A Closer Look

Cooler Master has designed the front of the case with metal mesh and some very sturdy black plastic corners. The company is well known for its solid designs even with more affordable cases. A large Cooler Master Logo is placed on the front of the case. The first interesting feature can be seen on the back of the case. The power supply has been placed on the bottom, while the mainboard is still upright above the case. This is the same configuration as the more expensive Cosmos we reviewed earlier. It is great to see that such features are possible in the mainstream segment.


Both sides have air vents for fans. The panel facing the rear of the mainboard has a single eight centimeter opening right below the CPU. This should aid in cooling the area just below the processor, if your memory is located to the right of the socket. Any mainboard with DIMM slots above the CPU will not have this benefit. In such cases, the memory would be right above this vent.


The other side features two massive air vents. Both can take any fan between 80 and 140 mm, while the bottom one is filled with a 120 mm one. It would have been great to see the largest possible fan instead, as it would be even quieter. Turning the panel around reveals the fan which pulls air into the case. It comes with a normal mainboard header and an additional adapter to Molex if you want to connect the fan directly to the power supply.


Cooler Master has chosen to place the front I/O on the top of the case, which should give you very comfortable access if the chassis is kept under your desk. The available connectors cover every aspect, from the usual USB 2.0 and audio inputs to the rarer Firewire and eSATA connectivity. This is one more feature usually found exclusively on cases, which carry a bigger price tag. The power & reset button are located on the right edge of the case. These are fairly large, so you can find them easily, even if you place the case to the right of your chair.


Another unique feature are the feet used on the RC-690. Most cases tend to feature standard OEM standoffs of various quality, but Cooler Master has mounted all rubber feet which go with the case design and have been created just for this case design.


Taking a closer look at the back of the case, the previously mentioned PSU bay is located on the bottom, while the PCI brackets are in the middle. There are cut outs for legacy connectivity like a Serial port and even two openings for external water cooling - well done! Above the expansion slots, you will find another large fan grill, which can hold a 120 mm fan at most. Cooler Master has placed such a fan there, so you will not need to buy an additional one. Keeping count of the fans so far, would make this the second one.