Final Thoughts
Far and away the Manta is a hit or miss case design depending on who you are talking to. Whether you like the design or not, major props to NZXT for doing something unique and different. Doing so is a gamble, but gamble’s such as this help to keep our industry fresh, unique, and ever changing. So first and foremost, thank you to NZXT for innovating. Actual case size aside I feel like the move to a SFF design is an awesome choice, things are getting smaller, PC’s need to shrink with them to stay alive. I feel the Manta isn’t supposed to be a living room box at all like some might think. It is instead an enthusiast piece that can be easily fit onto your desktop, look awesome, and still leave room for other things. I adore the simplicity in accessing all the parts of the case, the side panels unscrew and then retain the screws for you, the front panel pulls right off, and then so does the top. You easily get access to areas you don’t really want to have to work to get to, allowing for easy configuration changes. Specifically some of the strongest elements of their entire lineup made it into the Manta. You get an awesome PSU shroud with the really cool backlit logo. The quick mount 2.5” trays are so simple and easy to use as are the 3.5” drive mounts. I really did not expect to be putting a full size HDD in this build. The LED above the I/O panel is treat as well. And really it’s just the overall solid feel of the case that has me most impressed.
Unfortunately there are a few areas of improvement that I feel NZXT should look at. The center channel cover is a genius bit of steel, but it should be tweaked to allow for larger radiators in the top and provide more room for cables to pass through. Also the motherboard cut out needs to be just a bit longer on the bottom side. It should be easy to fit almost any back plate and it was not easy at all for us. The biggest issue for me however is the lack of water cooling support. Water cooling was obviously something taken into consideration, however I feel it didn’t go much beyond providing room for a pair of 280mm radiators. Yes there are slots for a reservoir pump combo, but without being seriously creative or modding you will be stuck purchasing only certain types of water cooling parts. That means less creativity and variance in loops and will make for a boring case to build in. It’s also a little disappointing that a case of this size doesn’t support even a single 360mm radiator. Again this just comes back to limiting the ability to be creative with your install. The Manta is a SFF case priced like a mid or full tower. No matter how you cut it with the current feature set it’s just a bit too expensive at $139.99 at our favorite online retailer.
Overall ThinkComputers would like to give the Manta a 9 out of 10 score! It is so very close to being a perfect case with just some small interior changes it could be a 10 out of 10.
Pros:
– Aesthetics
– Build Quality
– Fit and Finish
– Ease of Use
– Form Factor
– Strong Feature Set
Cons:
– Some small interior tweaks are needed
– Water cooling not fully supported
– Price