The NZXT Manta mITX Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on June 16, 2016 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- NZXT
- Case
Conclusion
The assessment of the NZXT Manta is multifaceted. Although it is a Mini-ITX case that is almost the size of a full tower yet lacks external drive bays, the designer was not really trying to make it compact. On the contrary, the volume of the NZXT Manta is massive for a Mini-ITX case, rivalling the size of full ATX designs. It is, for lack of a better phrase, a shorter version of an advanced gaming case, designed for high performance and compatibility with liquid cooling options. With the Manta, NZXT is not trying to enter the living room by designing a compact case that rivals the size and shape of gaming consoles - this is aimed at fully grown gaming PCs based on the mini-ITX form factor. Their approach is a large but elegant case with curved, smoothed panels, a design that is based on their highly popular Lexa series that found its way into many living rooms.
In terms of quality, the NZXT Manta is a very robust and well-made case. There were no significant weak spots that we could find about the chassis or the plastic parts. The paint finish is exceptional and likely one of the best that we have ever seen. We would have liked to see a less reflective side panel, but strong reflections are a known side effect of curved acrylic panels.
The functionality and versatility of the Manta has left us with mixed feelings. It is a roomy case that can easily fit an advanced gaming system and even two liquid cooling radiators but, at the same time, it cannot fit tall air coolers despite its very wide proportions and offers very limited drive support options for this large a case. NZXT is strongly trying to promote it for it elegant appearance, but they have not added rubber grommets to the holes around the motherboard tray. Furthermore, the aesthetic improvement of the steel bridge cover to the right of the motherboard rather than simple holes is questionable, as cable management behind it is strongly limited by the connectors of the SSD drives. General cable management behind the motherboard tray is very easy due to the numerous cable tie points and the massive clearance that the curved panel provides, but the visible uncovered openings from the left side of the case are a visual dissonance, especially if the interior is going to be strongly illuminated.
Due to its capacity and very appealing external design, we do believe that the NZXT Manta will find itself a strong fan base. People who simply want a slightly smaller and elegant tower case for their system or those who want to showcase their top tier PC into their living room will find the Manta to be an excellent choice. The only real enemy of the Manta is its own retail price. Currently selling for $130, the retail price is very steep and will trouble many potential customers, especially when there is a very large number of Mini-ITX cases selling for less than half that price.
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Voldenuit - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
"With a postmodern design sporting curved panels and smooth surfaces-""Wait, what makes it postmodern?"
"Well, it's all curved edges so it's pointless. It's Pointless, CORAL!"
ES_Revenge - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
I was always waiting for NZXT to make cases for mATX and/or ITX. They did have the Vulcan (mATX) some years ago but that thing was one of the ugliest cases on the planet, so it didn't really count.NZXT has some very nice case designs (I bought an S340 and love it) so I was pretty excited to hear they might be making some new smaller-than-ATX cases. Thing about my S340 is, to me, it's HUGE! I've been making mATX or ITX machines since the PIII days so full ATX is rather large for me. Love the case but it's a *monster* compared to my other cases like Silverstone SG03 and SG06, and Bitfenix Pandora.
So NZXT comes out with an ITX case--sounds like it should be awesome, right? Looks cool enough but thennnn... WHY ON EARTH is it as big as my S340? Are they stupid? Out of their minds? High as kites?
Seriously this is the dumbest *mini ITX* case evar. How they could possibly fail so badly is beyond me. It's 10mm (7/16") shorter than an S340, basically the same depth, and (get this) it's actually *wider* than it!
What is amazing is how there's really not much you can put in here that you can't put in the S340...yet that has space for a mobo with SIX more slots! What did they use the space for? Looks like just air. I'm not sure what kind of crack these guys were on when they made this, but I assure you it's the bad kind.
Why the Manta isn't mATX is one thing to think about but when you realise it's as big as an S340, you have to wonder why it doesn't fit an ATX board.
Sounded exciting NZXT was making cases for smaller factors, but then it turns out all they did was make a full ATX case and then make higher feet or something, make the roof higher (you know for more air and less slots?!?) and that way it only fits ITX, and then they called it a day. It almost defies the laws of geometry this thing. How the heck did they make it so the PSU sits almost directly below the second slot (obviously needed for videocards) yet there's still only two slots to the S340's *seven*? In the end it's somehow the same height?
What a joke. Seriously NZXT? Just stick to making ATX cases if this is the tomfoolery you're going to engage in. Ugh.
Haravikk - Saturday, June 18, 2016 - link
I really can't bring myself to like anything about the design; the curves serve no purpose at all, so all they do is make an already rather large (for Mini-ITX) case even larger, and for me that's not at all what Mini-ITX is about.By all means, try to find a way to fit a full graphics card and decent CPU cooler into a Mini-ITX chassis, but do it in the smallest space possible.
That said, all-in-one liquid coolers are hardly expensive, and since going small generally means a price premium anyway, I'm far more interesting in small cases that don't waste space making room for big air coolers when a well positioned radiator mount will do the job. This usually makes room for a PSU "over" the motherboard which drastically reduces the case's size, so with the trade off being big air cooler vs much smaller case possibly requiring a liquid cooler, I'm very much focused on the latter.
Sn3akr - Sunday, June 19, 2016 - link
The size defies the idea of ITX builds in general, and its ugly too ;)mauler1973 - Sunday, June 19, 2016 - link
Why does the side if that thing look like a CRT monitor? I don't think I would use that thing if it cost $20. Way overpriced for a small case.bkydcmpr - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
I'm wondering if all of those 1990s industrial designers ended up in the pc chassis business now, this is almost the only consumer electronic product still dominated by those pre-iphone time tawdry designs, oh and gaming laptops, probably from the same group of people.andjohn2000 - Sunday, July 3, 2016 - link
Looks uglyrvk19 - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link
i have this case .. and my gpu card gtx 670 with arctic twin turbo ii cooler won't fit in .. so do mind the customized gpu cards won't fit in .. other than that i like the case .. i took it because of it's different shape which i haven't seen anywhere so far and i won't be using more than one gpu card .. not a fan of SFF either .. so this case unfortunately falls under SFF and looks like a tower .. gpu card won't fit in if its loaded with a custom gpu cooler .. that sucked a bit ..