My Bitfenix Prodigy Mini-itx build

[Laststop]

Waiting for Black Bitfenix Prodigy. Just 4 days till Newegg has it. The purpose of this build is for an easy LAN party box to move around but with the high performance of a larger full atx case. Gaming is the most important use of this computer. I use a 27" 2560x1440 monitor and I would prefer to be able to play any game I want with every detail maxed to ultra at 45-60 fps. Secondary to gaming the next biggest use would be for video editing/encoding as well as some audio editing (but no direct audio recording or music production nothing like that). Web browsing/e-mail/social networking will be another heavy use. Torrents will also be being seeded 24/7 in the background (but is disabled during online gaming). Native RCA audio output would be nice but as I'll only have one expansion slot I don't know if that will be feasible so the highest quality on-board audio would be nice or maybe a USB audio card with native RCA outputs (do those exist?) I've only 100% decided on the case so far as I know it's the one I want. I have been waiting almost a year for it to come out. Other parts I'm considering are as follows:

 

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe (Pretty firmly set with this choice, it's unique way of giving more room for the vrm's for cpu power is really unmatched in this form size and no bios is as nice as Asus's, IMO)

 

Power Supply: Seasonic SS-560KM (pretty firmly set with this choice as well. I like the full modular design and the quality fan and the hybrid mode of the fan. I feel 560 watts will be a good target not too much not too little. Gold level efficiency is also a requirement [makes me feel like I did my part to help the earth])

 

CPU: i7-3770K (Struggled with deciding on the i5-3570k but I think the hyper-threading on the i7 will greatly help my heavily multi threaded video encoding)

 

GPU: GTX 690 (only 1 pci-e slot and I need to power a high resolution at smooth frame rates with ultra details, there is no radeon equivalent and based on the power and heat differences of the 7970 vs the 680 I highly doubt they will be able to keep the clocks as close to the originals on the radeon version when it does come [most likely the reason for it's long delay], I feel like a single gtx 680 or 7970 will not give me a consistent 45+ fps on 2560x1440 so the gtx 690 really is my only choice)

 

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2133Mhz (only 2 ram slots and really want 16GB and at least 2133Mhz for all the video editing)

 

Primary Drive: 256GB Crucial M4 SSD (Will install OS and all my games and applications on here, 128GB isn't enough 256GB leaves me some spare room and since it's the 7mm version I can move it to an ultrabook upgrade and get the 512GB M4 when I run out of program installation space, Can't beat the price/quality ratio of the crucial drives and they also have some of the best random 4k read speeds)

 

Storage Drive: Hitachi 4TB drive (Since I will have to remove the upper HDD cage to make room for the gtx 690 I will only have 2 internal bays and since 1 is used by the ssd that leaves me with only 1 space for an internal HDD. Video takes up a lot of space and even with my external nas I need a lot of internal space which is why I chose a 4TB drive even though the gb/$ ratio isn't as good as getting more smaller drives as there is no room to do that)

 

CPU cooling: Corsair H80 + Indigo Extreme Thermal interface (corsair Hxxx series coolers have worked incredibly well for me and I really like them, haven't tried out this indigo extreme yet but it gets the very best ratings and has a much easier application)

 

Fans: 3x Noctua NF-P14 FLX 140mm Case Fans (1 for intake and 2 for push/pull on the H80 on exhaust port) These will replace the 120mm fans that come with the h80 and the case.

 

BD-RW: 14x LG drive (fast and cheap)

 

 

 

Basically looking for any tips or suggestions or comments or questions anything really while I wait for my case.

Edited July 20, 2012 by Laststop

[Stonerboy779]

You do realise ypi can mount an SSD virtually anywhere? No need to waste an entire bay on it.

 

Also have you looked into how indigo xtreme works? You will literally need to fry your chip while watching temps for it to apply properly.

 

Got no objections to your other parts and want to do a similar build mind you mine involves full watercooling with 3 push pull rx 240s and a decent bit of case cutting and then stripping to remove the ruberised coating. Alas its a pipe dream.

 

Anyway tho that Asus board really is unmatched its costly but IMO worth it. If you want a bit more grunt encoding its your choice to go top ivy CPU and faster ram. Look forward to seeing the build are you going white or black?

[Laststop]

definitely black. Yea you have to get the cpu hot for a short while but it's not going to exceed its max safe temp or anything and it has a warranty so yea not worried. Its thermal transfer beats everything out there. I don't mind using a bay just to keep it easy and clean and good airflow around it. 4TB internal space is enough for me.

 

 

My build will be way more basic then your build. But the extra performance you extract in your version will not be proportionate to the extra work and complexity and cost of it. I bet our benchmarks will be pretty close.

