What $19 can do..

[lopri]

Everyone knows that this case is $59 ($19 AR). I had it delivered from ZZF for free shipping and received the rebate as well, so it's truly $19. And I have to admit, this case is a bargain for its price.

Make no mistake - It's not the quietest case by any stretch and I would rate it as the similar noise level that Antec 900 generates. Antec 900 has an advantage for noise itself because it has a huge fan that can run at very low RPM and other fans are also adjustable as well in terms of their speed. If you're a purist who wants nothing less than whisper quiet, you will have to figure out a way to control the fan speeds or swap the fans with your choice of quieter ones. Or go with a case built with silence in mind.

Said that, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the case. It's cheap but doesn't feel/look cheap. It has many ways to tuck cables in and there are many evidences that the engineers actually spent time to design this case for cable management. Enough talk, I will let the pics do the rest.

Sitting pretty outside.
http://img207.imageshack.us/my...ge=cm690outsidebw5.jpg

Inside the case

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Overall, I think this is the best cabling job I've ever done.

 

[Corporate Thug]

lookin good lopri.

 

[lopri]

Thank you!

 

[MichaelD]

NICE cabling job! :beer: Not a wire anywhere near the air path. Is that motherboard M-ATX? Those big passive heatsinks; are they off the GPUs or the NB/SB on the board? Can't quite tell.

Overall fantastic job.

Ah, I see they are off teh GPUs. But they face different directions; are the moveable? Never seen that before.

 

[lopri]

It's Thermalright HR-11.

It does lower GPU temps by ~5C passive, and up to ~10C with the case fan (from the side panel) blowing. Mobo = EVGA 780i SLI. (#2 in the sig)

 

[jdkick]

At that price, the 690 is a steal. I have one on the way, tho it cost me quite a bit more - none of that crazy cheap AR pricing in Canada. :

To reduce noise i'm going passive with the GPU and have a Accelero S1 sitting on my desk. I'll post some info once the case comes in and I get everything moved over.

 

[I4AT]

I'd buy one if they ever go on sale again, a little bit bigger than I'd like it to be, but can't beat that price.

 

[Tullphan]

That case does have excellent cable management.
I see you took the supplied cable holders out. It looks even tidier w/o them!
For the money, that case can't be beat.

 

[Zepper]

Good pix. For internet sharing, max width of 800 pixels wide and at 96 dpi are fine and end up about 1/4 the size of yours for quicker viewing. Irfanview will chop them down to size in quick order. And you might want to ditch the top fan and block those grills off. That be scavenging air from the CPU fan and the rear exhaust fan.

.bh.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Very nice! It's way better than mine ever since i added in an old 40GB IDE drive, which killed the neatness.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: lopri
Everyone knows that this case is $59 ($19 AR). I had it delivered from ZZF for free shipping and received the rebate as well, so it's truly $19. And I have to admit, this case is a bargain for its price.

Make no mistake - It's not the quietest case by any stretch and I would rate it as the similar noise level that Antec 900 generates. Antec 900 has an advantage for noise itself because it has a huge fan that can run at very low RPM and other fans are also adjustable as well in terms of their speed. If you're a purist who wants nothing less than whisper quiet, you will have to figure out a way to control the fan speeds or swap the fans with your choice of quieter ones. Or go with a case built with silence in mind.

Said that, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the case. It's cheap but doesn't feel/look cheap. It has many ways to tuck cables in and there are many evidences that the engineers actually spent time to design this case for cable management. Enough talk, I will let the pics do the rest.

Sitting pretty outside.
http://img207.imageshack.us/my...ge=cm690outsidebw5.jpg

Inside the case

1. 
   1
   2
   3
   4
   5

Overall, I think this is the best cabling job I've ever done.

Lopri you know the top side and bottom can take 140mm fans correct? most poeple replace them with the 140mm yates.

Also your missing the watercooling portion. "hint hint"

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Good pix. For internet sharing, max width of 800 pixels wide and at 96 dpi are fine and end up about 1/4 the size of yours for quicker viewing. Irfanview will chop them down to size in quick order. And you might want to ditch the top fan and block those grills off. That be scavenging air from the CPU fan and the rear exhaust fan.

.bh.

I've been experimenting with one exhaust vs. two and still can't decide. I wasn't going to use the top fan but while the system is under load, I could feel both top and back exhaust fans blowing similar amount of hot air. What do you think is better among the following two, in terms of performance/nose?

1. One fan (back) @~1200RPM
2. Two fans (top and back) @~800RPM

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Lopri you know the top side and bottom can take 140mm fans correct? most poeple replace them with the 140mm yates.

Also your missing the watercooling portion. "hint hint"

I'm planning to get a 140mm fan. I noticed the 120mm fan on the side, even at ~800RPM, makes measurable amount of noise due to the high-rising backside heat sink for the bottom GPU. (it blocks the air right in front of the fan) A bigger, slower spinning fan will definitely help.

I don't get the hint, BTW. (I'm kinda slow)

 

[trOver]

very nice

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: trOver
very nice

grave robber, lol.

 

[imported_Scoop]

I ended up ditching one of the fans that came with the case. Didn't find any use for it really, and didn't want any more noise

 

[lopri]

Side fan, I guess? I think that's just about the only complain I have with my build. It wasn't very pleasant to pay $15+ for a 140mm fan (including shipping) when the case itself cost me $19.

I wanted to buy another one last week but there are no more $59 deals, let alone $19 AR. Bah..

 

[BlueWeasel]

I love my CM690. It's fully of 120mm fans, but doesn't seem noisy to me at all. I got mine for $30 AR and think that's a steal for this case.

 

[aigomorla]

oh wait is that a stock heat sink? rofl.

 

[jdkick]

I'm a happy CM690 customer as well, and still running the stock fans (1 front + 1 rear + 1 top). Keeps everything nice and cool and i'm not terribly offended by the noise. I do intend on replacing the fans with some Scythe or Yate Loon units, but will probably wait until my next PC order. I've got a few cable management mods planned for the weekend that involves a 1" bi-metal hole saw and some PVC grommets. Should clean up the wiring even more. I'm hoping to pick up a Dremel knock off tomorrow (dirt cheap on sale) and may take a stab at cutting out the plastic grill on the top panel as it seems to be generating some noise.

 

[lopri]

jdkick it'd be great if you take some pics and upload them while your modding advances.

 

[jdkick]

I plan too. I picked up a Dremel-like tool for $16 this weekend but couldn't find my 1" hole saw, so I didn't get around to any cutting. I'm on the lookout for some black 120mm fan guards too but seem to be having a hard time finding them in Canada, at least from somewhere that 1) has them in stock and 2) doesn't having crazy shipping prices.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: jdkick
I plan too. I picked up a Dremel-like tool for $16 this weekend but couldn't find my 1" hole saw, so I didn't get around to any cutting. I'm on the lookout for some black 120mm fan guards too but seem to be having a hard time finding them in Canada, at least from somewhere that 1) has them in stock and 2) doesn't having crazy shipping prices.

you checked NCIX and sidewinder? I've not heard of a complain about shipping charges from NCIX and I havenot heard either way on international shipping from sidewinder but, I do know they do international shipping.

 

[jdkick]

I tend to buy from NCIX, but they're out of stock at the moment. I'll check the other place you mentioned.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Very nice job lopri. I got one of those myself for my sons newest build and am going to reroute the cables when I go back in later this week to add some stuff. Thanks for the pics.