CDdude55
Crazy 4 TPU!!!
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2007
- Messages
- 8,178 (1.34/day)
- Location
- Virginia
System Name | CDdude's Rig! |
---|---|
Processor | AMD Athlon II X4 620 |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 |
Cooling | Corsair H70 |
Memory | 8GB Corsair Vengence @1600mhz |
Video Card(s) | XFX HD 6970 2GB |
Storage | OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD/WD Velociraptor 300GB |
Display(s) | ASUS VH232H 23" 1920x1080 |
Case | Cooler Master CM690 (w/ side window) |
Audio Device(s) | Onboard (It sounds fine) |
Power Supply | Corsair 850TX |
Software | Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SP1 |
I have had the Cooler Master CM690 case for about a year and a half now, and i would like to share my opinions and view on the case, this review is a fairly short one and more info can be found on it at Cooler Master site. I currently have no mods done on the case and am running all air cooling.
Size
The Cooler Master CM690 case is actually a fairly large case, i remember when i first viewed it on Newegg, i thought it was so tiny. When i decided to order it i found out the true size of the case, the innards of the case will fit any card of today you need for your gaming and etc. Fortunately, its not as heavy as cases like the TT Armor or the CM Cosmos series(that would be because those cases are bigger in size). Once everything is in the case it can get quite heavy(i can only imagine the weight for those with a 4870 X2/ GTX 295). Overall its a great sized case with a good amount of room, yet not being to bad in weigh like the cases mentioned above. Also, the bottom fan mount can get in the way of long Power Supplies, so if you have a long PSU you will need to get rid of the fan mount.
Cooling
Luckily, due to its size mentioned above. This case the has the ability to fit 8x fans( 2x at top, 1x 80mm CPU back fan, 1x Front fan, 1x Exhaust fan, 2x Side panel fans, and one fan at the bottom of the case). These really help with cooling of the PC components inside, if you have all those fan slots filled, your power hungry hardware should have more then enough room to stay cool. For those Water Cooling folks, there are two premade holes in the back for your water cooling tubes(don't worry there covered by some plastic so theres no worry for dust or whatever else to come in), i have yet to use WCing so i can't go far into that, but it does have the available holes needed. One problem would be dust from fans, there is no mesh on the side panels and what not so if your in a dusty area it will attract some, but i am pretty sure if you put your mind to it you can make your own fan mesh mod or just position it in a less dusty area (like not on the floor). Also keep in mind the stock fans that come with the case don't push much air, so if you know for a fact your system is going to be burning up if it doesn't get proper air moving through the case, i would really recommend you change the stock fans.
Wiring
This was one of the things i really worried about when i first saw the interior of the case, the Power Supply is mounted at the bottom, so make sure you have the available length in cords to reach the sockets(i.e CPU power socket), I do believe there are premounted holes to route your cables through, though i haven't payed much attention to them. I would recommend a PSU with a good length in cables just to avoid the hassle in routing or drilling. There are also ports at the top of the case(e-SATA,etc) so there are some cables that will come down from the top of the case, if you don't need them you can easily stuff them into a CD drive bay, you can also use cable ties to make it even easier. If you are planning to use them the cables are long enough for some good routing.
Overall
This case is overall awesome, lots of room for the parts you need while keeping then cool in any situation. As stated above only cons are really the PSU cord length/mount, dust.etc. The entire build went smooth with this case, nice tooless expansion slots/drive day slots and easy to use HDD mounting system. With room for today's video cards and possibly future cards(lets hope they don't get bigger). I don't see myself parting away from this case till a long time. I hope this review has helped someone out trying to pick a great case, cause this one truly is one of them. Also, there is another version of the CM 690 case, its the ''Nvidia Edition'' version, Its a great looking case for those that want to add a little more color to the case.(It has a green side window and a Nvidia logo at the front, so if you hate green and Nvidia, you'll hate that version).
4.8/5
Posted this originally over at Castiel's site, thought it would be a good idea to share it here.