Edited July 20, 2012 by Laststop

[Stonerboy779]

Did you just say good airflow around an SSD? Haha

 

Mine would purely be cost can sorta thing but its still but a pipe dream and more than a little while away atm still need to finish work on my arcade machine been way too lazy with it haha

[Laststop]

Did you just say good airflow around an SSD? Haha

 

Mine would purely be cost can sorta thing but its still but a pipe dream and more than a little while away atm still need to finish work on my arcade machine been way too lazy with it haha

 

 

I'm actually making money with this build because i'm selling my alienware m18x sli gtx580 laptop since that's what I basically use as my lan gamer now. The laptop will sell for more then this build will cost and I have an Asus ux32vd as my laptop so wont be missing the m18x in any way. So building this new machine will actually make me money. Well maybe not make money but it will basically break me even at the minimum. It's an i7-2960xm 4.1ghz oc, 16GB 1866 cl9 vengeance ram, 256GB C300 ssd in optical bay 2x 1TB HDD in raid 0 sli gtx 580m gpu's killer 1103 wifi and it's cpu heatsink is upgraded to the m18x r2 version which is triple copper heatpipe vs single heatpipe and it has larger radiator surface with more fins which dropped cpu temps by 7C.

 

I think I'm gonna put it on ebay for 1 dollar with no reserve and just take what I get.

Edited July 20, 2012 by Laststop

[Stonerboy779]

gutsy move at least get it started at a few hundred

[Daragh]

Or you know, put it up buy it now $1 with $5000 postage...

Then there is option b where you give me a dollar and I'll take it off your hands

[vandreadstriker]

Can someone explain to me how Higher speed RAMs help in video encoding?

 

IMO isn't it better to get something like the air cooler, lower speed RAMs, no HDD and save on a few others so that OP can go for a 100% SSD system?

AFAIK speedy storage does help quite a lot in video encoding and if memory serves, the Prodigy have some 4-5 slots for mounting SSD with the HDD cage removed.. CMIIW

[aaron6581230]

Can someone explain to me how Higher speed RAMs help in video encoding?

 

IMO isn't it better to get something like the air cooler, lower speed RAMs, no HDD and save on a few others so that OP can go for a 100% SSD system?

AFAIK speedy storage does help quite a lot in video encoding and if memory serves, the Prodigy have some 4-5 slots for mounting SSD with the HDD cage removed.. CMIIW

 

With video encoding/editing, the amount and speed of the RAM is gonna play a big role, as there is a giant amount of short-term memory use in cutting/combining video files together when in conjunction with effects and whatnot.

 

And an HDD is definitely necessary, since SSDs still haven't reached the capacities of a big HDD (you could buy multiple ones, but the cost won't really be worth it at this point).

 

Also, due to the limited space in this chassis, I would have to agree that an internal liquid cooling system would work best, especially because they do pull decent performance while taking up a small amount of room in the middle of the case.

[vandreadstriker]

With video encoding/editing, the amount and speed of the RAM is gonna play a big role, as there is a giant amount of short-term memory use in cutting/combining video files together when in conjunction with effects and whatnot.

 

Alright thanks! One more question though, wouldn't the loose timings negatively affect that as well?

 

And an HDD is definitely necessary, since SSDs still haven't reached the capacities of a big HDD (you could buy multiple ones, but the cost won't really be worth it at this point).

 

Can't argue with the capacity issue, but the 4TB Hitachi drive cost ~$550. With that much and if, hypothetically, the OP favours for speed over gigantic storage, he could get two or three 240GB SSD which should be very helpful in encoding right?

 

 

[aaron6581230]

Alright thanks! One more question though, wouldn't the loose timings negatively affect that as well?

 

 

Yup of course. There is a fine balance between timings and frequency; I don't remember the exact calculation right now but a quick Google search should be able to explain how they affect the overall speed of the memory in the end.

 

 

 

 

Can't argue with the capacity issue, but the 4TB Hitachi drive cost ~$550. With that much and if, hypothetically, the OP favours for speed over gigantic storage, he could get two or three 240GB SSD which should be very helpful in encoding right?

 

 

 

In a video editing situation, gigantic storage is a must, especially when the main boot drive is already an SSD. I do video editing myself and the sheer amount of space required for HD videos requires you to have at least 1-2TB of storage; more if you create and get new footage fairly frequently.

 

A series of SSDs would definitely help in encoding, but you gotta put all those video files somewhere right? 480GB or 720GB is simply not enough.

[vandreadstriker]

Yup of course. There is a fine balance between timings and frequency; I don't remember the exact calculation right now but a quick Google search should be able to explain how they affect the overall speed of the memory in the end.

 

In a video editing situation, gigantic storage is a must, especially when the main boot drive is already an SSD. I do video editing myself and the sheer amount of space required for HD videos requires you to have at least 1-2TB of storage; more if you create and get new footage fairly frequently.

 

A series of SSDs would definitely help in encoding, but you gotta put all those video files somewhere right? 480GB or 720GB is simply not enough.

 

Alright Thanks for the answers!