Cooler Master CM 690 III Mid Tower Chassis Review
Peter Donnell / 11 years ago
Exterior
The left side of the chassis features a large ventilated area, this provides room to mount 2 x 120mm fans or a single 200mm fan, perfect for providing extra airflow when it’s needed. Another notable item on the side is the silver effect trim that runs from the rear of the top panel to the base of the front panel.
The right side of the chassis also features the same silver coloured trim around the edge, while the actual side panel features a large raised section that will help extend the cable management space available behind the motherboard.
Front the front of the chassis we can see that the side silver trim runs down each edge, giving a nice border to the bold blacks of the main chassis. At the top we have three 5.25″ drive bay covers, each of which are made from ventilated mesh, so much so that you can actually see through the chassis on the first bay. Below that we have a removable ventilation cover with a pre-installed fan shining through behind it.
The Cooler Master logo sits nicely on the high quality mesh, all the paint work and finishes feel super smooth and it gives the front panel a premium look and feel overall.
The top panel features a slide back cover, it’s only a bit of glossy plastic and there is no fancy mechanism for it, but it does work nicely to cover up the little recess that can be used to store loose change, flash pens, paper clips etc. At the front of this bay you will also find dual USB 3.0 ports, HD audio, dual USB 2.0 ports and of course the power and reset buttons.
The top panel is of a similar design to the front panel, featuring the same high quality mesh panels that wrap around at the back.
The top panel is easily removed via a single thumb screw at the back of the chassis. Below that you will also find a single 120mm pre-installed exhaust fan, three water/cable routing holes that are fitted with rubber grommets, 7 + 1 expansion slots, each of which feature reusable ventilated covers and finally a bottom mounted PSU cut-out.
A single dust filter covers a large section of the chassis base, it can be easily removed from the rear of the chassis for maintenance. It should provide any base mounted cooling and your PSU with great airflow too thanks to the four large feet that not only provide a solid base for the chassis, but also great ground clearance.
