Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Mar 2007
- Posts
- 3,875
I've fairly recently done a new build in a CM-690II, and while I know a lot of you on here have the case and are very happy with it, I'm not sure I'm totally sold on it. The case certainly has some great features and I don't think it can be faulted too much for the price, but having previously only used Lian Li cases I think I'm a bit fussy about what I expect from a case. My main problem with the case is that the fans aren't that quiet, and two of the stock fans make an annoying whirring/low beeping noise.
I've currently just got the stock fans in there, and was considering swapping them out for some higher quality fans and adding a fan controller so that I can drop the fan speeds, thereby hopefully reducing the noise. However, for the cost of adding 3 or 4 high quality fans (which are going to be roughly £10 each) and a decent fan controller (probably roughly £30) I could sell the 690II and get a case that's quieter straight out of the box, or at least has a built-in fan controller. I'm also not that happy with the cable routing options in the 690II, and am having second thoughts about the looks of the case. In the past I've always gone for Lian Li's because of their classy, understated look and quality build, and I'm starting to dislike all the mesh on the 690II.
With all this in mind, I was looking at a couple of alternatives and found two I particularly like. I'm trying to make my mind up between the Fractal Design Define R3 (which I was originally going to get before I chose the 690II), and the Corsair Obsidian 650D. Currently I'm leaning towards the 650D because of the excellent cable management, built-in fan controller, great looks, and because I've seen a couple of complaints recently over Fractal Design's quality control.
Which one do you think would be the better option or do you think I should stick with the 690II and get the fan controller and replacement fans instead?
I've currently just got the stock fans in there, and was considering swapping them out for some higher quality fans and adding a fan controller so that I can drop the fan speeds, thereby hopefully reducing the noise. However, for the cost of adding 3 or 4 high quality fans (which are going to be roughly £10 each) and a decent fan controller (probably roughly £30) I could sell the 690II and get a case that's quieter straight out of the box, or at least has a built-in fan controller. I'm also not that happy with the cable routing options in the 690II, and am having second thoughts about the looks of the case. In the past I've always gone for Lian Li's because of their classy, understated look and quality build, and I'm starting to dislike all the mesh on the 690II.
With all this in mind, I was looking at a couple of alternatives and found two I particularly like. I'm trying to make my mind up between the Fractal Design Define R3 (which I was originally going to get before I chose the 690II), and the Corsair Obsidian 650D. Currently I'm leaning towards the 650D because of the excellent cable management, built-in fan controller, great looks, and because I've seen a couple of complaints recently over Fractal Design's quality control.
Which one do you think would be the better option or do you think I should stick with the 690II and get the fan controller and replacement fans instead?