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Anybody Have Experience with the Cooler Master 690?

C

ccubed

Member
I'm putting together a new system after being out of the do-it-yourself field of computers for a while. I want a case that will be relatively pain free to assemble everything and still provide good cooling internally.

I'm looking at the COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP and like the 3 fans already in place along with the ventilation. I'm wondering how easy the drive bays are to access and about mounting the motherboard. I'm also concerned about whether I'll be able to stick an Asus P45 motherboard with an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU cooler in there. I'll also be using a 4850 video card and will later be adding the new Arctic Cooling Accelero that's supposed to come out later this month.

Any thoughts and/or impressions?

Edit: great, now to complicate things, the Antec Nine Hundred is on sale with a rebate (since I missed out on the Fry's sale this week.) Why is building a computer such an OCD nightmare?! ;p
 
CM690 will fit everything you want to throw in there and more. I would definitely take that over an Antec 900 because it's just so much more usable. Cases are things you should see in person before you should make a call but I assure you that everything you listed will fit in there. I know my CM590 does and the 690 is actually slightly larger than mine.
 
I'm with RallyMaster, shouldn't be a problem installing any of the stuff you have listed. I have an Asus P5Q-E, OCZ Vendetta 2 and an Asus 4850 in my 690. Plenty of room. The only thing to watch out for is, depending on the size of your mobo, a couple of the cable organizers might get in your way. They can be removed easily though.
 
I am trying to decide between the Antec 900 and CM 690 also. I like the look of the CM 690 (more traditional) and I like its deeper size better than the less deep Antec 900's. My concern with the CM 690 is the quality. I have read many formal reviews and some message board reviews. Quite a few indicate the side panel is hard to take off and state that you have to apply a lot of force to get it off. Also, many add that the panel is somewhat flimsy and that it in turn bends easily. With the Antec 900, most mention how good its quality and fit-finish are.

I am not expecting high-end quality but bending, stuck panels conerns me. Is the side panel and overall quality problematic with the CM 690?
 
Just from my experience, mind you, I find the build quality on par with those of Antec's. In fact, I was impressed enough to also purchase the 590 when I built my server. I've owned various Antec enclosures over the years (1040 & Plusview1080 come to mind) that I'm pretty aware of Antec's build quality. Keep in mind that no manufacturer is perfect, there'll be a lemon every now and then. But you always have the option to choose to return something if you're not happy.
 
I'm quite happy with my CM690 and no complaints re: build quality. Installation was a breeze given the layout/dimensions of the interior even the stock fans keep everything nice and cool. As for your questions, I experienced no hassles installing the motherboard or drives. Everything is easy to access and drive bays are tool-less. I actually like the plastic drive cages... just pop an HDD in, slide it into the case and plug it in. No tools or screws to worry about.

As for the Antec, I know it's well respected, but it just looks too awkward to my eyes. Of course that's personal preference so you will have to decide for yourself in that regard.
 
I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm also planning on getting a 690, and was wondering if you guys could just answer two questions for me... and I don't want to open another thread.

I'm getting a arctic cooling freezer 7 pro, and was wondering if I'll have room for it. (all I want to do is get an OC to 3.2 Ghz with a q9450 or q9300), and if it has room for a HD 4870.

Thanks.
 
The Vendetta 2 I'm using is, I believe, taller than the Freezer Pro 7 and it fits easily. Although I had to remove one of the side fans because of the Vendetta's height. Whether the Freezer Pro 7 will fit your mobo or not might be another story. No reason a 4870 wouldn't fit either.
 
Originally posted by: jojiboy
The Vendetta 2 I'm using is, I believe, taller than the Freezer Pro 7 and it fits easily. Although I had to remove one of the side fans because of the Vendetta's height. Whether the Freezer Pro 7 will fit your mobo or not might be another story. No reason a 4870 wouldn't fit either.
Click to expand...

I'll be using an Asus p5q
 
The Freezer 7 Pro is a relatively small cooler compared to some of the ones I've seen and should fit on just about any standard ATX mobo fine.
 
The 690 has very large areas of fan venting cut into most of the body. Those areas of venting can easily be bent. Other than that, the one I had here seemed pretty sturdy.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: ccubed
Think the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 will fit in there easily? From the screens here, especially the watercooler, it looks like it should.
Click to expand...

I did a build with one of these cases, and as been said before, just about anything will fit.

You haven't picked anything that wouldn't.

You missed the major sale on these. I think this is the one I ended-up getting for 10.00 or 15.00 after all was said and done.

Good Luck!
 
The only real cheap part is the power/reset button, my reset button broke off within 4 days of owning the case, while its not a deal breaker, but CoolerMaster seems to have pretty slow support response, been waiting for 6 weeks to get my replacement button now, and still no dice.
 
Yeah, those lever button pushers in the bezel, the shiny ones, have to be held in place in the out position or you can damage the switches (or the lever button pushers themselves) when you try to put the bezel back on. Need to have some kind of spring on them to keep 'em in place.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
Yeah, those lever button pushers in the bezel, the shiny ones, have to be held in place in the out position or you can damage the switches (or the lever button pushers themselves) when you try to put the bezel back on. Need to have some kind of spring on them to keep 'em in place.

.bh.
Click to expand...

I learned the hard way, so now when I take apart the front bezel, I use tape to tape on the buttons and remove the tape after i put it back on.
 
Yup, toad, quite a few cases don't come with speakers any more, and some newer mobos even lack the header for one. Some will send the beep codes thru the sound speakers, but others don't even have the code in the BIOS to generate the beep codes. So if your mobo lacks an onboard display to show the numeric boot codes, then you'll have to get an add-on card that does, if you want to see those codes.
. There is a place that sells those little piezo jobs cheaply and with reasonable shipping, but I've forgotten the name of the place, but IIRC it's in Texas.

.bh.
 
CM690 = win.

It's a far better case than the Antec 900-inefficiently-designed-like-all-Antec-cases-edition.

I have one, & if it was a bit deeper, i'd likely be making it into my main PC, instead of my secondary.
 
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