When upgrading my computer and installed the new parts in my old case, this proved to be a bit of a silly idea as the temperatures it was running at was too high.
Having largely spent out on the upgrade i wanted a fairly cheap case. The CoolerMaster CM690 looked like it was to fit the bill perfectly, its was fairly cheap approx £55, it did NOT come with power supply, which for me wasn't a problem as I'd just bought a new CoolerMaster Real Power M620 620W PSU.
To start with this case looks very good and feels light when empty. It also feels sturdy and well balanced on my desk and on carpet, although a carpet with too high a pile on it could interfere with the PSU exhaust and the mounting for another fan.
The front and top of the case is basically a big grille which obviously helps with letting the hot air escape.
Access is very easy, 2 thumb screws and you're in. What helped me was my power supply as mentioned above was a modular design so i only had to put in the cables i needed. all other cables were easily routed through the plastic clips, these were large enough to tie up most of the cables including the motherboard cable.
Inside there is mountings for 7 case fans, 3 fans come pre-fitted, one at the front sucking air in over the hard drives (which has a blue LED), one at the back blowing hot air out and one on the side panel also blowing air out. There are 2 empty mounting points at the top of the case which i think will take up to 14CM fans. The side panel can take up to 2 x 14CM fans, why the case ships with only a 12CM fan I'm not sure the same can be said about the rear fan being 12CM when 14CM will fit. The 4th empty fan space in in the floor of the case, large chunky rubber feet raise the floor of the case about 2CM off the desk.
The power supply mounts at the bottom of the case, there is a rubber surround for noise reduction around the PSU. The other side panel has holes punched which approximately line up with the CPU socket of the motherboard and presumably help with heat dissipation. part from screwing the PSU and motherboard into place the design really is screw-less. Screws are provided for the hard drives and optical drives if you wish to use them.
There is room for 5 external 5 1/4" drives and 5 internal 3 1/2" drives. A converter is provided to if you have an external 3 1/2" drive. The front of the case just pulls off, i took a few tries for me to get it off as i didn't want to pull to hard and break the clips, but it came of cleanly with the right amount of effort. The blanking plates for the 5 1/4" drive bay just push out from the back of the front panel.
The hard drive sit in a malleable plastic caddy and are mounted just behind the front case fan.
Clips that screw into the case help with cable management. Expansion card are held in place by plastic clips which can sometimes feel a little flimsy but they have no problem in holding my 2 slot GeForce 8800 GTS in place.
1 thing that bugged me is the plug for the power light is a 2 pin plug. But the connector head on my motherboard is 3 pin. That's just a personal peeve, and will affect only certain motherboards.
I think I've mentioned everything, and for about £60 you can't go wrong, especially if you want a case without a PSU.
To me it offers value for money as it did everything i wanted with the minimum of effort and fuss, the cable clips keep the interior tidy and the screw-less (apart from PSU and motherboard) installation makes building a computer in this case a doddle.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
You've given a good description but not really much more than you could get from the web site I expect. It could do with rather more personal opinion - build quality, ease of access, value for money compared to other products - that sort of thing.
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styling. But dont let its exterior fool you ? the CM 690 is a lot more than just a pretty face.By utilizing a unique mesh design, the CM 690 effectively blends to...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 1-3 Working Days Depending on Service...
SLi Certified When looking at the RC-690; it's easy to be taken in by its bold lines and ... more
superb styling. But don't let its exterior fool you - the CM 690 is a lot more than just a pretty face. By utilizing a unique mesh design; the CM 690 effectively
Postage & Packaging: £10.00 Availability: in stock
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