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Good afternoon everyone. I believe it is time for me to purchase some new cases and after an assessment of the field, I'm strongly considering CaseLabs as the manufacturer of my next case. Given the company's exalted reputation among enthusiasts, I'm guessing there may be a few CaseLabs owners here, so I'd like to appeal to the community wisdom to help my make my decision. Since we seem to lack a recent thread on the topic I decided to create my own; much of the CaseLabs "official" discussion seems to center on OCN, but I'd like to get the [H] opinion!
For those who may not be aware, CaseLabs is a US- based (and built it appears) bespoke PC chassis manufacturer found at www.caselabs-store.com . They got their start making custom enclosures for business and the like, before embracing the high performance home/enthusiast marketplace. Pre-configured products of theirs are also available at certain enthusiast PC shops around the world, as well. Their cases are known for being well made, available for customization, and expensive.
Made from aluminum near exclusively, one notable feature of their cases is the degree to which they can be customized not just at purchase, but throughout their useful life. Their accessories shop stock a wide variety of parts that can be used to change their cases and are nearly "universal" at least within model lines; you don't have to worry that after a year or two you will not be able to find a part for you case, a major difference from many other manufacturers. Moving from 120mm fan spacing to 140mm? Well, just buy a new drop-in mounting or similar part and you'll be set. Need more room? Buy the "pedestal" for your case type and customize it as you like; fill it with HDD or SSD cages for a storage array, pick radiator and pump mounts for liquid cooling, or even slot in some bay devices. Even by default, most CaseLabs cases have tons of space and options for all but the most extreme builds. As many would surmise, this kind of build quality and customization comes at a significant cost, but hopefully will be a good value over the years of service. While a few of their largest cases (which eclipse super towers from most common manufacturers in size and usable space, by far) have prices to match, some of their offerings come in proximity of high-tier ($300+) offerings from LianLi, Silverstone, Corsair and others, while seemingly offering offering equal or better for the money.
So my ultimate decision is which CaseLabs case to purchase. I'm going to be using it to house my primary rig, first of all. This will be a X99 Rampage V Extreme, Core i7 5960X, 16gb DDR4 2666 RAM, and likely a smattering of components from my signature, like my AMD 290X until upgrade. I plan to cool the CPU with my Swiftech H220-X (or better, like the EK Predator AIO and/or custom water, eventually), so at the moment I'm not running the most extreme, fully loaded rig that has ever been created on [H]. However, I would like to have the flexibility to expand and upgrade - it was actually finding that my Corsair 800D wasn't able to (reasonably) fit radiators spaced for multiple 140MM fans, that prompted me to look to CaseLabs, where I can always customize the enclosure for my needs.
My decision comes down to what line and then model would be best, so I'd appreciate any input for owners of the same or similar units. First of all we have the Merlin line, who's single members seems...perhaps underwhelming? It seems like other lines either provide something comparable for cheaper/more options, or others are larger with greater features. Am I missing something.
The Mercury line takes my eye as the most affordable and perhaps most aligned for my current needs. The ATX/E-ATX and larger model, the S8, seems to have lots of features and compete favorably with high end LianLi, Corsair, Silverstone and others etc. I'm guessing it will have significant room for upgrades and there is ample customization. However, I do wonder how it stacks up to the..
Magnum line, which is split into Single Wide and Double Wide options. On the Single Wide side, we have the SMA8 and the STH10. These seem to be the most like "traditional" super-towers, being a little thinner inside than the other options (including he Mercury and perhaps Magnum Doubles), but very roomy and tall. The STH10 seems to be bit taller with another "cooling chamber". The Double Wide options seem to be a bit shorter yet offer a wide open chamber on the other "side" of the case. I can see how this could be useful for those who want to run multiple cooling loops segregated or some such, though I am unsure as to what would prompt a user to go for Double over the Singles specifically. The last Magnum option is certainly jaw dropping but if I'm being realistic, way too much case for my needs. The Magnum TX10 is apparently the largest production PC case made to date, a massive double wide offering that is as tall as the tallest Singles as well. Unlike many others, it can come kitted out with multiple motherboard drawers from the start, for those who want to run multiple PCs in the same chassis. Overkill? Certainly. Though I am sure those who have grand aspirations and a wallet ready to fulfill them have plans in mind to make use off that kind of space.
So there we have much of CaseLabs offerings (minus those made for mATX/mITX etc). I should mention that the company has crafted "quick ship" versions of the (single wide) Magnum SMA8 and STH10, owing to their popularity and equipped with some of the most popular options for each case. At the moment, I am perhaps leaning towards the Mercury S8, while also considering the Magnum offering. It seems the Mercury could likely fit the vast majority of the hardware/cooling I could think to purchase; I'm unsure if the additional space given by the Magnum lines would be put to the best use. However, maybe there are some reasons to go with Magnum that I'm not considering. So this is where the community comes in!
