Installation Process
I began the build process as I always do, with the motherboard installation.
This installs easily, and after adding the main system components I moved directly to the cooling stage.
Cooling
The concept of the Manta is a small case with big cooling support, and that's what we'll explore here. We'll begin up top, where we need to pop off the upper case panel first to access the fan mounts.
Here I installed the thick Corsair H105 liquid cooler, and the radiator still easily fit under the upper panel.
The fans need to be mounted below with this cooler, as there wasn't room for this particular radiator otherwise, but radiators with less thickness can technically be mounted below the fans if you prefer.
Moving up front, after popping off the front panel (both this and the top panel are easy to remove without tools) we see a mesh filter for the fans, and this is actually a framed design which allows a radiator or fans to fit behind it.
Storage
There are two easily removed 2.5-inch SSD mounts inside the component side of the Manta, which slide into place and are secured with a single thumbscrew apeice.
The Manta offers a couple of mounting options for 3.5-inch hard drives, including the back side of the motherboard bracket behind the SSD trays:
The other hard drive mount is on the case floor, and this option, though a little harder to mount as it requires screwing the drive into place from the underside of the case, does have the advantage of rubber washers to reduce vibration.
Finally, PSU installation is straightforward, and there's a ton of room for cables (for a mini-ITX enclosure) under the shroud.
A nice touch as always is the addition of pads to keep your PSU mount vibration-free.
Next we'll review the enclosure test setup, or you can simply skip to the completed build and performance numbers.
I can’t imagine there’d be
I can’t imagine there’d be too many people who’d want a mini ITX case the size of a micro ATX case.
I know I don’t.
This
I know I don’t.
This probably has it’s niche though, there must be people out there who want to “get the most” out of their ITX board.
Didn’t the Bit Phoenix sell
Didn’t the Bit Phoenix sell like hot cakes?
Baby got back!
And front. And
Baby got back!
And front. And sides. Baby’s got a bit too much, really
Not really liking the look of
Not really liking the look of this box.
I like it, though the
I like it, though the all-black version (on the NZXT website) looks better to me than this red/black. I like the smooth, graceful lines. In a world of harsh boxes, it’s more like a comfy pillow. Engineers struggle these days to find a well-functioning design that hasn’t been done before (except Thermaltake…). I applaud NZXT for coming up with a unique variation; far better than that Corsair Spec-Alpha fugliness.
HOLY SHIT THAT CHEAP CHINESE
HOLY SHIT THAT CHEAP CHINESE SHIT IS SO CHINESE AKA CHEAP AND UGLY AF. Corsair or GTFO. NZXT sucks donkey dicks.
not ATX = meh…
not ATX = meh…
It’d be nice if mini-ITX
It’d be nice if mini-ITX cases would actually go smaller rather than the other way around.
Totally pointless case,
Totally pointless case, 2-3inches away from a mATX/ATX case, something the size of the NCASE is what’s need in the ITX space.
Please review the Antec
Please review the Antec isk600m