Cooler Master CM 690 II Case Review

Performance Analysis

Despite the CM 690 II’s stock cooling being more than reasonable on paper thanks to two 140mm fans and a 120mm exhaust, its thermal performance is undeniably a bit of a disappointment. Idle GPU temperatures hovered around a delta T of 22°C, with the CPU running at 12°C above room temperatures. This shot up to 27°C under full load, a full 4°C higher than when using the same hardware in the high-airflow Cooler Master HAF 922.

GPU cooling under load was a let-down too, with our passive graphics card peaking at 53°C above room temperature. While fan-equipped cards aren’t as sensitive to temperature increases as our passive card, this is a clear demonstration that not enough direct airflow is reaching the graphics card for the CM 690 II to mix it with the high-airflow competition out of the box – the Antec Nine Hundred Two with its fans at low speed produced a result 18°C lower, for example.

However, the poor out of the box cooling is offset by a wonderfully quiet noise level, as all three stock cooling fans run at less than 1,000rpm at full speed. A combination of these low fan speeds and the fact the fans feel like they shift barely no air, are the culprit for the poor default cooling. Should you add more fans though, that’s up to you, but the noise factor will certainly suffer.

We’ve talked before about how difficult it is to find the balance between cooling and low noise levels with cases, and it’s clear that Cooler Master has chosen to favour your ears rather than your temperatures– a decision that can be forgiven considering the huge scope for upgrading the cooling options in the CM 690 II, not to mention this clearly isn’t another HAF case.

Conclusion

While the original CM 690 is still available for just shy of £70, the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced does a lot to justify its extra £20. The vast amount of customisation and flexibility when it comes to cooling (supporting up to ten fans, or six and two dual 120mm radiators) is almost unrivalled. The radiator support is a particular surprise given the modest dimensions and lack of modding required to fit them. Extra additions, such as the exterior hot-swap hard disk mount, 2.5in/1.8in adapter tray and card retention bracket are all welcome additions too, as is the painted interior.

The Cooler Master 690 II Advanced itself is supremely well put together, an increasingly common trait from Cooler Master, and feels wonderfully solid both inside and out. The interior is well laid out as well, with excellent cable routeing options thanks to generous room behind the motherboard tray and plenty of pre-cut cable routing holes. The tool-less drive fittings are all more than up to the task, and are suitably easy to use too.

As we said, the only major issue we have with the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced is its stock cooling, where it lacks the out the box grunt to allow it to compete with its similarly priced competition. However, the trade-off is an excellent level of quietness, and the fact that you can easily add extra fans. A quiet 120mm in the side panel would sort out graphics card airflow, for example.

Despite the poor default cooling then, the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced is an extremely capable chassis, with plenty of room for you to stamp your own mark on it. With its excellent build quality, plenty of attention to detail and unique additions that are the icing on the cake, the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced is a very tempting purchase. It might not blow the competition away [groan – Ed], but this is a quality bit of kit that we’d be happy to have sat on our desk.

• Features
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• 10/10

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• 9/10

• Ease of Use
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• 9/10

• Performance
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• 9/10

Score Guide