RC-690 Questions

[Eureka]

So, I'm thinking of picking up one of these 690s. I just have a few basic questions to those who have one.

How sturdy is the case? Does it flex/bend at all at any point?

Is it heavy/sound? Can you easily tip it over with a nudge?

Are the stock fans good/noisy? Will you recommend replacing them?

Finally, any other qualms you've found with the case, something that I should know about before getting it?

I'm coming from a budget X-Dreamer, which is flimsy as hell, and most of the metal on the case you can bend pretty easily. On the other hand, I have an old compaq case from the 90s, and that thing is solid. You could probably kill someone with the compaq.

So where does the RC-690 stand between these two extremes?

--

As a side question... what does anyone think of changing the stock blue front fan to a 3/4-colored one?

And these any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835103052

 

[Tullphan]

I had one of these cases for a couple of months...it was ok.
To me, it seemed that the side panels were difficult to remove & were flimsy.
Once the components were installed it wasn't light, but I didn't rupture myself moving it from under my desk when needed.
The stock fans (2, I believe) were pretty decent. I went ahead & added more including the 80x15 behind the motherboard tray. I pigtailed it along with most of the 120's to a rheostat.
Considering what I paid for it (got it back when it was ridiculously cheap AR) it was a very good deal & one shouldn't gripe about the minor details of it. Considering what they're selling for now, one might find a better deal on a better case somewhere.

 

[Eureka]

Well, it's about $80 shipped if you froogle it. At that pricepoint, what are other good cases?

 

[Alienwho]

I have one. It's very sturdy, solid construction and is a pleasure to work in. The side panel removal is a PITA sometimes that and has really grown on my nerves. I'm the kind of guy that opens up my case 3 or 4 times a week though.

It has a very open design with lots of mesh holes in it, which I liked at first, but now it seems to let through a lot of fan noise and it's getting on my nerves. I'm looking at replacing it with an Antec P182 or a Lian Li when the right deal comes along.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
Well, it's about $80 shipped if you froogle it. At that pricepoint, what are other good cases?

How about this?
Get a CSR on a live chat & politely ask if you can get free shipping.
Then there's this one. It's $10 more, but free shipping.
I'd look harder, but i've been in the hospital & don't hang out online as much as I normally do.
I guess you can tell i'm a LL fan, btw.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
So, I'm thinking of picking up one of these 690s. I just have a few basic questions to those who have one.

How sturdy is the case? Does it flex/bend at all at any point?

Is it heavy/sound? Can you easily tip it over with a nudge?

Are the stock fans good/noisy? Will you recommend replacing them?

Finally, any other qualms you've found with the case, something that I should know about before getting it?

I'm coming from a budget X-Dreamer, which is flimsy as hell, and most of the metal on the case you can bend pretty easily. On the other hand, I have an old compaq case from the 90s, and that thing is solid. You could probably kill someone with the compaq.

So where does the RC-690 stand between these two extremes?

--

As a side question... what does anyone think of changing the stock blue front fan to a 3/4-colored one?

And these any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835103052

1. Very sturdy. Have knocked it over a few times, I leave the door on loose because I turn my mobo on from its jumper switches. Door gets knocked over all the time, no damage.

2. Pretty sound. I mean if you push it its gonna fall but when I bang my knee into it when swiveling in my chair, my knee will be the loser.

3. Being that I added YL 120mm high speeds I cant comment on this.

4. Only problem I had was that my YLs had the 4pin tails and so I could not install them in the two top mounted fan slots. Other than that this case has been everything and more for me, the only case I'd ever trade it for is a HAF 932. And the 690 looks cooler.

5. The RC690 is hands down the best case I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I worked with Dell Dimension and XPS cases, or other custom cases like the Antec 900 and a few other flashy/LED boasting ones my friends have had, and nothing is built like or cools like the RC690. Get it. You wont be sorry.

Also there's a RC690 copy made by Sigma that sells for a little less, it was on newegg but I cant seem to find it anymore.

 

[imported_Scoop]

The only thing I don't like about is the side panel which tends to occasionally resonate with the beats of my two harddrives. So it has to be adjusted when this happens. With a single HDD this shouldn't be a problem obviously. And it's not like you can't do nothing about it. I only use two of the fans that came with the case (one of them running 1200RPM all the time), so I think they are decent enough.

 

[jdkick]

Mine is plenty sturdy. The side panels flex a bit when removed from the chassis but that's pretty standard IMO. You would need more then a "nudge" to tip it over.

I'm using the three stock fans - one front, one top and one top-rear. They're not silent but they're reasonably quiet, and that's with mine at desk height maybe 3-4' from my desk chair. The fans in my power supply (495W Enermax NoiseTaker) are louder then the three stock case fans. As for performance, the stock fans seem to keep everything cool - I really haven't seen the value in replacing them or adding additional fans.

Personally, I think the RC-690 an excellent case given it's design/price point and would definitely recommend it. If I had to dig up something bad to say it's that the side-mount fake chrome power/reset buttons are little cheesy and the top-mount connectors are less useful then I thought they would be. I'm reaching here tho and lose no sleep over either "qualm".

There's also the RC-590, which has a slightly different look.

I end up with the RC-690 as it was a perfect fit re: price point, simple design, cooling and plenty of clearance for large (tall) CPU coolers and passive GPU coolers.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Not sure if some of the guys that replied actually ever owned one of these. I actually own one of these on my secondary computer and would highly recommend it. Sure its not as refined as some of the high end cases but at $80 I think its a great buy. Its easy to work with, fits all current gpu's, has option to put like an extra 4 120mm fans in there, case is sturdy quality built, has great cable management capabilities, its a 5 star product. Just read reviews on newegg something like 1250 reviews and a 5 egg rating.

 

[faxon]

quite happy with my 690, as is a friend of mine. i purchased a 140mm fan for it and i had 2 18db Nexus 120mm fans on hand as well. i have the stock fans in front, on the side panel, and in back the way they came, i put the 2 nexus fans on top, and i put a 140mm low speed yate on the bottom. i havent had a chance to compare how quiet it is vs when i had it at my house still, but i rememember not being able to tell if it was on back before i put a system with a loud southbridge and GPU fan in later. couldnt hear it over my other system, to say the least, and it wasnt incredibly loud either, though it has become much quieter now.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Originally posted by: jdkick
There's also the RC-590, which has a slightly different look.

If it had the bottom intake that the 690 does I'd be sold. <3