Anyone with advice, experience with CaseLabs etc... feel free to chime in, and others who may want to discuss their products, can use this thread as well! Thanks
For those who may not be aware, CaseLabs is a US- based (and built it appears) bespoke PC chassis manufacturer found at www.caselabs-store.com . They got their start making custom enclosures for business and the like, before embracing the high performance home/enthusiast marketplace. Pre-configured products of theirs are also available at certain enthusiast PC shops around the world, as well. Their cases are known for being well made, available for customization, and expensive.
Made from aluminum near exclusively, one notable feature of their cases is the degree to which they can be customized not just at purchase, but throughout their useful life. Their accessories shop stock a wide variety of parts that can be used to change their cases and are nearly "universal" at least within model lines; you don't have to worry that after a year or two you will not be able to find a part for you case, a major difference from many other manufacturers. Moving from 120mm fan spacing to 140mm? Well, just buy a new drop-in mounting or similar part and you'll be set. Need more room? Buy the "pedestal" for your case type and customize it as you like; fill it with HDD or SSD cages for a storage array, pick radiator and pump mounts for liquid cooling, or even slot in some bay devices. Even by default, most CaseLabs cases have tons of space and options for all but the most extreme builds. As many would surmise, this kind of build quality and customization comes at a significant cost, but hopefully will be a good value over the years of service. While a few of their largest cases (which eclipse super towers from most common manufacturers in size and usable space, by far) have prices to match, some of their offerings come in proximity of high-tier ($300+) offerings from LianLi, Silverstone, Corsair and others, while seemingly offering offering equal or better for the money.
So my ultimate decision is which CaseLabs case to purchase. I'm going to be using it to house my primary rig, first of all. This will be a X99 Rampage V Extreme, Core i7 5960X, 16gb DDR4 2666 RAM, and likely a smattering of components from my signature, like my AMD 290X until upgrade. I plan to cool the CPU with my Swiftech H220-X (or better, like the EK Predator AIO and/or custom water, eventually), so at the moment I'm not running the most extreme, fully loaded rig that has ever been created on [H]. However, I would like to have the flexibility to expand and upgrade - it was actually finding that my Corsair 800D wasn't able to (reasonably) fit radiators spaced for multiple 140MM fans, that prompted me to look to CaseLabs, where I can always customize the enclosure for my needs.
My decision comes down to what line and then model would be best, so I'd appreciate any input for owners of the same or similar units. First of all we have the Merlin line, who's single members seems...perhaps underwhelming? It seems like other lines either provide something comparable for cheaper/more options, or others are larger with greater features. Am I missing something.
The Mercury line takes my eye as the most affordable and perhaps most aligned for my current needs. The ATX/E-ATX and larger model, the S8, seems to have lots of features and compete favorably with high end LianLi, Corsair, Silverstone and others etc. I'm guessing it will have significant room for upgrades and there is ample customization. However, I do wonder how it stacks up to the..
Magnum line, which is split into Single Wide and Double Wide options. On the Single Wide side, we have the SMA8 and the STH10. These seem to be the most like "traditional" super-towers, being a little thinner inside than the other options (including he Mercury and perhaps Magnum Doubles), but very roomy and tall. The STH10 seems to be bit taller with another "cooling chamber". The Double Wide options seem to be a bit shorter yet offer a wide open chamber on the other "side" of the case. I can see how this could be useful for those who want to run multiple cooling loops segregated or some such, though I am unsure as to what would prompt a user to go for Double over the Singles specifically. The last Magnum option is certainly jaw dropping but if I'm being realistic, way too much case for my needs. The Magnum TX10 is apparently the largest production PC case made to date, a massive double wide offering that is as tall as the tallest Singles as well. Unlike many others, it can come kitted out with multiple motherboard drawers from the start, for those who want to run multiple PCs in the same chassis. Overkill? Certainly. Though I am sure those who have grand aspirations and a wallet ready to fulfill them have plans in mind to make use off that kind of space.
So there we have much of CaseLabs offerings (minus those made for mATX/mITX etc). I should mention that the company has crafted "quick ship" versions of the (single wide) Magnum SMA8 and STH10, owing to their popularity and equipped with some of the most popular options for each case. At the moment, I am perhaps leaning towards the Mercury S8, while also considering the Magnum offering. It seems the Mercury could likely fit the vast majority of the hardware/cooling I could think to purchase; I'm unsure if the additional space given by the Magnum lines would be put to the best use. However, maybe there are some reasons to go with Magnum that I'm not considering. So this is where the community comes in!
Anyone with advice, experience with CaseLabs etc... feel free to chime in, and others who may want to discuss their products, can use this thread as well! Thanks
