BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX build help or advice

Lashout_UK

Lashout_UK

Lashout_UK

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Evening all. Venturing back in to the world of building a new machine myself, after deciding to retire my existing rig in its entirety. In one form or another it's lasted a total of ten years now so it's well past it.

Due to space restrictions I'd like a micro- or mini-ATX system, in particular the Prodigy, but with a bit of punch.

I've about £1000, maybe a little more, to spend. The machine will be used for gaming, photo editing, the odd spot of video work and so on.

I'd like a decent SATA drive for Windows (which I have, 7 64 bit) and various programs, then a terabyte or two for storage.

I was thinking of a Intel Core i5-4670K with a suitable motherboard, 8gb of RAM (to start with) ... and then kind of tailed off a little bit.

I almost veered to the dark side and went for a Mac, but I can't live with the idea of being so constrained with regards to upgrades and alterations. Also, the graphics side of things bug me too...

Any spec suggestions welcome. Cheers! :)
 
Hi..unusual to see you out of motors :D

Anyway, the below build is a solid one. The power supply has been chosen due to being only 140mm long which makes all the difference with that case. The GPU is such a good card for the price it'll be worth pre-ordering. It's the new revision too so does not suffer from the 100% fan bug some of the earlier cards suffer from. Comes with free games too. Outside of upgrading to a GTX770 there aren't too many GPUs with as much bang for buck.

I've spec'd in 2 quieter fans to replace the slightly noisy ones the case comes with as well as a very good SSD and 3tb hard drive for storage. Another £70 ish will get you a 250gb SSD so that may be an option for you.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with FREE GAMES £189.95
1 x MSI Z87I Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ITX Motherboard £113.99
1 x Toshiba (7K3000.D) 3TB SATA 6GB/s 64MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA300) HDD £89.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 750W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020061-UK) £78.98
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £65.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
2 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan - All Black £11.99 (£23.98)
Total : £955.31 (includes shipping : £17.10).

 
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With a mini-itx system it will only have two DIMM slots so upping the RAM later won't be cost effective as what you have will need to be removed then replaced. Might as well consider the mATX Prodigy......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with FREE GAMES £189.95
1 x Plextor M5S 256GB Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5S) £139.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV316G213C1K) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £97.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £74.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M 'Yin' MATX Cube Case - White/Black £69.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £35.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £993.82 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Thanks for the tips so far. Both of those sound great.

What's the real difference between micro- and mini-ATX? Is it just expansion slots, or is there anything more restrictive I need to be aware of?

Kind of swaying towards ExRayTed's combo, as I'd like it sooner rather than later...

Cheers! :D
 
the stuff in my signature all cost about £1000 and is a killer little (and silent!) gaming machine :)

Also, remember that m-itx motherboards only have 2 ram slots so you'll have to replace ram rather than adding to it when upgrading. Possibly not a problem, but worth mentioning.
 
The difference is usually size, power draw and expansion slots. With the mini-ITX you only get 2 ram slots. Mini-ITX cases are usually smaller than micro-ATX but the bitnfenix prodigy's above are the same size. Really doesn't make a lot of difference.
 
ExRayTed said:
The difference is usually size, power draw and expansion slots. With the mini-ITX you only get 2 ram slots. Mini-ITX cases are usually smaller than micro-ATX but the bitnfenix prodigy's above are the same size. Really doesn't make a lot of difference.
Click to expand...

Exactly, though the ITX does have more space for full-on watercooling the mATX is perfect as it's the same size and allows bigger boards and SLI/xfire if you so wish. :)
 
Lashout_UK said:
Thanks for the tips so far. Both of those sound great.

What's the real difference between micro- and mini-ATX? Is it just expansion slots, or is there anything more restrictive I need to be aware of?

Kind of swaying towards ExRayTed's combo, as I'd like it sooner rather than later...

Cheers! :D
Click to expand...

Everyone is basically repeating what I've already told you lol

What I will add is the MSI ITX mobo isn't going to be very happy about you bumping up the voltages. This can limit the max overclock available to you.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with FREE GAMES £189.95
1 x Asus Z87I PROFESSIONAL Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini-ITX £145.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV316G213C1K) £119.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Gehäuse - Caseking Anniversary Edt. Window £69.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £68.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £35.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £990.80 (includes shipping : FREE).



Yes some parts are pre-order but prices can be cheaper when you order before the stock comes in. I'd rather wait and get what I want than make do with what's available, you can contact customer services for an ETA.

Best of luck with the build bud, I look forward to seeing what you settle on in the end :)
 
honosuseri said:
Yes some parts are pre-order but prices can be cheaper when you order before the stock comes in.
Click to expand...

As an example the H80 is now £40 as it's in stock :p
The H60 might be a better option now as it's same price as the H80 was on pre-order, and I don't think there's a lot between them?

I ordered the H80 on 20th, and got an email yesterday saying it had been dispatched, which was quite a surprise. Glad I got in there just in time, only wish I'd ordered two now.
 
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