Cooler Master: 590 or 690?

[timsutton]

Hi,

 

Getting my first unRaid build up and running, quickly needing to improve my case situation for proper airflow.

 

The CM 590 seems to be a popular choice, but I've been looking at the 690 as well, both II and II advanced. Interested in the latter mainly for larger fan size support and the 2.5" drive adapter which might come in handy in another system. Price difference isn't actually very significant where I am, between the 590 and 690 II Adv. ($20-25)

 

Once I want to expand the 590 past 4 drives, do I need to buy another 4-in-3 module? With the 690, I get 6 bays out of the box, and I'm unlikely to expand past that in the next few years, maybe never.

 

My other main concern is the cooling efficiency of the two systems. I hear taping over the many holes helps force the airflow.. from the looks of it the 690 might have more holes? (more open-air design?) At the moment I've got a spare 120mm Noctua fan to supplement the system, and with the 690 Advanced it supports additional 140mm fans, though whether that can target the drive area much I don't know.

 

Any recommendations? Efficiency and expandability up to 6 drives is the main thing I'm looking for. It will likely sit in a small closet, so continuous airflow is especially important to keep the temps down. I'm open to other cases/brands too, but these Cooler Master lines seem quite well-suited.

 

 

Here in eastern Canada the heat wave is pushing humid air temps up to 44 C (that's ~111 F), so my unRaid isn't even running   Last I tried to copy some files, the drive temp on my one 7200 RPM drive quickly reached 55 C 

[lionelhutz]

A 590 will provide plenty of airflow for cooling. I'm running one with hotswap cages and have been doing some hard disk usage tonight and the drive temps have barely broken 30 degrees. You'll be good with a 590 with about 2 exaust fans and the 120mm fans on the drive cages if you decide to stick with the type that come with it. The front of the 590 has mesh drive covers with filters. There is a Coolermaster non-hot swap drive cage that you can get for about $23 and if you take the plastic front off it will mount right in behind the case front and it is similar to the one that comes with the case.

 

If you direct the air from the drive cage fans so it has to vent out the side, top  or back holes then you could get away with just a 120mm fan on each set of 4 drives. If you allow it to go wherever then it would be best to cover all other holes but about 2 with 120mm fans installed.

 

I have 2 120mm fans with filters blowing in at the top of the case and the other holes (back and sides) taped over. Then, there is a 80mm fan on each of my hotswap cages blowing air out over the drives. That way, at least some of the dust drops out of the airflow before it goes into the drive cages. It was first sucking air from the front over the drives but I experimented with reversing the airflow and found reversing the airflow does keep the drives cleaner.

 

Peter

 

[theone]

Hi,

 

Once I want to expand the 590 past 4 drives, do I need to buy another 4-in-3 module? With the 690, I get 6 bays out of the box, and I'm unlikely to expand past that in the next few years, maybe never.

 

 

If you don't need more than 6 drives and you need a small case to fit inside a closet then why not:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133066&cm_re=thermaltake_case-_-11-133-066-_-Product

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6712.0

This is what I have and can fit 6 3.5" drives as is and has another 3x5.25" bays for a 4-in-3 solution - that gives you 10 drives.

It has 1 front and 1 rear 120mm fan support for good airflow.

 

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147112&cm_re=rosewill_case-_-11-147-112-_-Product

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6375.0

Which is essentially the same case - same features.

 

Note that both these cases or for mini-itx or micro-atx motherboards.

[WeeboTech]

I'm partial towards the 590.  The the possibility of 4 120-140MM exhaust fans and the ability to put up to 9 5.25 devices it is my case of choice for mid tower builds.

The only con I can see in your case is the need for another 5in3 or 4in3 cage when you expand.

If you can, purchase those now so you are prepared for later.

 

Limiting yourself to only 6 drives may not be the case in a couple years. Our storage needs always grow. (unless you are cleaning and deleting or continually up sizing your drives).

 

It's a good case for the price and the use of 120MM fans everywhere is a big help for airflow and keeping the noise down.

