Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced Review

Posted by admin on March 1st, 2010

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Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let’s not beat around the bush and get straight to the nitty-gritty!

Pros

Black painted interior.
Excellent fan grille mesh design allowing for better air flow.
No extra layer of mesh where the fans underneath the cosmetic covers mount to the case frame (this was an issue with the original CM690).
Strong, quality paint job.
Stout tool-free 5 1/4″ bay mounts.
Sturdy HDD trays with rubber mounts to dampen vibration.
One 2.5″ adapter for SSD mounting included.
Thicker, stronger side panels (than the original CM690).
External SATA HDD mount.
Improved I/O and switch placement.
Interior mounting for two 120.2 radiators (assuming they aren’t very thick and that you use only two HDDs.)
Larger grommets allowing for easy passage of thick water tubing.

Cons

CPU retaining hole isn’t large enough to accommodate common socket placement.
No grommets where the wires go through the motherboard tray (a la the Corsair 800D)
No side panel window.
A couple extra fans would be nice.

While we wish this case had a side panel to show off the glorious wire management that can be had, that’s not that big of a deal. A bigger deal is a heatsink mounting hole that isn’t big enough to use. While having to loosen the motherboard is a whole lot better than having to remove it outright, it’s still inconvenient to mess with. If it were ever so slightly larger, this issue would be moot.

All in all, this case is beautiful to behold and very easy to work with. Installation is a breeze and if you’re into wire management, it is most definitely your friend. There are also very few mid-tower cases designed specifically with water cooling in mind. It’s a breath of fresh air to be able to put two radiators in a case without needing to step up to a full tower behemoth.

Overall, we’re extremely impressed with Cooler Master’s latest offering. We could be happier, but only just – and for very minor reasons. Considering the dearth of cons listed above, we are happy to rate this case with a 9/10 and an Overclockers Tech gold award.