O-Sense
INTRODUCTION
Regardless of how many PC Cases i review there seem to always be more and more arriving at my doorstep each day that goes by. Now last week i brought you two midi tower reviews, one regarding the latest Prominent R by NEXUS and one about the Overseer RX-I by Thermaltake. Both proved to be quite impressive but for some people their size (although midi) may just be a bit too much. For that reason today we will be taking a look at one of the latest midi towers introduced in the market by In-Win, the MANA 136 which is just a step beneath normal midi towers in terms of size.
IN-WIN Development Inc., an ISO 9001 manufacturer of professional computer chassis, power supplies and digital storage devices, is one of the leading providers of enclosure solutions to system integrators worldwide. Founded in 1986, IN-WIN provides high quality chassis that conform to all safety regulations, as well as unsurpassed customer service. In Win was well trained to become a top-notch manufacturer of core technology to enhance internal core competence to meet what customer and market needs constantly. Top management has been executed four major elements to reach their growing goal: Innovation, Service, Speed, Value, Safety, Warmth, Faithful, and Diligence in order to remain our leading edge position and differentiate with other players.
One of the things i really like about In-Win (aside their prices) is that they manufacture feature-rich PC Cases with very strange designs something that we don't see a lot from other manufacturers, at least not in similar numbers. The MANA 136 couldn't really be an exception to that rule and although not as impressive/strange as some other cases by In-Win (see the Dragon Rider) still it will certainly draw your attention if you pass by it in a store. In any case you all know that in this type of reviews i mainly let pictures do all the talking since i truly believe that a picture is worth 1000 words. So with this in mind let's move forward and get up close and personal with the MANA 136 Midi Tower by In-Win.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
The unit gets shipped inside a plain cardboard box with the model name and main features present at the front.
At the left side you can see the specifications table of the MANA 136 along with two selections regarding the side panel of the shipped unit.
A rather long features list is present at the right side of the box.
Moving at the rear we see a drawing of what seems to be an RPG character and the MANA 136 right in front.
The tower is secured with two thick Styrofoam spacers and a plastic bag.
The bundle includes the typical user’s manual, an extra PCI shield, the mainboard speaker, 8 cable ties and four small plastic bags containing all the necessary installation screws.
THE MANA 136 EXTERIOR
The MANA 136 midi tower has it all, a weird and attractive design, black matte colored parts and black glossy parts.
On the left side panel In-Win has placed a large meshed area and their logo.
You can mount two 120mm intake fans behind this meshed area to improve the airflow inside the case (no filters are present however).
Almost the entire fascia is meshed and quite impressive in terms of design.
The front I/O is located at the top of the fascia and includes the power and reset buttons, two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port and the usual headphones and microphone mini-jacks.
There are three 5.25" optical drive bays on the MANA 136, unfortunately none of those comes with an floppy 1.44 adapter.
Moving further down the front fascia we see a shiny In-Win logo which is placed right in front of a 120mm LED intake fan (there's also room to install a second front 120mm intake fan).
There's also enough room at the top to install two extra 120mm exhaust fans if you feel you need them.
The rear of the MANA 136 also features a nice black matte paint.
Two holes for use with water cooling solutions, a smaller hole used to route the front USB 3.0 cable (the case doesn't feature a mainboard USB plug) and a 120mm exhaust fan are placed at the rear top.
As expected from such a small midi tower we only see the usual 7 PCI Expansion slots at the rear.
Once again the PSU space is located at the lowest rear end.
Thumbscrews are used to keep both side panels secured.
The MANA 136 features high feet and a metal air filter at the bottom.
THE MANA 136 INTERIOR
Both side panels are made by thick SECC steel which should keep the noise coming from the components into a minimum.
The interior looks quite amazing actually not only thanks to its black color but also because of the cable management design and the lack of drive trays.
All three 5.25" optical drive bays feature a quite sturdy tool-less locking mechanism which also allows you to use screws if you want.
The MANA 136 has space for six 3.5" and two 2.5" (SSD ready) disk drives without the need of trays.
What's somewhat impressive is that two 3.5" disk drive slots feature a hot-swap system.
The locking mechanism used for the 3.5" disk drives only requires you to slide the drive inwards until you hear the click sound.
Another thing i really liked with the MANA 136 is the room between the mainboard tray and the right side panel which allows for very good cable management.
Unfortunately the rear 120mm exhaust fan is not a LED one like the front one.
The MANA 136 does not feature a tool-less PCI Expansion locking mechanism so you will need to use regular screws to secure your cards.
A large meshed space and a metal air filter exist under the PSU area.
You can easily mount the two top 120mm exhaust fans but the available space may be enough for you to install a thin dual radiator for a water cooling solution.
BUILDING THE SYSTEM
This particular page exists only to showcase the available interior space you can expect from the tower in hand and not to build a fully functional system.
Surprisingly enough there’s room to use an EATX mainboard in the MANA 136, just as long as it’s not an 8 PCI slots one.
If you choose to install both side fans then you can’t use a CPU fan over 156mm in height. However if you don’t then you can install pretty much anything up to 176mm in height.
You can install cards up to 280mm inside the MANA 136 so mGPU cards like the GeForce GTX 590 and the Radeon HD 6990 will not fit.
Standard ATX factor power supplies fit just fine inside the case but longer ones are not really advised.
CONCLUSION
Features-wise the MANA 136 can’t compare with the likes of the Overseer RX-I and the Prominent R but due to its rather smaller size it’s targeted towards an entirely different part of the market. Its build quality is very good, the design is something we don’t see a lot (and personally I like it) and it does come with a good range of features such as hot-swap drive bays, space for two SSDs, very good cable management, USB 3.0 and tool-less mechanisms for all the drive bays. On the downside the airflow levels right from the box may not be great but you can improve that since it you can add 5 more resulting in a total of seven 120mm fans (amazing airflow for such a small case).
Aside their weird designs In-Win always had an aggressive pricing policy in place for their products and so the MANA 136 Midi Tower currently retails for around USD80 inside the USA and 55Euros inside the EU. Overall the In-Win MANA 136 may be a bit rough around the edges but it’s a solid midi tower with a great front fascia design, good features, plenty of airflow (that is if you fill the 5 extra empty fan spots) and a very tempting price tag which is why it walks away with our Golden award.
PROS
- Build Quality
- Design (For Some)
- Size (For Some)
- Features
- Airflow (Up To 7 Fans)
- Cable Management Space
- Price
- Available In Black And White Versions
CONS
- Rear USB 3.0 Connector
- No Tool-Less Mechanism for the PCI Expansion Slots
