The Verdict
Nice ... seriously nice. I did not expect to be impressed that much by a chassis. First off let's get the subjective out of the way, taste differs; and though this editor might like the style you might dislike it. Hey nothing we can do about that. For those that do like the design, read on.
We like the simplicity, lack of branding and logo's. This is probably why the 690 II Advanced appeals to us that much. There's quite honestly very little negative to report about the chassis. It seems to have been thought trough very well, from the inside and out. The paintjob is simple .. black, but it's painted on the inside now as well, and that is great for aesthetics. For a mid-tower there is plenty of space inside and sure, especially with liquid cooling in consideration this chassis has a trick or two up it's sleeves.
Then the simple stuff, there is decent enough room for proper cable management, the CPU cooler gap, the utility panel located on top of the chassis with a SATA HDD/SSD dock (not available on the regular 690 II version, only the advanced edition has this), the swappable 3.5" drive trays the easy to install ODD slots it's all really either impressive or handy for sure. Also we like the fact that the majority of the chassis is completely tool less, pretty much anything is either easy to install or remove.
So everything you can possibly think about in relation to a modern chassis can be found in this product. Now that said, it's not 100% perfect, yeah yeah .. we reviewers always find something to complain I know ... the several components in the chassis do seem to have a tiny bit of clearance and if you have your fans a little high in RPM, they can resonate a little, making a small noise, nothing a few rubber pads can't help if you are as anal about noise as I am. Cable management was a whole lot better than the original 690 alright, but still could be better. We like to see a little more space in the back tray. And lastly we would have liked to see the fans mounted with rubber pads to prevent that resonating noise (as little as it is), we also recommend you to connect the fans to some sort of fan controller, either regulated on the motherboard or a dedicated fan controller.
Now please look at these remarks as minor ones, as this chassis is nearing perfection. It has everything you wish for, and a little more. A huge plus is that the chassis is painted black inside as well which is a new trend that we like very much for aesthetic reasons. Currently the Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced Case sells at give or take 80 EUR or 100 USD, and we feel that is a honest and fair price for a chassis of this calibre.
With the CM 690 II Advanced case Cooler Master ups the overall build quality of decent priced chassis yet another notch, something the competition can learn from. We can very much and wholeheartedly recommend this chassis. Oh and that SATA HDD/SSD dock ... we just LOVE it, what a terrific mid-tower the Cm 690 II Advanced really is.
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