I was thinking of adding a top fan, either a 120mm or 140mm. (In addition to the 3x120mm front, side and back fans.)

I’m just wondering how all the fans should be blowing. Front and Side fans are Intake while Top and Back fans are Outtake, correct? Do I want more air coming into the case, or exiting the case?

Also, does this case have any problems with excess dust collection? (That’s what made me pass on the Antec 900.) I keep my room pretty clean, but I do live in AZ and it just gets dusty here.

I don’t actually have the case yet, but am going to get it tomorrow, from Fry’s. (I finally talked myself out of the Smildon, thank goodness).

Mobo is GA-P35-DS3L
PSU is Corsair TX 750W
If that helps for some reason.

edit: see last post.

Don't know what kind of deal Fry's is running, but Microcenter has a good one right now. http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0265143

Front fan blowing in and the other two blowing out is correct.

You can also buy cheap, spun type A/C filters, cut the filter material out of the cardboard casing, and fit it in the case. It will help with the dust, and not restrict airflow too much. I would still clean it out every few months though.

On the theory that "hot air rises" it makes sense to help pull it out of case instead of pushing it back in.
So the setup you mention should probably work fine.

From the CM 690 review @ HardwareLogic
It doesnt hurt to experiment and see if changing fans around helps cooling the CPU/GPU/MB components.
For example move the side fan up top for a dual top fan config blowing out. That config should pull in cool air past the GPU and MB through the two side vents and front fan intake flow.
Also try blocking the top side vent (from the outside with plastic kitchen wrap for example) and test the temps.

To reduce dust intake a lot raise the case a few inchs off the floor. That alone will do wonders.
PSU instake fan vent (at the bottom of the case) will be the area of most concern.

Looks like tlmck found you a great deal.

I just built a system for a friend using this case and LOVE it. I like this case so much I am going to get one myself. The only thing that needs to be mentioned is if you care about noise the side panel is pretty flimsy due to the two huge openings for the two 140mm fans. The system I just built was running good but there was just to much noise. Well it turns out the fan they installed in the side was amking all the noise. Once I moved it everything was great.

So to anwser your question.

I found the best temps were had with the front fan blowing in the bottom fan blowing in,, the two top fans blowing out and the back fans blowing out with no fans on the side panel.

Front/Side/Bottom = Intakes

Top/Rear = Exhaust.

I only use 3 fans for my setup. Top/Side/Rear.

Wow, that is a helluva deal! Thanks tlmck. I need the case ASAP, and microcenter will take a week to ship it and that's if it's in stock...but I just can't pass up that deal, so I ordered it. Again, many thanks, you saved me $40.

And thanks for that review WR2, it makes me feel good about my purchase.

I LOVE the cm690. Its a spectactular case.

I have 5 140mm fans, 2 120mm fans on the chasis and 1 120 on my cpu and an 80mm fan on the back of the MB. Basically, I have a fan almost every where you can put one.

Here are some pics showing my set up.. and a mod I made..... I did the 7volt mod to slow down all the fans. My case is 2 feet from me out in the open and it makes a slight whooshing sound. If fact my old HD that I use as a spot to DL too is much much more noisier when it kicks on......

140mm fan on bottom of case blowing in


A mod I made to get a 140mm fan in the front. I couldnt put it on the door because my CPU cooler hit it. this and the 120 mm on the bottom are blowing in


Inside the case showing the 120mm fans that came with the case at the back blowing out


2 140mm fans blowing out on the top....

Argh! My order got canceled. I called and they said it was due to "order unavailability". That is teh suxor. Guess I'll have to get it from Fry's for $90. (edit: price correction)

Also, they don't have any E8400s either.

And thanks for the pics.

I really like the CM RC-690 - but NOT @ $190. Thats just too much.
NewEgg @ $80 plus $18.65 3 day shipping $90 savings.
ZipZoomFly @ $80 and $10 FedEx 5 day
Buy.com $85 and free shipping

Another option:
E8400 in stock @ Mwave.com for $229
CM RC-690 @ Mwave.com $80 and $10 shipping (my zip code)

E8400 shows available @ Zipzoomfly @ $242

NCIX has the CM690 on for $68 now, and I got mine for $49 after mir there, a few months back.

The manual recommends that you mount the power supply upside down (if it has the 120mm intake fan) so warm air is drawn out of the case and exhausted through the front of the power supply. But most people mount the ps the normal way, and have the intake fan draw air from the holes in the bottom of the case. I wonder though if the airflow is impeded by installing it this way?

