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Review: Cooler Master CM 690 PC chassis: the new budget king?

by Matt Davey on 6 November 2007, 09:00

Tags: Cooler Master 690, Cooler Master, PC

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Round the back

Unlike most ATX cases, the power-supply bay is at the bottom, rather than up top. It has a fixing plate that's easy to work with and allows the PSU to be mounted either way up. Soft foam is fitted to the edges of the plate to help reduce vibration.

The advantage of having the PSU at the bottom is that it keeps the power lead out of the way of the cables that you'd most regularly plug in and out. The disadvantage is that, when you do need to unplug the power lead, you'll have to reach it through a tangle of cables. Win some, lose some.

Cooler Master 690


A 120mm fan is fitted to the rear and due to the modest width of the chassis, the only alterative sizes catered for are 80mm and 90mm.

The blue tabs you see above are the quick-releases for the expansion slots. Alongside those are pre-prepared - and grommeted - water-cooling holes intended for use with tubing up to 0.5in in diameter.

Cooler Master 690


Underneath is one touch that we especially liked - large rubber, vibration-dampening feet either side of the PSU grill. The grill itself allows the PSU to bring in air to keep itself cool.