p180 -> CM 690 II - upgrade or downgrade?

Hi there,

Recently I've bought a CM 690 II, originally planned to put my server parts in. I'm still waiting for its arrival, but I'm having thoughts of moving my main over from p180. Do you think the move will be an upgrade or downgrade?

The only thing I can be sure of is better cable management on the 690 II, and well, it's new!!

Anyone happen to have experience with both of them? Thanks in advance.

I'd say it depends on what other parts you have and what you want from your case.
The P180 is great at keeping things quiet while not being able to provide a huge air flow.
The 690 is better for lots of cooling, while not keeping generated noise in.

I guess maintain acceptable temp while keeping noise reasonably low.
I run a e8400 with a single radeon 4890. Both are OC-ed and I fold for [H] 24/7. CPU load temp are about 50C and GPU 80C.

If the increase in airflow from 690 would allow me to keep GPU fan lower, which lowers noise, then I guess the increase in sound level from not being able to trap as much as noise compare to p180 would even out? I'm not sure.

lbleong said:

If the increase in airflow from 690 would allow me to keep GPU fan lower, which lowers noise, then I guess the increase in sound level from not being able to trap as much as noise compare to p180 would even out? I'm not sure.

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Run your PC without side panel.
That essentially simulates acoustics of all cheese grater cases.

I recently upgraded my brother's P180 to a new CM chassis. The problem with the P180 is not the looks or the quiet ness, its the interior room. The current design doesn't allow very good cable management without cutting, the holes in the lower portion require long PSU cables or extenders, and the removable hard drive cages must be removed to get at the video card areas.

In contrast my CM 690 II is like an open engine bay. It has many cable management options and isn't loud since I use only 120mm fans. With these fans, and the reduction in cable management time and messing around in the interior, I definitely see the CM 690 II as superior if only from the engineering and usability standpoint.

I have both cases and really like my P180b because of the low noise and the clean looks. However, the cable management is not that great and the PSU cables need to be extended with some power supplies. I have a P182se and all of those problems went away that dealt with cable management. I ended up getting a PSU (kick ass deal) with longer cables so that is not an issue.

The CM 690II is an excellent case for the money. I have my secondary system running with that but the noise is pissing me off. I have silent fans and the works and I still hear a hum. The wire management is excellent if you do not have a lot of shit inside the case. There is not that much room behind the mobo tray for wires when there are a lot of wires. The cool part is that you have two places to mount radiators if you ever water cool your system.