Assembly

You can take the motherboard tray out of the case to simplify the assembly process. The rear actually comes with a secondary layer that covers the opening for the CPU cooler. CaseLabs even provides small feet should you want to use the tray as a simple test bench instead of within the system, which is a nice touch when benching and testing things before completely assembling everything. With the motherboard in place, simply slide the unit in. As you can see, the Phanteks CPU cooler fits, but you may have to be careful when installing a large 140 mm tower cooler. You will, if it does not fit through the opening in the rear, have to mount it separately after sliding the board on the motherboard tray back into the chassis. This is by no means a negative as the Merlin SM8 has loads of space anyways.


You will first have to take the tray off the panel to install a 3.5" drive. The storage unit is held in place with special screws that come equipped with rubber rings. This ensures that no vibrations travel on and to the shell of the case. Simply put the filled tray back onto the panel and use the lugs to keep it there.


Assembly of SSDs is done in a similar manner, but does not include any rubber rings; but even a notebook drive is unlikely to cause any vibration-specific issues.


As the Merlin SM8 does not come with any external drive bays, you will need to apply them to every used drive. First, pull the front of the chassis off with a firm tug. This will reveal the thumbscrews holding each panel in place. Take one off before applying the sides to the optical drive. Once in place, slide the drive into the bay from within the chassis and use the thumbscrews to hold it in place.


The power supply is installed in a manner similar to every other chassis. Simply place it into the tray and use screws to pin it down. As you can see, the fairly large 850W unit looks minuscule within the Merlin SM8.


Once everything is in place, It really becomes apparent how much space the chassis has. You can easily install three thick radiators within the chassis if you do not need any external drive bays. This should be more than enough to cool any type of system the Merlin SM8 can hold. All the cables are hidden nicely behind the motherboard tray, leaving the interior free for the components that count.

Finished Looks

With everything in place, both side panels close without any issues at all. The Merlin SM8 looks pretty cool filled up. The Merlin SM8 uses an aftermarket power switch with an embedded light that turns on as soon as you power the PC up.


The optical drive bay lines up perfectly with the rest of the chassis. I have also installed the additional part we received from CaseLabs upon request: a grill that spans four drive bays and allows for fans to be installed in the front. It can also serve as a mount for a 240 mm radiator. Everything in the rear is where one would expect it to be, and all the connectors are easily accessible. The window is of a good size to show off all the hardware; you cannot see much of the optical drives inside the case.