Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced
- Thread starter Mythril1976
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Anybody recommend a good quality fan (with lights hehe) that I can no hear at all ? I hate fan noise and this one that comes with the case is too loud 
Soldato
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we talking about the same case here?
lack of space? no way......i have a 240rad, 120rad, 2 resevoirs and a pump and still have great room.
i dont know what switch your talking about either? theres no switch on mine......
I really like mine. It's not silent with the supplied fans, but it's very, very, quiet with the fans dialed down using a fan controller.
Great airflow and cooling as well. Despite only using a budget cooler the i5 760 temps max out around 60 degrees, as does the Gigabyte GTX 460.
I too dismantled the extra HDD bays to improve the airflow.
This is my build:
I love the SATA hot-swap hard drive dock on top - I use it to do a weekly clone of my hard disk for backup.
It's a little tricky to route all the wiring neatly. I sort of compromised - it's as neat as I could get without spending days doing it.
Great airflow and cooling as well. Despite only using a budget cooler the i5 760 temps max out around 60 degrees, as does the Gigabyte GTX 460.
I too dismantled the extra HDD bays to improve the airflow.
This is my build:
I love the SATA hot-swap hard drive dock on top - I use it to do a weekly clone of my hard disk for backup.
It's a little tricky to route all the wiring neatly. I sort of compromised - it's as neat as I could get without spending days doing it.
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I'm really liking my new case tbh. I've put in two uv 12" cold cathoid tubes this morning and I'm about to go buy a small blue one and either a fan controler or a new quite fan, not sure yet.
Ravenger: Have you any pics of the insides mate ?
Ravenger: Have you any pics of the insides mate ?
I'm getting a 140mm Yate Loon to replace my front 140mm fan. Might splash out on that Lian Li white cathode which you can bend. Would be quite good to put down the sides of the front fan, would still get that led effect coming through the mesh then.
Soldato
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Yeah. I have a 240mm rad and a 120mm rad too. But I can't do push/pull on the rad at the top because there's not enough space.
I can't use deeper fans on the top rad (like the 35mm San Ace(?) ones) because there's not enough space.
I couldn't really get a 240mm rad in the bottom, because there's not enough space.
The LED switch doesn't over complicate things, that was just a general "why?".
The way the top fans can be mounted under the plastic top/mesh things seems to be over complicated to me. Why not just have the top of the case go up to where the mesh bit is?
I don't like the design of the bit of plastic that covers the top hot-swappable HDD connection either.
And the bracket for the graphics card(s) seems like it could maybe have been done better and had a larger fan mount?
I'm HUGELY disappointed with the case and expect I'll get rid of it soon.
Liking the look of the HAF-X and my HAF 932 has more space in it than the 690 II so I'm assuming the HAF-X will too. Plus I think you can get a 360mm rad in there. Plus there's clearance for a deeper ran and hopefully deeper fans.
I did think about switching out the front fan, but I'm not sure that the LED on/off button would work with other LED fans and would be pointless with an non-LED fan. And having a button that did nothing would annoy me more than a button that turned the LED on and off.
I just did a review on this case today actually. Check clearance here mate: http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/articles_pages/cooler_master_cm_690_ii_advanced_review,6.html
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Mint. I'll have a read of that tomorrow
In regards to the watercooling, its not sold to be a brilliant case for watercooling, but it does say it can accomadate it. You have 2 loops I am guessing, so the case has fulfilled its purpose there.
I agree that I dont understand why the placed a fan LED switch on the case, but after unplugging it I had forgot all about it.
I agree with the fans under the plastic. I have 2 140mm fans under the plastic and I think this is a better solution then having them inside the metal. However that said, unless like me you have a huge heatsink with 2 120mm fans attached and the CPU socket is very near the top of the board, I dont think it matters.
The plastic on top of the HDD swappable bay drives me crazy when I move my case...humm...I hardly move my case. I see your point though, but its only a small point.
I personally have no need for the GFX bracket, but as far as I am aware you can actually get a 120mm fan in the door panel and still have the bracket in place, so I would ask is there really a need for the fan on the bracket anyway?
