Bitfenix Prodigy M First Time Building! Need some advice and feedback!

[MiseryTitan]

This is my very first time building a desktop, I've been wanting one for quite a while. I have mostly been doing my gaming on laptops and now realized I didn't really need the mobility over power!

Now I am total newbie when it comes to desktop and I've been doing my research to see what I need and watching a lot of building videos and narrowed it down to purchase some parts.

I was looking to see if anyone would be able to give me some advice and shed some light on how my purchase will fare against time and do in gaming.

So far I have purchased and they arrive sometime next week

Motherboard: ASRock H87M LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics

CPU Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

Memory: Team Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-4GD GeForce GTX 770 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready WindForce 3X 450W Video Card

SSD: Plextor M5M PX-256M5M mSATA 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
with SYBA SD-ADA40077 mSATA SSD to 2.5-inch SATA Adapter
(Purchased this beforehand and placed it into my laptop and plan on reusing it in this build.)

Hard Drive: Western Digital WD AV-GP WD10EURX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM

PSU: ENERMAX TRIATHLOR ETA650AWT-M 650W ATX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Operating System: Windows 8.1 OEM

other parts:
For the case fans I grabbed 3 Corsair AF Series LED 120mm Fans and 1 140mm
I also chose a Rosewill RNX-N300X PCI Wireless Adapter for wireless
Also a NZXT Sentry 2 Fan controller

Okay so those are the parts I took time to try and place together for the bitfenix prodigy m.

I have no idea what way to create airflow within this case and cannot find info anywhere which why I turned to posting for some help! I thank all that is reading this and thank you so much for taking the time for actually considering to help me. I cannot express how much I love these online communities you guys are the best!

I also wanted to know that will the network adapter be blocking my graphics card and create any problems?

Or if the network card will even fit into the pci slot on this motherboard. I have never built or worked with a desktop so I did not know if this graphics card truly only takes 2 slots or will it block that 2nd pci slot I need for the wireless adapter.

I also wanted to know how my gaming with this build and how the parts are or if I should add anything else if I missed something. Also how the PC would do at stock and I have no clue how to overclock or anything of that stuff. If anyone would love to give me some info to overclock I am totally open to trying it.

That is all the questions I can think of that I really would love some light shed on!

 

[Rammy]

It's a bit awkward to say "I bought this already but want feedback" as anything we say might not be terribly helpful to you as you won't be able to change a lot of things. You do have a few issues though, some of which are minor, some are quite significant. The quick version is that it is by no means an optimal gaming machine, or really a good value way to spend your money, but at a glance everything should function.
Warning, I'm about to be negative, sorry

Problem 1 - You have picked an overclockable processor, good CPU cooler, but a motherboard that does not support overclocking. Now, everything will work together, but it's definitely a mismatch and not really helpful towards whatever goal you had in mind.

Problem 2 - You bought 2400Mhz memory. Your motherboard only supports up to 1600Mhz, so this is the speed the memory will run at. It is CAS10, which isn't terrible, but given you could have had a CAS8or9 1600Mhz kit for (probably) quite a bit cheaper, it's a definite negative.

Problem 3 - A relatively small one here. You bought a 4Gb GTX770. There is nothing wrong with this card, but it rarely represents good value for money versus the 2Gb. The main situation where it can have scaling benefit is when used in SLI with another 4Gb for super high resolutions. As your motherboard doesn't support this, it's a non starter, and the case isn't great for SLI either, but I'll get to that...

Problem 4 - ...now. I don't like the case. I'm a massive Prodigy fan, but if you only want to use a single graphics card then the ITX Prodigy usually makes a lot more sense, and if you want the benefits of mATX (or bigger) then there are better cases on the market. There isn't really a good way to set up airflow in the Prodigy M, as the front PSU blocks the standard intake section. Instead you would usually put a fan in the base of the case as an intake (removing a HDD mount location) and then use the standard exhaust at the back. The top section is a bit more dubious, as if you add fans here it can block other components, depending on the depths of various things. If you did add fans here, they should be intakes (which is unusual) because if you try to use them as exhausts, they can end up fighting with the graphics card sitting immediately below them.

Not a problem 1 - PSU. It's not a standard "recommend" but it seems reasonably reviewed if the price is right.

Not a problem 2 - Wireless card. This will sit in the lower of the two PCI slots. It will have some effect on "blocking" your graphics card, but it shouldn't cause you any problems really, it's much smaller than your graphics card is.

Not a problem 3 - HDD. Again, it's not a standard HDD you would use, but I don't think it should have any issues, aside from being more expensive than it maybe should have been.

As an overall. It'll run games fine enough at 1080P and beyond. At the end of the day you are using an i5 and a GTX770, that's a great combo however you spin it, but it's a bit of a missed opportunity in some areas.

 

[MiseryTitan]

Oh by no means do you have to be sorry the negative feedback is great! Thank you so much for replying in such detail.

I received this case as a gift but I think there is still time if you recommend I get a different one.

Gosh I thought I picked out a decent motherboard but I did not know much about them. I purchased it from newegg with everything do you know if I can return it solo? I do not know much about neweggs policy there.

