Test results: silence

On top of great cooling performances, we of course measured the level of noise 30 cm in front of the optical reader, installed in the 5.25” bay. We publish the numbers of the CM 690 in parallel with the Cosmos, the new reference pointwhen it comes to silence.

With walls nearly completely opened, the CM 690 is starting on the wrong side. The sonometer confirms our fears, the Cosmos showed to be 4 dB quieter than the CM 690. Although we would like to highlight that the measures of noise are not easily reproducible (at least with the equipment we possess) and the tested configurations are not equal in the two boxes: one has the Radeon HD 2900 XT and the other with the Geforce 8800 GTS.

The Radeon is much louder than the Geforce. The comparison is still somewhat viable as the noise of our test machine is dominated by the ventirad of the processor, a real hoover!

Remember that we were very skeptical concerning the effectiveness of the antivibrating function of the hard drives’ assembly system. We went through it in detail (IO meter tests, ventilators of the case turned on but CPU ventilator off) and here is what our sonometer told us: continuous access on the Raptor only increases the sound level of the machine by 1 dB.

It is approximately the same difference as the one we had recorded in the Antec (in the P180). And the fact is that by ear, the Raptor is very discrete. Or at least it was concealed by the considerable noise already created by the fans of the case. A noise level of 41.2 dB at rest is already 5 more than the Cosmos case. Here we can see the benefits of anti-noise mousse covered case walls.

If a high range case must be perfect, we do expect that a mid-range one will have certain defects but however possess some solid qualities. This is exactly the case for this latest Cooler Master.

It presents a successful design, good finishing touches and is sufficiently sophisticated (we still love the screwless installation for cards and drives). We also appreciate the presence of three, in series, 120 mm fans. Finally the cherry on the top, its cooling capability is more than satisfactory.

Even with all of these boxes ticked, the CM 690 has some annoying downfalls, some shocking for a case of this status. Thus we do not easily accept the fact that we had to put so much effort into just opening the case!

Some conceptual errors also put a stain in the overall rating, like how it was impossible to use the fast mounting function with our Radeon HD 2900 XT (which is also probably the case for most other high range cards) or the fact that it’s impossible to use one of the fan emplacements because of the power supply cables. Finally if the choice of wall is great for cooling, it is detrimental to the sound level of the case, which is much higher than the reference cases in the same category, like the other Cosmos.