CM 690 II Basic/Lite VS Advanced

[nubki11a]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to buy the Cooler Master 690 II for my new build. Though as the title says, I'm unsure whether or not to get with the Advanced or with the Basic aka Lite.

Here is what the Advanced has over the Basic:
-External SATA "X-dock" (on top of case, most likely will not use)
-Internal GPU Holder (probably won't use)
-2.5 SSD Bracket (will use an SSD, so I will buy a cheap (€5,50) SSD bracket)
-All 4 the 5.25 drive bays are tool free (only 2 of the 4 on the basic, will probably only use 2 anyway)
-140mm top, 140mm front, and 120mm rear. (Basic has 120mm front and 120mm rear, no top included). So I guess I will have to buy some extra fans.

I will already be going over my budget with either the Basic or the Advanced, so price is a big factor. The Basic is about €20 cheaper than the Advanced.

Are there any really cheap fans (preferably under $10) that I could use? Or will I quickly reach the price of the Advanced?

Thanks!

EDIT: I found a Cooler Master R4 Sickleflow (Blue LED, which fits nice with the case) for €5,66 incl. shipping: http://azerty.nl/producten/product_...gp-ventilatorhuis-120-mm.html?source=googleps
Will one of these be enough, to be at the same performance level as the Advanced if I'd go with the Basic? Or would 2 of these be better.

 

[lehtv]

Hmm. Can't really go wrong either way. The basic will save you like 8 eur if you buy the fan and the SSD bracket. You lose some of the features, but none of them are really significant. I think the 140mm fans of the Advanced are pretty nice though, so wouldn't fault u for going with that either

 

[nubki11a]

Thanks lehtv, always so helpful Just found http://www.computerland.nl/a/behuiz..._cm690_ii_advan_midi_tower_nopsu/details.aspx seems like a really good price, though I'm going to call them up whether they can get the black version.

Anyone else know any pros/cons?

 

[ehume]

Don't bother with an SSD bracket. I have mine attached with Velcro, but any double-sticky would do.

And when you get your fans, make sure you get an additional 140mm fan to put in your 5.25 bay. Put your DVD in the lowest slot, then the 140mm fan in the next three. It will stick 10mm above the top of the bay. That's how I have mine (different case, though).

 

[stahlhart]

I think the 140mm fans of the Advanced are pretty nice though, so wouldn't fault u for going with that either

You can get extra OEM 140mm fans to match those in the CM 690 II from Performance PCs:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=26958

 

[ClockHound]

The top eSATA bay is really convenient for backups. But, if you never backup, not a big deal.

 

[nubki11a]

Alright, I think you all. I just calculated that a Lite with an SSD Bracket and 1 extra fan will cost me €82. A 690 II advanced will cost me €82,90... lol. And the Advanced version with 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front costs me € 83,78, though I think my motherboard, the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 doesn't support 3.0 headers (right? couldn't really understand it clearly from their site: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme3 Gen3&cat=Specifications).

Thanks all! Just one more question, this case only comes with 3 fans, other cases that I have seen have much more fans, should I add one more? I think I can use one from my old case, but I think it's really bad. If so, which fans should I get? Preferably cheap ones that will do the job.

 

[ehume]

Cheap ones that will do the job.

Case fans that have their frames set vertically can be sleeve bearing fans, which are less expensive. Before you put any sleeve bearing to work -- including any old ones you might have -- need to be lubricated. Just peel off the label, pry off the plug and drop some light machine oil (no penetrants) into the well. Then seal it all up. Re-lubricate the fan periodically, as you would your car. Check now and then to see how much oil remains in a fan so you'll know how often to re-lube it. They'll last much longer that way.