If I am able to return the motherboard would you have any recommendations for me?

Thank you so much again fot such great feedback

 

[Rammy]

It's cool, but I know people can be pretty sensitive so I try to tread a bit carefully.

I'm not overly familiar with newegg's (or any US) returns policy, I'm in the UK. I imagine if everything is still sealed they'd take it back if you paid shipping costs, but that's speculation really.

Which case you should go for is really dependant on what you want to do.
If you only ever want a single graphics card, and like the Prodigy look, get an ITX Prodigy instead. You'll need to get hold of a motherboard with Wifi equipped, but most of the Z87 overclocking boards have this anyway.
If you want mATX, then look at the Corsair 350D or Fractal Design Arc Mini, or the Aercool Deep Silence if you want a Prodigy-esque look.
If you want a compact ATX case, then the Fractal Design Arc Midi would be a good place to start, there's a huge amount of options.

Again, the motherboard is dependant on what you want to do.
If you only ever want a single graphics card, and end up with an ITX case, then the AsRock Z87E is a pretty safe bet for quality at a decent price.
If you go for mATX, Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H or ASRock Z87M Extreme4 would be a solid budget-y overclocking bet.
At ATX (this is the easiest option if you aren't 100% certain what you want to do) then the ASRock Z87 Extreme4 or Asus Z87-PLUS would be pretty good options at reasonable prices.

 

[ssddx]

pretty much what rammy said. i dont agree with some of the off-brands but they would probably work

you should though definitely return that motherboard as it will do you no good. its useable yes but makes the extra money you spent on the ram and the cpu pointless. buy a z87 motherboard which supports your ram speed.

newegg returns arent bad. you just pay shipping back. just make sure you dont open the box

as far as the case is concerned i really do like the design of the prodigy m however from a cooling standpoint it is horrible. the only way it would work well is if you pull cold air from the top and push it down through the bottom. this goes against thermodynamics and ideal case airflow. however... the psu exits bottom (causes hot air to mix at bottom of case) and the gpu draws air from the top of the case and its fan points up.... having that as an exhaust would not work well.

the only thing that you really need to exchange is the motherboard. other than that i think you can keep everything else and still be fine.

 

[MiseryTitan]

You are totallu awesome! I've leadned so much with your info. I will check on the return policy and see if I can get a different motherboard in the z87 range you told me.

The aerocool deep silence is amazing! Once I find out where to get that case I will definitely get it!

Do you think I will do fine for now with the parts I originally purchased until I can round up enough funds to move everything to a new case if im unable to return the motherboad and case?

I have no idea how to overclock anyway currently and how will my performance be on games with stock settings?

So I was thinking if im left with these parts they are unable to overclock, but I do have parts that can overclock so in the future I could just swap out case and motherboard. Is that possible? That was one of the reasons I decided to switch to desktop as I heard it was easy to upgrade.

thanks man ill def pick your 1st post as best solution I just didnt know if I did if it would end tte thread!

 

[ssddx]

the return policy isnt bad. dont open the box though. its easier that way.

the ds case does look very pretty however is it worth the high shipping costs to send a case back for refund and then the cost to ship a new case to you? we are talking at least $30 here.

all of the parts would work together fine. i'd just upgrade the motherboard before you open the box to a z87 if you wanted to overclock. if you did not want to overclock you could just keep things as is and just live with the fact that you paid a bit too much for the cpu. that is up to you.

yes, the cpu will perform fine even stock.

if you wanted to just swap out the motherboard in the future that is perfectly fine however you will lose the whole cost of a motherboard. if you upgade now you will just lose $10-15 on shipping.

picking as best solution doesnt end the thread though if you dont make posts for a few days it might get closed by mousemonkey or another mod.

 

[MiseryTitan]

Oh I ordered all the parts at the same time would they let me refund just one?

Okay so lets say I am forced to play thr cards I have. That would mean air pushing from the top? Bottom pulling out?

I definitely want to replace the motherboard with the ones you guys recommended, I was just considering if I cant I will play it out until I can!

 

[ssddx]

yes. you can return individual components to newegg or any other online retailer. at the very most you would be hit with a restocking fee from some retailers and have to pay shipping back.

well... pulling air from the top and bottom pushing out is the only way that the case makes any sort of sense. going the other way would only create turbulance inside the case (with the gpu sucking in cold air from the top and all).

i'd replace it now but if you were okay with losing the money for the motherboard (basically buying two instead of one) then you could upgrade it later. its not going to cause any components not to work it just wastes money if you did want to overclock. if you never cared about overclocking from the start then you could just use the components as is...

it could very well be that you end up not caring about OC and just run this build stock for years until you buy a new pc. your choice not ours.

 

[MiseryTitan]

I wish I could pick both you guys as best solution. Your information is priceless!

I will definitely hit up newegg and see if I can get a z87.

I would love to overclock in the future I just dont know how it works and if it will mess anything up.

 

[ssddx]

well if you get a good motherboard it should have good software. some of it is super easy for even novices to handle (some of it practically does it for you)