690 2 side panel

well you can always paint one yourself :)
but i guess you just need to check out some mod sites, they will have it.
 
Just suprises me how I can't find one anywhere. I don't even mind having the fan mount there but oh well. How easy is it to get the paint matched up?
 
I believe that was for the Asian market only. i'd asked along time ago about
similar equipment and was told the Asian market gets a lot of limited production
items as a test market for the production and marketing departments. if reviews
are received well, then they proceed to mass-production.
 
DIY. Mod a window in your stock side-panel.


I would try this but if it wasn't absolutely perfect my OCD would kick in :P Might have a read about doing it myself if coolermaster don't get back to me.


Cheers for the help guys :D


EDIT: Coolermaster just got back to me and apparently they never sold the windowed side panel in white. Where could I find the right paint to make it match up? I wouldn't mind painting the other side panel aswell if i had to.
 
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They didn't ever sell the windowed white panel.

It came as a bundle deal with certain CM690 cases - some retailers (eBuyer in the UK) were the only ones to sell it.

Yours is the plain white panel without any fan grills isn't it? If there are fan grills, it makes the side panel of the 690 very hard to mod due to the support beams.

IMO, you'd be best getting somebody to mod it for you.
I'm sure there would be people on here happy to do it...

If not, www.chilledpc.co.uk have a CNC cutting service and would do it for you - but that may be quite expensive.

I'd be more against trying to paint a black side panel white, than simply cutting a whole in the your existing one.

Remember, if you did decide to mod your current one, you can get U-tube, or edging material to make it look neat, even if the cut lines aren't completely perfect on the inside.
 
Mines the one that's just plain with no fan mounts or anything. What kind of tools would I need to do this? Also could i get acrylic with a fan hole pre cut into it so i can stick a 120mm on there to cool my gpu better?
 
Mines the one that's just plain with no fan mounts or anything. What kind of tools would I need to do this? Also could i get acrylic with a fan hole pre cut into it so i can stick a 120mm on there to cool my gpu better?

That makes things easier to manage then.

No you couldn't buy that. But tbh, you don't really need it...
Stick 2 fans in the floor of the case, on in the front with the lower HDD cages removed, and cooling is fine without the side fan.

Tool wise:
You'd need to either use a jigsaw or a dremmel. Dremmels are more expensive than jigsaws and IMO not as easy to use on something like a side panel. Plus, they're pretty expensive. You can get a jigsaw for about £10 for the cheapest from B&Q.

If you used a jigsaw - you'd need a drill - hand or power, just to make the first hole to get a jigsaw blade in.

Make the hole somewhere in the middle of the window area you want to cut out, then carefully jigsaw around that. You want to cover the hole outer side in masking tape, and carefully draw out on it the outline to follow. Always cut just inside the outline and file it back after.

The side panel has support beams at the top and bottom - you're best cutting to about an inch inside of those. Leave around 2-3 inches from the back of the panel, as you need to to fit the side panel onto the case. At the front, it doesn't matter so much where you stop, but you don't really need to see the HDD/optical bays so factor that in.

Then you need a half moon file (assuming you want rounded edges ,sheet of acrylic, double sided scotch tape and edging.
The edging tape isn't necessary, but it means you have to file it down perfectly.

Then you have to cut the acrylic to size, then it's just as simple as sticking it on with the tape.

Depending on the edging you use, you may want to use 2 bits of tape so it's twice as thick. The first time I did it, the edging pushed the window away from the panel as it was thicker than the tape itself.

You may be concerned about using tape - but really don't be. The stuff you'd be using is seriously strong. I can't even pull away my side panels if I try as they're stuck on so tightly. I've also used it for coat hooks and my front door bell even as the stuff is that strong.

ChilledPC sell all the supplies you need.
http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=60_154&products_id=1465

http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=60_158&products_id=1825


I wouldn't buy their edging though as my CM690 side panel was too thin for that to fit properly, but I'm sure you can fine a thinner one easily enough.

Be very careful in cutting the acrylic to size. The friction created from a jigsaw is enough to heat up and melt acrylic back together, so you have to be pretty quick in cutting it, but careful at the same time. Avoid drilling it as it will most likely crack. As the edges are on the inside, you don't need to worry so much about making it perfect round the edges of the acrylic.

Also, just as a side-note - if you use a jigsaw, you'll also need to buy metal cutting blades with more teeth per inch, as otherwise you'll end up bending the side panel as the teeth will catch too much and mess up the job. The more TPI you can get, the better really.
 
So 2 fans in the floor as well as the one in the front? At the moment i've got a bit fenix spectre pro 140mm in the front with the lower hdd cage removed. Ive also got a corsair af120mm in the floor nearest the psu. Shall i put another in the floor closest to the front or will that mess up the airflow?

I'll have a look for the tools in my dads shed when I get the time and i'll order the parts for it when i get the money.

Cheers for the help mate :D
 
So 2 fans in the floor as well as the one in the front? At the moment i've got a bit fenix spectre pro 140mm in the front with the lower hdd cage removed. Ive also got a corsair af120mm in the floor nearest the psu. Shall i put another in the floor closest to the front or will that mess up the airflow?

I'll have a look for the tools in my dads shed when I get the time and i'll order the parts for it when i get the money.

Cheers for the help mate :D

No worries.

In mine, I used to have all 3 intaking. Probably wasn't really needed, but I had every single fan at 5v in my case, so adding more didn't really make any extra noise.
It probably won't make much difference to the temps tbh, but it annoyed me having the empty gap there.

It adds to positive pressure at any rate so may help with dust.
 
I've got everything running at 7v so I might put another spectre pro or af120 in there. Which would be better in your opinion?
 
I have no idea.
It really won't make any difference whichever you go with tbh.

Maybe put a spectre pro next to the PSU so you can see the LEDs on it through the window?

I'd probably replace all the fans with Spectre pros at some point as mix and matching fans doesn't look as nice *glances at rig to see 4 different types of fan...*

Get your window sorted first though ;)
 
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