Cooler Master 690 II Advanced Black and White Mid-Tower Chassis Review

First things first, this was a NIGHTmare to photograph, due to us being used to taking pictures on a white background, but that clearly wasn’t possible with this case so a trip to the local fabric store, found us come back with a black background to get cracking. With that aside, we find that taking the packaging off, the case was very bright and had a stunning contrasting black and white vibrance. The powdercoated panels have a really nice finish to them and are a really vibrant white which looks very eye-catching.

The other side of the chassis is the same, with a vibrant white panel. It’s also worth noting that both panels are solid and don’t include the option of a window or fan spaces, though the box may suggest otherwise.

The front of the chassis incorporates a full ventilated system through use of the mesh style panel design. It is worth noting that the two white panels beneath the mesh will come painted in black when retail versions hit stores, but as we have an evaluation sample, ours slightly differed.

There are a total of four ventilated mesh drive bay covers for your optical drives, and each cover also includes a very thin dust filter, though a slightly thicker, sponge-like filter would have been preferred, at least to me. Below the 5.25″ drive bays is another dust filter and space for a single 140mm fan, of which a white LED based fan comes pre-installed.

Looking at the top we find a nice selection of buttons and connectors. Two LEDs are present for your power and activity lights, as well as a fan LED button which turns the front 140mm white fan on and off, depending on your preference. Also included are two USB 3.0 ports, a headphone and microphone jack and two USB 3.0 ports, though we do feel that this new version should have incorporated a further two USB 3.0 ports opposed to the older USB 2.0 connectors. As you’d expect, a power and reset button are also included, but something that we’re really keen on, is the inclusion of a hot swap dock which allows for easy installation of a 2.5″ or 3.5″ drive, AHCI permitting.

As shown, a 3.5″ drive fits in nice and snug and simply snaps into place via the included SATA power and data connectors that allow the drive to slot onto. With AHCI mode enabled within your motherboard BIOS, you’ll find that Windows will allow any drives connected to be recognized from within the operating system, whereas IDE mode will require you to restart your machine which can be a hassle. A dust protector is included, so that when a drive isn’t installed, it will protect the SATA connectors from any foreign elements such as dust and dirt and this simply slides into place with ease.

Following on with the monochrome black/white design, the rear of the case is completely black with the white side panels giving it an accented look. Two grommets are present for external watercooling, or to pass any cables through, if your motherboard doesn’t have a USB 3.0 native header for instance, though Cooler Master didn’t bundle a USB 3.0 header to USB 3.0 port adapter, though hopefully retail versions will include this. We can see a rear 120mm fan included and seven expansion bays for all of your graphics cards and other PCI and PCI-E based cards. As you expect, the power supply is located at the bottom of the case as per standard.

To follow on with the black/white styling that this case has to offer, we also find white feet at the front and rear ends of the chassis with the rest of the case being black and having additional airflow for the power supply or radiator if you choose to fit one, which involves the removal of the bottom half of the drive cage.