Following the successful release of the high end tower Cosmos, Cooler Master introduced CM 690. The Cosmos had a great design, it was quiet and came with great features. Everything you would expect from a case with a price tag that will set you back at least $225.

On the other side of the spectrum the CM 690 was introduced with emphasis on cooling and competitive pricing.
Unfortunately, the low price segment have been plagued with small cases, poor interior design, low features and lousy cooling. Will the CM 690 break the trend?

 Features

The CM 690 is advertised to be the 1st G80 SLI certified case under $100 with features like:

•  Removable HDD racks provide for easy assembly

•  Accommodates up to seven 120 mm fans for high-efficiency ventilation

•  Cable management design for better cable routing and neatness

•  Tool-free user-friendliness for quick maintenance and upgrade
  

Exterior

 The first thing you'll notice about this $70 case is its size. It is far deeper then your regular ATX Mid Tower and will have no problem hosting larger graphics cards like the 8800gtx. It has a sleek design and is very light despite its size.

 You'll also notice that it has two 120mm fan mounts on the left side panel and air holes for a 80mm fan on the right side panel. The front has 5 external 5.25" bays and one external 3.5" bay. It's also worth noting that the back has two tube holes, which allows you to mount an external radiator for liquid cooling. The case stands on 4 rubber feet, which slightly elevates the tower from the ground. The bottom part of the case has fan holes for both the PSU and for an optional 120mm fan that can be mounted in front of the PSU.

A closer inspection of the front reveals a dust filter that stretches along the the bay drives and the front fan. A great feature, which should be implemented in all towers but isn't. That alone makes the CM 690 stand out in its price class.

The accessory panel ports which are located on the top side include 2xUSB, 1 Firewire, 1 eSATA and microphone/headphone jacks.

Interior

Upon opening the case you will notice that the CM 690 comes with detachable plastic clamps made for holding a vide variety of cables. The clamps are positioned along the right side of the motherboard and if used properly will improve cable management, thus improving airflow.

The hard drive rack is turned sideways so that the SATA ports face the right side panel. This feature is becoming more common in today's cases as it allows for better cable management.

The HD rack holds 5 hard drives, which are mounted through a tool-free procedure involving plastic HD cages that are attached to the hard drive and slid into the rack. The procedure takes a few seconds, it reduces HD vibrations and is simply priceless. A blue 120mm LED fan is mounted in the front of the case to keep the hard drives cool.

Speaking of tool-free, the PCI brackets are held by clamps and are easily removed and re-attached. Installing your various cards whether it'd be sound or video becomes quite enjoyable and less time consuming.

Even the 5.25" bays have a tool-free latch mechanism. However, it doesn't look as robust as the others and we recommend securing any devices with the provided screws, which are neatly arranged on the bay cage. We should point out that underneath the bay screws you'll also find the motherboard screws.

As mentioned before, the PSU is mounted at the bottom of the case. The stand has four short rubber feet which the PSU will rest upon and a rubber grommet along the bracket where the PSU is fastened with screws. For a midrange case this anti vibration feature is a pleasant surprise. Next to the PSU is another 120mm fan mount with a dust filter. Once again the CM 690 shines with a brilliantly positioned fan mount and yet another filter.

Cooling

Amazingly the CM 690 has seven fan mounts, 1 front, 2 left side, 1 bottom, 1 back, 2 top (all 120mm) and 1 80mmx15mm mount on the back side of the CPU socket. You obviously don't need to use all of them and the case only comes with three fans, which is plenty for the average user. Each fan comes with a 3pin to 4pin molex converter, which once again is a small extra feature gladly welcomed.

Two significant cooling feature are the two top 120mm fans and the 80mm mount on the backside of the CPU socket. Any case that has a top fan exhaust is a great plus for us and case modders who value good airflow. Since hot air rises the top fans will cool the system area more efficiently then your regular tower. The top fans are a great plus, but the 80mm fan mount is again priceless. Overclockers know that every degree counts and will love this extra feature.

The fan galore has one setback though. As can be expected with all the extra fan mounts you will generate more noise or let it escape through the fan holes. Hence we recommend installing a fan controller if you plan on adding fans.

Installation 

System Setup

• GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+(65W) Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2
• Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC ATX 430W Power Supply
• G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
  
• Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
• Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI
  

Given the tool-free features and a large work area, the assembly went smooth and rather quickly. No problems where encountered with the parts we used. However, no case is perfect and we did learn that the HD rack doesn't support P-ATA hard drives, where the power connector will bump into the HD rack. Furthermore, thanks to Hi-Techreviews.com we found out that depending on what PSU you use, especially if it is a modular, the bottom fan could possibly block some of the power connectors. This really isn't that much of a problem since the case doesn't come with a fan on the bottom. So unless you decide and mounting the extra fan it might be worth checking out the compatibility of your PSU.

One last thing, since the PSU is mounted on the bottom it might be worth paying attention to your motherboard and its power connectors. Depending on the length of your CPU power cable and where the connector is located on the board, you might end up blocking  some PCI slots, (as in our case see picture below).

For most users though, this will not be a problem as newer PSU's come with longer cables. If you do however end up with this problem, you can remedy it by getting a CPU power extension cable.

Conclusion

 The CM 690 is by far one of the best towers we have had the pleasure of working with. It offers good features, great cooling and doesn't generate much noise with the provided fans. Add to that its competitive price and you have yourself a top contender if not the champion of the budget and midrange price segment.

Pros

• Price
• Great Interior Layout
• Great Cooling / Cooling Potential
• Tool Free Installation
• Great Wire Management
• Liquid Cooling Compatible
• Dust Filters
• Some Anti-vibration Features
  

 Cons

• P-ATA Drives won't fit
• Noise leaks out easily