NZXT Manta Mini-ITX Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The NZXT Manta mini-ITX chassis is available for pre-order from most major retailers and will be shipping in mid-February. Of course, if that date changes, or when the actual launch date rolls around we’ll be sure to update you. Expect prices in the region of £99.99 +VAT / €139.99 +VAT.

Overview

NZXT have gone all out on this chassis, breaking away from their main lines of chassis products to make something really unique and I’m happy to say that their hard work has really paid off. While I must admit that this design isn’t going to be to everyone’s liking, style is such a subjective thing anyway, I absolutely love it, and would happily have one sat on my desk and proudly on display.

There’s a lot of potential to this chassis, it may be one of the biggest mini-ITX chassis we’ve ever seen, but that just means there’s a lot more room to have fun with high-end hardware. Mini-ITX motherboards offer a lot of great performance these days, with support for high-end CPUs, impressive overclocking performance and more, so the Manta is hardly limited in terms of performance. With room for a 280mm radiator in the front, another in the top and an additional 140mm in the back, there’s a huge amount of potential here for custom loop cooling. Even air cooling is exceptional here, with three great quality 140mm fan pre-installed, dust filters on all major intakes, a PWM fan hub, excellent ventilation throughout the chassis and more.

Build quality is rock solid, from the heavy duty side panels to the quick release fittings of the 2.5″ drive bays and the PSU shroud. Everything is flawlessly finished and designed, meaning your components are easily installed and the only thing you have to worry about is tucking a few excess cables into the more than ample cable routing spaces.

The price is a little high for a mini-ITX chassis, but it’s clear that NZXT have gone the extra mile and added a lot of features to this chassis that help justify your investment. For a somewhat compact gaming build, the Manta has all the features you could want and more. And who knows, perhaps if this chassis proves popular, NZXT may even revisit the design with a Micro-ATX model and more, but only time will tell.

• Pros
• Excellent build quality
• High-end water cooling support
• Dust filters
• Side panel window
• PSU shroud
• LED lighting
• Room for extra-long GPU
• Supports full ATX PSU
• Exceptional cable management
• Unique design
• Built-in PWM fan hub
• Three 140mm fans pre-installed

Cons

• 3.5″ drive mounts can be tricky, but hardly a deal breaker
• Limited to mini-ITX, which may put off some, but that’s a subjective matter

Neutral

• More expensive that larger H440 chassis, but it’s obviously a little more special and it doesn’t feel overpriced

“The NZXT Mantra is a breath of fresh air, offering up a unique design and huge potential for a high-end gaming build. NZXT really mixed things up with this chassis and it’s certainly to be a big hit with system builders around the world. It may be the biggest mini-ITX chassis we’ve seen, but perhaps bigger really is better!”

Thank you NZXT for providing us with this sample.