Review
- Introduction
- Packaging and Specifications
- External Impressions
- Internal Impressions Part 1
- Internal Impressions Part 2
- Comparison: Corsair 400R and Coolermaster 690II Plus
- Installation Experience and Conclusion
One thing anyone will appreciate is that the frame of this case is very sturdy and riveted together (unlike the top panels in 400R/500R that are secured with a lot of screws).
Dust filters are clipped on the front panel and top panel itself. You can mount 2x 120mm/140mm fan on the top.
Unlike Corsair 400R that comes with 2x 120mm fans on the front, CM comes with a single 140mm fan, Red and Brown highlights is where you can mount a single 140mm fan whereas yellow and green highlight shows where you can mount a single 120mm fan.
The front fan comes with a separate LED wire, this way you can turn off/on the Blue LED light from the front 140mm fan. There are 2x 120mm fans (A12025-12CB-3BN-F1) provided with this case, one for the top panel and one for the rear.
You need to take care when you’re removing/reinstalling this 140mm fan as the screws shave the plastic off. Coolermaster could have used the same push pins they provided on the pre-installed fans. However the rear/top fan’s mount hole is pretty strong.
There’s a tiny clip just below the 120mm fan to keep the fan wire in place. It does help in small ways, especially if you’re using a 3 pin and attaching on the board’s header assigned for chassis fans- usually between the CPU and PCIe slots.
There’s a little inconvenience where you will need to remove the lower HDD bay if you want to remove/replace and install the front fan. You also get an access to install a 2x 120mm rad on the bottom. Not really sure, how many people will go for it, but if I refer to units like Corsair H100, it makes more sense to have a top mount capability and ensuring that the Radiator and the fans do not overlap over the motherboard. However the case will need to have good enough space between the top panel and the motherboard.
An issue that I pointed out in Bitfenix Merc Alpha- the front panel connectors/button/LED PCB is attached on the top panel. This is annoying if you want to change/replace/add/remove/ clean fans, you end up removing the top panel. If you have tightened all the front panel cables nicely, you end up removing the cable ties so that you can remove the top panel. An Elite 311 Plus that I am going to put a review up soon has a separate metal bracket like the 400R/500R, so something similar could have been done (maybe possibly by sacrificing the top 5.25″ bay??).