I am not trying to prove you wrong here or agree with you overally much, however, I think the CM-690 has been sold correctly and if you are this dissappointed with the case that its just not the case for you rather than being a bad case itself.
Personally I love the case and have major plans for it. BTW, if this reads weird towards the end its because its 2.23am and I am really tired...zzzzzzz!
Mint. I'll have a read of that tomorrow
The retention bracket for the VGA is really quite a nice idea. If you can stick a fan in there!
Soldato
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I am not trying to prove you wrong here or agree with you overally much, however, I think the CM-690 has been sold correctly and if you are this dissappointed with the case that its just not the case for you rather than being a bad case itself.
Personally I love the case and have major plans for it. BTW, if this reads weird towards the end its because its 2.23am and I am really tired...zzzzzzz!
This.
I think the case is really well speced and for the money you can't go wrong. If you compare this with something like the antec 900 (another fan favourite) this its miles ahead.
I'm really happy that I can actually fit all my water cooling in such a small case. There's no other case out there that can offer this without costing a lot more or being bigger.
Remind me why i try not to shop with other places apart from OcUK again? Oh yeah, it cause OcUK get things right...
My CM 690 II just arrived. I assumed it was in a Lancool box as it had been on display and they didn't have the original box but no, they have sent a lancool case!
My CM 690 II just arrived. I assumed it was in a Lancool box as it had been on display and they didn't have the original box but no, they have sent a lancool case!
Soldato
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This is probably true of the majority of cases to be fair.
It can only fit all my water-cooling in because I spec'd my water cooling to fit in it. If I'd bought a 360mm rad I'd have trouble fitting it in and I imagine most people would.
Personally I don't think someone could pay me enough to get one of these cases again. I much prefer my HAF 932.
It might not all be the case's fault. I bought it to put a new build in and I'm just disappointed with the whole lot. So since I view the whole lot negatively I think the bad points about the case just seem to stand out more than the good ones (which people seem convinced there are, but I can't see them).
the rest of the PC spec for those interested is:
CM 690 II Advanced
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T @ 3.8GHz - Water-cooled
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H
2GB 4870x2 - Water-cooled
1TB Samsung F3
LiteOn DVD-Writer
Corsair TX750W
Most of the water-cooling parts are XSPC (with some Fesser and EK bits)
The Samsung F3 is nice, as it the DVD drive and can't see anything wrong with the RAM. Undecided about the 4870x2.
The rest of it I'll probably end up getting rid of and getting something decent.
If I liked the rest of it I'd probably have overlooked the cases issues.
Still, I don't think it hurts to point out what I didn't like about the case, give potential buyers a different perspective.
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Well here is the almost final product. Just one more light to fit in, some more shrink tubing to go on, and my new side panel with a window but for now it's done.
I ensure you I am not trying to start and arguement here, but if you wanted a 360mm rad, you wouldnt have bought this case.
1) You bought the case and you wanted a 360mm rad afterwards, yes its annoying but I am sure that you would accept that when you bought the CM-690 you did intend to be looking at 360mm rads.
2) You bought the case and a 360mm rad...you made a mistake, not the cases fault.
3) You bought the case and a 360mm rad, your insane and are about to mod the hell out of the case...which I personally would love to see.
Like I say, I am not arguing or trying to prove you wrong and I obviously cant prove your own personal opinions wrong but I think thats what this comes down to, personal opinions.
To the OP. Your case is looking great! Easy to cable manage isnt it? I am in the process of "blinging" up my case but I cant decide if I want to go LED lighting or cathods...
Soldato
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Yeah, mostly (1).
I guess I expected a 240mm and a 120mm to do a better job. So a 360mm and a 240mm would be nicer.
I didn't find it easy to cable manage, but I think that's partly down to the components I bought (small motherboard = large distance from holes in motherboard tray, and non-modular PSU meant I had loads of spare cables). Also think it could do with a smidge more room behind the motherboard tray and the back side panel.
EDIT: Here are some pics of my build. It doesn't look nearly as tidy as those above.
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