Gadgetory

this video is brought to you by NCI XCOM great technology selection and service seriously okay the new mystery NZXT case is finally here this is the manta Mini ITX bend the rules as they say and who better to introduce a curvy frame like this there's an obvious shift towards a powerful ITX systems and I love that but you got to ask whether the larger form factor is worth it to you because right next to a mid tower something like the age of 40 demanda doesn't seem so small and actually NZXT is proud to introduce a chassis this big tailored towards ITX it is priced at $139 so the target audience here are obviously enthusiasts and the reason behind this price point are the curves you notice the Manta isn't your ordinary ITX enclosure with curved metal plated panels all around to give it an elegant design with a faint NZXT logo at the front I personally love this frame structure it's a nice evolution of this unique NZXT character and the only thing people will be asking now is when are we going to see an ATX version of the chassis the top is fully covered with two beautiful curved indentations where we also find a pair of USB 3.0 audio jacks and the power button with an illuminated power strip that also acts as your hard drive activity LED the ventilation ports running down the top in front of the case are very well implemented that they're both almost hidden from the user thanks to the coverage of the side panels but they are also adequately spaced out to a lot of front fans do the job properly with intake and exhaust there at the top to exit without much resistance you can achieve fantastic airflow inside the monta with dual 120mm fans included at the front with 140 millimeter mounts available as well but the dust filter here is also deep enough to house a set of fans outside of the frame for push-pull scenarios and the same goes for the top in terms of fan options which are supposed to be mounted above the frame with the radiator just below and so now you can appreciate why this enclosure is actually so large a few words on the side panels first NZXT is proud to say the window is the largest in size for an ITX case so far which is understandably so given this is one of the largest ITX cases that we've reviewed to date second the thumb screws are attached to both panels so you don't misplace them and third they are curved for a reason to give extra clearance for cable management while still minimizing the total footprint of the frame and while it may seem as if the window panel can be mounted at the back they are not reversible as not all hatches align properly and with regards to the window itself be careful as it's not as resilient to normal handling marks so if you want to keep it clean make sure to peel off the protective film after you're finished with the assembly on the inside we find an almost mini version of the s340 I would say with the totally enclosed power supply chamber that will support any ATX power supply and as you can see there's nothing in this chamber to limit compatibility there's a dust filter underneath the power supply the top of the power supply chamber is vented and it is also slightly angled so your GPU doesn't choke and a small square cutout is perfect for PCI Express cable routing and if you're thinking of a radiator mounting at the front you have full 5 centimeters of clearance from the fans until you hit the frame which is already fully open for you to utilize now one strange factor missing here are rubber grommets which for a $139 enclosure is odd especially with this many cut outs but the unique cable bar on the side of the motherboard allows to strengthen the entire frame while also hiding most of the cables that pass through it for storage we have dual SSD brackets on the side there that are secured with a single thumb screw and they are not on the way of your radiator if you decide to put one at the front however they need to be in order to install the three and a half inch drive which is on the other side it would be super convenient to have an independent hard drive bracket that you can access without having to worry about removing those SSDs first also the three and a half inch drive is you can see it sticks out quite a lot which is why the side panel is also curved the one disappointing fine for me was the lack of compatibility with the hue plus due to the nature of installation of those SSD brackets that first have to go forward into the cable bar and only then back to secure the hinges this prevents anything that is not an SSD form-factor height wise to be installed but luckily NZXT is aware of this and they will be changing the installation for those SSD mountings that will be moved forward five millimeters towards the front to allow the installation of something like the hue plus or any other thicker to an half inch slot device but regardless of that they will all be upside down which is super unfortunate taking a look at the back and the XD has made sure no cable will be left unattended with cable tie points all around plus a fan hub is available which is a must for an ITX case as many ikx motherboards have only two fan headers this one has eight with an extension cable and the pwm connector so you don't need to worry about fan connectivity and finally here's the finished system on the inside it's practically like working inside an ATX enclosure as you can take off the top and the front panels and easily route everything and mount your radiators and fans and etc the case performed extremely well in this record and this was the most pleasant ITX experience for me the frustrating part however was the motherboard and where the eight pin and the 24 pin connectors are located which are way off from what this case is designed for so I would highly recommend choosing a motherboard whose layout mimics a more traditional ATX for easier cable routing on the flip side of that coin however NZXT should have made larger cutouts at the top which would let me route the giant 24 pin cable through there instead of it crossing it through mem Marie like I did with this build but overall Monta opens new possibilities for water cooling in an ITX form factor one that prioritizes clearance and space for the ease of assembly over space efficiency and compact features and with regards to cable management this was such a quick cleanup at minimal effort you have cable tie points running on the side the cable bar a ton of space on the other side of the power supply and the entire front section is fully open and this is where a dedicated hard drive cage could've come in handy but they've opted for just a single mounting points for either a three and a half or two and a half inch drive on the floor and lastly the built in lining features are very basic that allows you to cycle between the side NZXT logo and the rear i/o LED and turn them off individually or both on I find the lack of RGB lighting to be disappointing even though the white illumination looks clean and modern it might be very difficult to color coordinate with the rest of the hardware unless you plan ahead or at least it would be great to have the hue plus connector which can be part of the system you would install yourself in conclusion NZXT monta is a solid ITX case and I mean that on all fronts with fantastic build the right airflow perfect cable management and is geared towards full-out water cooling with no compromise they will be fixing the SSD bracket placement which is awesome and the only real flaw here is the mounting system for that single vertical mechanical drive which I wish was on some rails so you don't need to remove both SSD brackets to get access to that three and a half inch drive but the real question is why a case like this even exists it's almost the size of a mid Tower it's actually more expensive than something like the h4 40 and it's going against all the attractive ITX features like space efficiency and compact footprint but I feel the bend the rules slogan doesn't only apply to the design but the mentality of what can be done with ITX which is very refreshing and that is it for this review of the NZXT to ITX thank you so much for watching I'm Dimitri with hark knox don't forget to subscribe for more case reviews in the future and we'll see you in the next video