Enclosure NZXT Manta

[confusis]

https://www.nzxt.com/products/manta-matte-black

Will SFFn be featuring it on the front page or even posting a news article about it? Nope. Coming in at 47 litres, it is far too big to be classified as SFF.

Refreshingly though, NZXT isn't calling it SFF (maybe they saw the Prodigy debacle?).

What are your thoughts on this case?

 

[jeshikat]

I think they got their sea creatures mixed up because it doesn't look like this:

It looks like this:

 

[iFreilicht]

I absolutely LOVE the design work they've done on this. The vents are integrated into the design so nicely, that small indentation in the top that looks like straight from the hood of a car, the huge intake at the bottom front, small details like the power LED and the back I/O lighting and of course the NZXT way of avoiding right angles like the plague. And still, I would describe the design as clean without being understated.

But it is so damn large it hurts to just think about, though I have to applaud NZXTs decision to remove the buzzword SFF after showing the case on CES and instead branding it as a mITX case.

I think they got their sea creatures mixed up because it doesn't look like this:

It looks like this:

Well calling it Manta Ray would be too cumbersome

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

I'm impressed by the price insofar that the materials and manufacturing are decent, and the aesthetics of the case are quite good. I think NZXT was more excited about those elements than anything else when they did their reveal, and I think their work in that regard deserves recognition - this is a good looking case.

I have to say, though, basically nothing else about it makes sense to me. Nobody who wants an ITX build is going to want to use this case given the astronomical size of it, but nobody who wants an insane WC rig is going to want it because of the hardware limitations of ITX.

Many of the features of the case are puzzling, too. The case supports dual 280mm radiators, but there's just no possible ITX build I can come up with that could ever justify that quantity of radiator space, for instance. You can only install two 3.5" drives, and there are only two expansion slots, even with 47L of room at their disposal.

TL;DR: The design is lovely, but making this an ITX case given the volume leaves me wondering who the heck this makes sense for. An internal re-design that expanded support to mATX would have done a lot to make this more compelling to more people, I think.

 

[Phuncz]

I think they got their sea creatures mixed up

LOL

Another misguided attempt to look at mITX as "just a motherboard with one PCIe socket" and totally missing every point of SFF.
I'm curious how long it will take for a company to release a 30L case for STX.

 

[iFreilicht]

Many of the features of the case are puzzling, too. The case supports dual 280mm radiators, but there's just no possible ITX build I can come up with that could ever justify that quantity of radiator space, for instance. You can only install two 3.5" drives, and there are only two expansion slots, even with 47L of room at their disposal.

I feel like this case targets a different group of builders. There are a lot of builds out there that live from high amounts of empty space and radiators, where the tubes are used to create works of beauty. Admittedly, those builds are ATX or E-ATX most of the time and feature custom multi-loop cooling, but it seems that the people that want to build in such a way and still have the rig movable by a single person might be very interested in this.
The case is clearly designed to show off components, not to pack them tightly. The way two of the 2.5" mounting points are designed to show the SSDs that are used, the amount of cable management options and the fact that the PSU and 3.5" drives are completely hidden from sight is very indicative of this in my opinion.

It also occurs to me that you can make a VERY quiet build with such copious amounts of radiator space which is supported by the fact that all vents are hidden and their covers might be designed to dampen the sound a fair bit.

Another misguided attempt to look at mITX as "just a motherboard with one PCIe socket" and totally missing every point of SFF.
I'm curious how long it will take for a company to release a 30L case for STX.

Personally, I feel that if this case widens the market for mITX and makes board manufacturers take the form factor more seriously, that is nothing but good to me, no matter how little use I have for the case itself and how little it has to do with SFF.

I know you're joking, but STX is clearly a completely different story. Even if you were to watercool it with a 140mm AIO, you'd be below 10L.

 

[Vittra]

I've already been lambasting this case on another forum where NZXT has representation. It's clear there is a very real disconnect.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/cases/71506-nzxt-manta-itx-case-review-comment-thread.html

 

[Hoyas]

dimensions for the case is for a full atx pc.