Cooler Master CM 690 III review - Introduction

We review the Cooler Master CM 690 III chassis, a new upgrade over the popular CM 690 II mid-towers. The looks might be the same but are deceiving as every little mishap of the previous series has been upgraded and fixed. That is including the interior, as the HDD/SSD combo cage can be switched between 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch drives by adjustable trays without any screws. There's enough room for a 240mm liquid cooling radiator at the top or front, 120mm in the rear and it supports up to 9 fans, including 3 large 200mm fans for extreme airflow. And cleaning is hassle free thanks to the multiple dust filters at the bottom, top, and front.

Being labeled as the CM 690 II Advanced, the chassis was a makeover of the reputable CM 690 series. The updated design was to be a little more sturdy and came in an all black design with the latest gadgets and features a modern age chassis should have. The new updated model has an improved interior and a few other tweaks as well, improved capacity, superb cooling system and user-friendly design. There is a new front panel as well, this time around with USB 3.0, of course.

The CM 690 III mid-tower can hold microATX and ATX motherboards, it has three exposed 5.25-inch drive bays (for ODDs, fan controllers, etc.) and then seven hidden 3.5-inch bays (for HDDs), and 10 hidden 2.5-inch bays. Now that doesn't mean that the chassis has 17 internal bays. Creating ten 2.5-inch bays is accomplished by converting the HDD/SSD combo cages.

Lots of fans options are present and there is enough internal space for VGA cards of 423 mm / 16.6 inches as well. The maximum CPU cooler height is of 171mm / 6.7 inches. On the top side, hidden behind a latch is the the I/O panel with audio in/out jacks then 2 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0. The looks might be familiar, but on the inside ... it is a whole other deal. Selling for € 89,95 we have to admit that the Cooler Master CM 690 III (Closed panel) chassis is looking mighty fine.

But hey, have a peek and then head on over to the next page please.