Verdict: A sturdy case with a flexible cooling arrangement.
We all like to think that whichever case we buy will not only be a perfect home for our PC now and in the future, but also that it will look great, be affordable and be easy to cart around. The DIY PC builder is a demanding customer. Cooler Master describes this case as 'a midi-tower chassis without compromise', so our hopes for the CM690 were high. There have certainly been no compromises when it comes to cooling, with eight fan mounts dotted around the case and pre-cut holes for water-cooling too.
From the outside of the reasonably stylish shell, it's apparent that the CM690 is up to something in the design department. The side panel has two 120mm fan mounts, one pointing towards the CPU and the other towards your graphics card. The front of the case is a large piece of metal mesh with a 120mm intake fan, while the top of the case is also airflow-friendly mesh for the two 120mm fan mounts in the roof. There's a 120mm exhaust fan, plus another 120mm mount in the floor of the case. Finally, the CM690 has an 80mm vent to cool the rear of the motherboard, behind the CPU. The usual expansion ports are joined by an eSATA port on top of the case.
Popping the side panel exposes the innards of the case and at first, things look pretty good. The CM690 has five 5.25in external bays, and a replaceable bezel and mount, so one of these bays can be an external 3.5in drive bay. The optical drives are fixed in place by plastic clips that fail to hold the drive securely in place. However, you could remove these silly clips and use the screws supplied.
The PSU is mounted on the floor of the case, with a massive vent to allow a side-intake PSU to draw in air. The pre-attached case feet provide 20mm of clearance between the floor and base of the case, but we're concerned this may not be enough, especially if the case is placed on a carpet. That said, it's a nice touch and isolates the heat of the PSU from the rest of the main system chamber.
The relatively low price of the CM690 rears its ugly head with the rest of the internals, however, and is affirmed by the use of cheap flimsy plastic. The hard disks fit into the five-disk mounting cage using insubstantial plastic brackets. The plastic has to be flexible, as you have to pull the bracket outwards to insert the pins into the mounting screw holes of the hard disk. While you aren't likely to snap the plastic unless you have the impatience of the Incredible Hulk, the flimsy plastic isn't reassuring.
It's nice to see that Cooler Master mounts the disks connections first, though, so that cables lie neatly against the motherboard-side of the case. However, while the disks have a dedicated 120mm intake fan, little air will access the main chamber, as the hard disk cage is mounted perpendicularly to the case. The 120mm fan mount in the floor of the main chamber (the only one with a dust filter) therefore makes a good case for being occupied, perhaps more so than the side intake vent that is supplied with a fan.
The cable management system of the CM690 - which is a pleasant surprise for a case of this price - is also cheaply implemented. It takes the form of a series of unclippable plastic prongs running down the front side edge of the motherboard and along its lower edge. It's made from the same flimsy plastic as the hard disk mounting brackets, so we can't guarantee longevity, and stretched connections will pull the tidied cable loose.
Given the profusion of fan mounts, you'd think that air cooling was the main design consideration. However, the top two vents are ideally placed for a twin 120mm radiator, although only a fairly low-profile model is likely to fit. Considering the midi-tower size of the case, the two pre-drilled holes might be best used for an external reservoir. However, a neat reservoir and pump unit should easily fit in the three or four drive bays that you're likely to have spare. However, as the CM690 is a midi-tower case, it will become very crowded with anything more than a simple water-cooling arrangement installed.
Conclusion
Cooler Master has tried to please everyone with this case, from system builders on a budget to those who need eight fans' worth of cooling to water-cooling advocates. However, while the ambition is admirable, water-cooling should be reserved for full-tower cases rather than midi-towers.
The case makes a claim for housing a powerful air-cooled system, though, with intelligently placed fan mounts. You also have a choice of options as to how you use these fan mounts. There's direct CPU cooling on offer, plus cooling for the rear of the CPU. Alternatively, you could eschew the usual front in/rear out airflow model, and use the floor intake and roof exhausts, harnessing the power of thermodynamics to cool your PC. Isolating the PSU from the rest of the system is laudable, even if there are concerns as to how much air it would receive.
We're frustrated that the plastic used for the cable management system and hard disk mounting brackets feels cheap and nasty, but considering the various options the CM690 offers (including the option to remove the cable management system and buy more sturdy cable clips), it's an attractive purchase at £50.