I installed a 120mm intake fan on the bottom. I had to remove the black plastic screen on the bottom, and broke off the 4 stubs sticking up, then screwed it onto the bottom outside of the case to act as a filter. That is the only way I could get the bottom fan installed, while still included the plastic mesh filter.

I installed 3 - 120mm Arctic Cooling low speed (1000 rpm) exhaust fans (low vibration mounts), one on the back and two on the top. These fans are very quiet, and draw almost as much air as regular 1200 rpm fans. I bought them on sale at NCIX for $2.99 ea. These are exhaust fans only and the plastic housing is fairly deep, so it is a tight fit to attach the 120mm fan on my Ultra120 Extreme cpu heatsink with the top fans installed...but it does fit if you have skinny fingers.

I kept the stock intake fan in the front. So I have 2 intake fans (bottom & front) and 3 exhaust fans (back & top). Plus I have the 120mm fan on the power supply exhausting out the bottom. I also added a 80mm x 15mm thin fan on the right side panel to cool the back of the m/b ($2.00 Hiperflo at NCIX). Ideally there should probably be the same number of intake and exhaust fans, but the air pressure should equalize ok with the open grill on the side panel.

I omitted both side panel fans as one does not fit with my huge cpu heatsink, and they were noisy (whines), a common problem due to the thin side panels. Another option is to reduce the side panel fans speed to about 800 rpm, which eliminates their noise (enabling the bios Q-fan control option to 70%), by plugging those fans into your m/b. I blocked off the unused bottom side panel fan opening with tape on the inside, but left the top unused fan open, to aid exhausting warm air blowing from the cpu fan (3 spd Antec Tri-cool which can spin up to 2650 rpm, $3.99 at NCIX sale).

The case is super cool and very quiet. My P5K Deluxe m/b is always 29C, my E8400 cpu 32C (at 4.0GHz) and 3 hard drives are 30-32C...and almost totally silent, with 9 fans running 24/7 in my living room!

Major edit:

Just bought the CM690 for only $34.47 from the Cooler Master online store.

http://cmusashop.coolermaster-usa. [...] fe&x=0&y=0

Now I just hope my Corsair TX 750W will fits in the case and doesn't block the lower side fan.

I also just bought one from the Coolermaster store for $31.99. I'm surprised that Coolermaster is undercutting all the stores (including Newegg) by so much. Great buy!

Well, after ordering and paying for a new CM 690 case at the coolermaster USA online store on 2/18, I received a Paypal receipt for the order. However, I never received any followup communication from CM. I noticed on 2/21 that the online store was down for "product updates".
I sent them an email asking when I would be receiving my new CM case I ordered and paid for. No response. Now today I noticed that their store is back up and all products are now showing as "refurbished". This is new. When I bought mine it said NOTHING about refurbished condition. Also, when I looked up my order status on their site it says I have no previous orders, but I have a CM690 showing in my cart. Looks like CM screwed up by not listing their cases as refurbished and are trying to figure out what to do with the orders that were placed before they realised their mistake. I just sent them another email saying that I placed the order for a new CM690 and included copy of Paypal receipt and I expect to receive a new CM690. We'll see what they do. Should be interesting. I'll post their response. Meanwhile I ordered another CM690 from microcenter for local pickup. It first took the order then later canceled it due to store unavailability. I drove to the store last Monday and they said they should get more in later in the week. So, I placed another online order with Microcenter for shipment this time and they also ended up canceling that order due to unavailability. I called their national support line and they said they have none in any of the stores or distribution centers and won't be getting anymore. Next day I drove to the local store again and they now have 3 in stock and expect to get more. I bought one! Great deal.... $19.99 after $40.00 rebate.

Persistence pays off. Unfortunately, it seems Coolermaster is a victim of their own success. Nice problem to have I guess.

Isn't it for refurbished cm690? and wouldn't that be why it's so less expensive?

Edit:
Also says they're out of stock -_-.. maybe I'll get a deal someday. Even refurb'd case of that type would be pretty awesome I think.

They're not refurbished. I bought mine for the same price. The only complaint I have against it is that the side panels are bit thin. Other than that, it's a solid case.

Well, I finally got hold of the CM online store. They told me that the cases they are selling are new and undamaged, but they are returns from stores due to overstock and/or damaged packing boxes. Therefore they had to change the description to "refurbished". They said if I receive it and don't like it for any reason I can just return it. Sounds very fair and reasonable. Can't wait to get it!