The top panel from CM 690 II is completely different from the one used on the original CM 690. The new CM 690 II comes with one 140 mm fan (1,200 rpm, 19 dBA, using a three-pin fan connector and coming with an adapter if you want to connect the fan directly on the power supply) and a space for installing a second 140 mm or a 120 mm fan on this panel. On the product box there is a factual error, it says this case comes with a 120 mm fan on the top panel, but this fan is actually a 140 mm model. There is an air filter on this panel.

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Figure 5: Top panel.

The buttons and connectors are available on the top panel, and CM 690 II comes with two USB ports (far away from each other), one eSATA port, an on/off switch for the LED’s from the front fan, the audio jacks and the reset and standby buttons. The Advanced model comes with a hard disk drive bay on the top panel, feature not present on the regular model. This bay allows you to install a 2 ½” or 3 ½” storage device externally. The sticker that comes attached to this bay is misleading since it says this bay does not support hot-swap, which is not entirely true. If you configure the SATA port where this bay will be connected to under AHCI mode and correctly configure the operating system, this bay can be used as a hot-swap device.

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Figure 6: Buttons, connectors and hard drive external bay.

The bottom panel, portrayed in Figure 7, has big rubber feet and air filters for the optional fans that you can install on the bottom of the case. Like the original CM 690, on CM 690 II the power supply is installed on the bottom part of the case.

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Figure 7: Bottom panel.

Finally we have the rear panel in Figure 8, which is somewhat different from the original CM 690. The first thing that caught our eye was the fact that the rear panel is now painted black, the same happening with the interior from this case, giving CM 690 II a very professional looks. A 120 mm fan (1,200 rpm, 19 dBA, using a three-pin fan connector and coming with an adapter if you want to connect the fan directly on the power supply) comes installed on this panel – the original CM 690 has a space for installing this fan but the product doesn’t come with it. Two holes for hoses from liquid cooling systems were added. They come with rubber covers so you don’t need to break anything on your case to use them. The slot covers are not vented, but this case comes with a slot above the regular expansion slots for you to install an optional blower to remove hot air from inside the computer, feature not available on the original CM 690.

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Figure 8: Rear panel.

Now let’s take a look inside Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced Edition.