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CaseLabs Merlin SM8

Darksaber

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CaseLabs is known for their modular cases because they allow for the most intricate water-cooling setup without compromising on quality. While their cases have been quite large in the past, the Merlin series offers smaller, more traditionally sized enclosures. We take the SM8 for a spin to see how it fares.

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Rowsol

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Well priced? Well I guess that's subjective. I'd take a 900d over this anyday. It is very nice though.
 
Frick

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Rowsol said:
Well priced? Well I guess that's subjective. I'd take a 900d over this anyday. It is very nice though.
Click to expand...

The quality seems excellent, and it is very well thought out, so I think the price probably is pretty fair. It's not your avarage case, which the 900d isn't as well, but still. A bit more niched I'd say, which brings the price up.

I do have some problems with it though. 1) The front looks ... sort of old. 2) No dust filters. To me that is a must. 3) What's up with having to purchase the add ons? I/O? Front fans? Yeah it's a modular approach, but if the base price is so high some stuff should come as standard imo.

I do like the modular stuff though. Feet on the motherboard tray. :D
 
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best chassis hands down :)
 
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I really like CaseLab cases. Will most likely be my next case when I move on from the 800D.
Thanks for the review Darksaber:toast:
 
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Rowsol said:
Well priced? Well I guess that's subjective. I'd take a 900d over this anyday. It is very nice though.
Click to expand...

Well the material used and the crazy level of manufacturing kinda justify that pricetag but to be honest I prefer the 900d over this one too.

This case is good but as I've already said elsewhere it's just an aluminum box with no soul, atleast other cases show some style/exterior uniqueness to them.

Let's hope they'll adopt some kind of strategy/design to make it more appealing :)

Good review :toast:
 
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Fantastic review for a fantastic product. I'm very happy to see such a product reviewed on TPU.

CaseLabs is hands down the best computer case company when it comes to quality and features.
They are very personal with the community and are always listening for more ideas. I can't wait for the Mercury S5 to come out!
 
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This case to me looks like what you would buy if you were going for exotic water cooling setup.
 
LAN_deRf_HA

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Not digging this at all. The price does not reflect the very behind the curve design. Even if it had filters when fully loaded with fans the case would have negative pressure.
 
Casecutter

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Frick said:
The quality seems excellent, and it is very well thought out, so I think the price probably is pretty fair. It's not your avarage case, which the 900d isn't as well, but still. A bit more niched I'd say, which brings the price up.

I do have some problems with it though. 1) The front looks ... sort of old. 2) No dust filters. To me that is a must. 3) What's up with having to purchase the add ons? I/O? Front fans? Yeah it's a modular approach, but if the base price is so high some stuff should come as standard imo.

I do like the modular stuff though. Feet on the motherboard tray. :D
Click to expand...

Still trying to wrap my head around it all.
While I could write my own judgments, Frick summed up my own first impressions so well... I'll just second his points.

Wonder if they'd contemplate releasing something with the traditional mid-size dimensions?
 
D

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Yer dust filters would be nice, also it would be nice if they just concentrated on WC and forgot about air cooling I don't think many people buy a CaseLabs case without watercooling in mind.

The real problem with case labs is shipping cost of a pc case out of the usa
 
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