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CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced vs. CoolerMaster 690
Author: Jim Manis
Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010
Introduction
Casemodding has evolved a lot over the years; in the early days casemodding was a rather simple process that was usually centered around airflow enhancements and cooling. As the evolution continued so did the mods, what was once a simple cooling upgrade later transformed into a custom window installations and paint. Mods like this were extremely common, and highly revered, until the birth of the cheap "pre-mod" case that attempted to market what PC community was doing to those that didn't have the skills or time to bring their dreams to reality.
Coolermaster has always been at the forefront of the custom case trends and would typically offer high quality alternatives to a typical "pre-mod", that still allows for some personalization by the PC enthusiast. Most of you reading may be familiar with casemodding, and have maybe done a few yourself. So what happens when a case manufacture decides to mod one of their existing designs in response to feedback from the PC community?
In this review we'll be looking at the CoolerMaster 690II Advanced. As the name suggests this is an upgraded version of the CoolerMaster 690 that has been factory modified to include many of the popular modifications PC enthusiasts have done to personalize their CM690's.
Coolermaster has always been at the forefront of the custom case trends and would typically offer high quality alternatives to a typical "pre-mod", that still allows for some personalization by the PC enthusiast. Most of you reading may be familiar with casemodding, and have maybe done a few yourself. So what happens when a case manufacture decides to mod one of their existing designs in response to feedback from the PC community?
In this review we'll be looking at the CoolerMaster 690II Advanced. As the name suggests this is an upgraded version of the CoolerMaster 690 that has been factory modified to include many of the popular modifications PC enthusiasts have done to personalize their CM690's.
The CoolerMaster 690II advance represents a remarkable change from the orginial that has been completely reworked by the designers at CoolerMaster. The overall design may resemble the classic 690; however the reality is that the 690II is a new model.
Often in marketing the desire for new products encourages some companies to re-launch models with new names. In CoolerMaster's case the opposite took place. Since the 690 was a hugely popular with the modding and enthusiast community they decided it was best to give it a few tweaks and see what happened. All of these "tweaks" were sampled directly from the modding community and customer feedback to bring the basic structure and style to a whole new level.
In this review we will be looking in-depth at the CoolerMaster CM690II Advanced in an attempt to highlight some of the major design changes that took place. Towards the end of the review we will revisit the original CM690 so you can have a fresh look at what makes the 690II the new modding baseline.
Often in marketing the desire for new products encourages some companies to re-launch models with new names. In CoolerMaster's case the opposite took place. Since the 690 was a hugely popular with the modding and enthusiast community they decided it was best to give it a few tweaks and see what happened. All of these "tweaks" were sampled directly from the modding community and customer feedback to bring the basic structure and style to a whole new level.
In this review we will be looking in-depth at the CoolerMaster CM690II Advanced in an attempt to highlight some of the major design changes that took place. Towards the end of the review we will revisit the original CM690 so you can have a fresh look at what makes the 690II the new modding baseline.
Case Features and Specifications
Available Color: Black
Material: Steel body / Plastic + Mesh bezel
Dimension: (W / H / D) 214.5 x 511.8 x 528.8 mm / 8.4 x 20.1 x 20.8 inch
Net Weight: 9.56 kg / 21.08 lbs
Gross Weight: 11.56 kg / 25.49 lbs
M/B Type: Micro - ATX / ATX / Mini-ITX(supports)
5.25" Drive Bay 4 (without the use of exposed 3.5”drive bay)
3.5" Drive Bay 6 Hidden, 1 Exposed (converted from one 5.25” drive bay)
I/O Panel: USB 2.0 x 2 , eSATA x 1 , MIC x 1 , Audio x 1 (supports HD / AC97 audio)
Expansion Slots: 7 + 1
Cooling System
Front: 140 x 25 mm Blue LED fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 19 dBA
Rear: 120 mm fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 17 dBA
Top: 140 x 25 mm fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 19 dBA (supports 120 / 140 mm fan x 2)
Bottom: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)
Right side: 120 / 140 mm fan x 2 (optional)
Left side: 80 x 15 mm x 1 (optional)
HDD cage: 120 mm fan x 1 (optional)
VGA holder: 80 x 15 mm fan x 1 (optional)
Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2 / EPS 12V (optional)
Material: Steel body / Plastic + Mesh bezel
Dimension: (W / H / D) 214.5 x 511.8 x 528.8 mm / 8.4 x 20.1 x 20.8 inch
Net Weight: 9.56 kg / 21.08 lbs
Gross Weight: 11.56 kg / 25.49 lbs
M/B Type: Micro - ATX / ATX / Mini-ITX(supports)
5.25" Drive Bay 4 (without the use of exposed 3.5”drive bay)
3.5" Drive Bay 6 Hidden, 1 Exposed (converted from one 5.25” drive bay)
I/O Panel: USB 2.0 x 2 , eSATA x 1 , MIC x 1 , Audio x 1 (supports HD / AC97 audio)
Expansion Slots: 7 + 1
Cooling System
Front: 140 x 25 mm Blue LED fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 19 dBA
Rear: 120 mm fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 17 dBA
Top: 140 x 25 mm fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 19 dBA (supports 120 / 140 mm fan x 2)
Bottom: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)
Right side: 120 / 140 mm fan x 2 (optional)
Left side: 80 x 15 mm x 1 (optional)
HDD cage: 120 mm fan x 1 (optional)
VGA holder: 80 x 15 mm fan x 1 (optional)
Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2 / EPS 12V (optional)
