CoolerMaster CM 690 III Review

 

Up Close:  Roof, Rear and Base

The majority of the roof of the case is given over to a large rectangular mesh panel.  Anterior to this there’s a high gloss smoked/opaque acrylic sheet that slots into guides providing a sliding access to a decent sized cubby hole beneath.  There is nothing elegant or sophisticated about the sliding action, indeed, it does tend to stick a little and we suspect it won’t be too long before the high gloss finish is covered in greasy fingerprints.  A better alternative may have been to hinge the panel, or perhaps to make it from the mesh material and so extend this along the roof. 

     

 

The mesh panel is easily removed by means of a thumb bolt at the rear.  Lifting it cleanly off reveals fixings for 2x120mm or 2x140mm fans.  Although the fixings aren’t shown in the image below, the roof is also able to take a 200mm fan.  The observant amongst you will also have noticed that several of the screw holes are elongated, hinting at the cases ability to house 240 rads in the roof.  There’s not really enough room up here to stick a fan in, but as you’ll see when we move to the build, there’s plenty of room on offer inside.

    

 

As well as providing cover for a little cubby box the sliding panel also serves to blank off the front I/O area when it’s not in use. 

    

 

A pair of USB3.0s are teamed up with a pair of USB2.0s, the usual audio headers and a separate power and reset switch. 

    

 

Round the back all is much as you would expect.  A single 120mm fan on extract sits above a trio of rubber grommeted tubing holes (please stop this).  Below we find 7 vented PCI slot covers with an additional vertically mounted cover providing a mounting option for devices that do not need motherboard connection, such as fan and lighting controllers.      

    

The case is supported by four large rubber capped feet which give it a very firm base to stand on.  a long slim removable dust filter covers the PSU and base fan area.