Gadgetory

hey guys this is Dimitri with heroic knocks and welcome back to another review now beat phalanx recently rolled out with a new line of phenome cases giving us the micro ATX and mini ITX options so they actually look identical because both use the exact same housing same soft touch coated panels to create a rather simple design kind of love it or hate it type of style same dual dust filter at the top and unless you open them up or check out the rear you really want on the difference so this is the Phenom Mini ITX priced at $79.99 are completely different functions with mini ITX sole focus on water cooling support while micro ATX with multiple expansion slots unlike with the micro ATX version the power supply is actually located at the back in its normal spot we also get an exhaust fan and a clamp style PCI bracket but sadly the side panel does not feature any ventilation which is kind of a big deal the GPU will certainly not stay cool and it is a little surprising that we don't see any different side panel options power supply intake is filtered plus we get these nice rubber case feet all the connections are attached to the side panel just like on the Phenom M with only 2 USB 3 ports plus a USB 2 adapter is included and I really think placing them on top of the case at the front would have made things a lot easier as dealing with that many cables introduces more hassle plus the two optional SSD slots if utilized will be quite difficult to route and we all know the best thing about the chassis aside from functionality is user friendly assembly and taking off the front panel we get our front intake and notice the second 120mm fan has to be mounted on five and a quarter inch metal cover and this starts to look very familiar to the prodigy I also don't like the fact that ventilation strips are almost closed with a few circular cutouts but this in a nutshell is a prodigy with a phenom look what Beatrix is trying to do here is recycle the design with a slight facelift and I think this is a good idea for those not completely in love with the prodigy look as this would be the alternative the interior design is is not the best and it's disappointing we haven't seen anything changed from The Prodigy 11 months ago still rear mount a power supply without an extended bracket to allow longer units true you might not need a unit longer than 160 millimeters but it is about having options the top drive gauge is to list easy removal which cleans up 12 inches for your GPU with the front fans installed so this can easily turn into a powerhouse just too bad there isn't any ventilation for your GPU the oddly placed 5 in accordance drive cage at the top is to be utilized for extra storage as a bracket is included that can house an SSD and a mechanical drive at the same time I like the fact that this option is included but it's not efficient and removing it would get rid of the stability for the top drive cage the power supply cage also the main support for the motherboard is quite open with cutouts has its own bracket to mount the unit from the rear and while our 180 millimeter 1000 watt power supply is completely overkill for a mini ITX system it just shows that longer power supplies do not fit cable routing tow is completely simple thanks to an ample of room on each side of the unit and large cut outs the phantom mini ITX is targeted for water coolers the rest of the drive cage can be removed as well with a few screws at the bottom plus the case feet as they do block some screws and what this allows you to do is install a 240mm radiator and push pool and the best part of all this it doesn't affect the GPU as you can see with our GTX 590 installed there's certainly clearance between the rad and if your main purpose is water cooling at small scale this definitely serves a purpose without compromise with the bottom drive cage removed you can still mount three SSDs one on the floor and the two on the power supply cage wall and aside from front water cooling support the top can be utilized for that as well with 180 millimeters of clearance until the motherboard and looking at the finished build aside from not having clearance for our long power supply it cleans up well and just impressive that this sort of interior design is almost without compromises except there should be ventilation for the side panel and I'm sure beat Phenix is kicking themselves for this very important design flaw also I think the bottom drive cage could have had an extra spot it looks like there's enough room and the rear looks completely clean and just putting that side panel on is a pain now what big Phoenix is done is take away the flexible handles and add a new front cover to create the Phenom lineup the basic idea is still there create a minimalistic and simple chassis that can handle internal water cooling and the final mini ITX achieves this perfectly and the still growing popularity of the prodigy cage shows off exactly that you can water cool without compromises in such small form-factor but the biggest flaw I see with the case is miss potential this was a chance for big Phoenix to show that they're listening to critical feedback about very inconvenient silent connections and all the wiring that consequently follows the lack of appropriate ventilation at the front and complete absence of it on the side make me want to buy a drill and do it myself I'm very surprised this was released like that but let us know what you guys think of the phenom lineup we will be giving away both the micro ATX and mini ITX versions of the chassis so leave your thoughts down below and we'll see you in the next review