drive case is nice, as it allows you to add and remove it in a matter of seconds. The two spectre fans that BitFenix have supplied with the chassis are of a high quality and do shift a lot of air for their near silent operation. The SoftTouch finish is brilliant, and it is something that I have been a fan of since I worked on a Shinobi a few years ago. It just adds that little bit more polish to the case and finishes it off nicely.
To be brutally honest, there are no major issues that I can pull BitFenix up on with this case. If I wanted to be really pedantic, it could be argued that there should be a substantial front dust filter, similar to that which comes with the Shinobi XL, and possible a few more SSD mounts on the back on the side panel and support for 140mm fans in the roof, but that is about it.
In conclusion, this case is nearly perfect for those people wanting to build a competent Mini-ITX gaming system. With brilliant support for air and water cooling, stylish design in a range of colours, admirable cooling performance and acoustic performance, considering that we were using a smaller cooler than normal with it being an ITX chassis. I would wholeheartedly recommend this case to anyone wanting a small build and I feel that it is totally deserving of our Editor’s Choice award. I would like to thank Overclockers.co.uk for giving us this sample and the optional window panel for it.
The BitFenix Prodigy and the windowed side panel/accessories are available to purchase from Overclockers UK –Â http://www.overclockers.co.uk/search_results.php?keywords=bitfenix+prodigy&page=1#prodlist
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
Before I got this case I had mixed feelings on the Prodigy. I felt that It was a good looking case, but the hype and popularity surrounding it tarnished my feelings towards it. Having used it for the past few weeks I can say that it has won me over. Its performance for such a small case was admirable, considering that we were not testing it with one of the bigger coolers too. The pricing is good, although if you factor in the window side panel like we did, it does start to become a little expensive. The design of this case is what sets it apart. It is brilliant, offering brilliant options to watercooling and aircooling scenes. Due to it being such a brilliant all rounder and winning myself over I feel that the Prodigy is more than deserving of the Editors Choice award.