[tmp31416]

from my own experience (twice bitten), fyi:

 

*  there is no reset switch on the '590 -- you'll want to hit ebay for one.

   as for mounting it cleanly & quickly, i'd recommend getting a ps/2 mini-din backplate.  get startech.com's "plate6f" or an equivalent.

 

*  there is no speaker/beeper.  you'll have to hit ebay again for one.

 

*  the sheet metal is a bit thinner than on the "old" antec cases (like my old '300).  you might want to use silicon vibration dampeners (sp?) with your fans.

   (like this: http://www1.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=019937)

 

other than than, if you can get 5-in-3 chassis (like the supermicro's) for a good price, go for it.  it's not a bad case.

otherwise, i think you might want to consider a norco case/chassis (like the 4220) as they *might* be less expensive when you factor the cost of 3 5-in-3 units in addition to that of the 590.

 

cheers.

[theone]

from my own experience (twice bitten), fyi:

 

*  there is no reset switch on the '590 -- you'll want to hit ebay for one.

   as for mounting it cleanly & quickly, i'd recommend getting a ps/2 mini-din backplate.  get startech.com's "plate6f" or an equivalent.

 

*  there is no speaker/beeper.  you'll have to hit ebay again for one.

 

*  the sheet metal is a bit thinner than on the "old" antec cases (like my old '300).  you might want to use silicon vibration dampeners (sp?) with your fans.

   (like this: http://www1.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=019937)

 

other than than, if you can get 5-in-3 chassis (like the supermicro's) for a good price, go for it.  it's not a bad case.

otherwise, i think you might want to consider a norco case/chassis (like the 4220) as they *might* be less expensive when you factor the cost of 3 5-in-3 units in addition to that of the 590.

 

cheers.

 

I think this is overkill for him. all he wants is a 6 drive max unraid.

If in the future 3-4 years or more he wants to expand then he can change the case.

Any "regular" cheap PC case can hold at least 6-10 HDDs.

 

[timsutton]

thanks all for the feedback (keep it coming).

 

 

looks like the 590 with one extra CM 4-in-3 is the way to go. i'm not concerned about the reset switch — missing speaker kind of sucks, but if it's really a problem i can probably salvage one from another case.

 

the 5-in-3 supermicro's seem kind of steep compared to the price of a 4-in-3 (which are really a bargain), and i don't need the hot-swap-ability or density.

 

 

btw thanks weebotech for your mt-daapd package. i've built the latest rev. (supports transcoding more natively) for my unRaid, once i get it up and running i'll probably package it up. not a slackware user normally so the pkg format's a bit alien to me.

[WeeboTech]

btw thanks weebotech for your mt-daapd package. i've built the latest rev. (supports transcoding more natively) for my unRaid, once i get it up and running i'll probably package it up. not a slackware user normally so the pkg format's a bit alien to me.

 

I can see about re-recreating the slackware package then post it.

I do not use the mt-daapd package any longer, but I'll try it out with my Roku Soundbridge and see how it works out. I'll just have to review the dependencies. At the time I compiled it, I wanted as simple of a configuration as possible.

 

[kizer]

I have a 590 right now and I'm basically running it with no addtional fans and I have the first cage full of drives mounted at the bottom in the preconfigured location. I then took the included 3.5 adapter that sits near the top by the buttons and inserted in another 3.5 drive right about the cage.

 

So basically I have 5 drives and man that case is running cool as can be right now. I touched the bottom of the case actually a few minutes ago showing somebody inside and the floor of the case is cold to the touch. Mind you I'm not in an air conditioned room either. That single fan up front blowing across my drives works very well.

 

I just wish you could get more 3 to 4 cages that look like the original.

[WeeboTech]

I just wish you could get more 3 to 4 cages that look like the original.

 

Post a request in the good deals section.

I sold a few of mine a while back because I use removable 5in3's.

I'm sure there will be people willing to sell or purchase their unused units.

[kizer]

Thanks

[GK20]

 

 

Any recommendations? Efficiency and expandability up to 6 drives is the main thing I'm looking for. It will likely sit in a small closet, so continuous airflow is especially important to keep the temps down. I'm open to other cases/brands too, but these Cooler Master lines seem quite well-suited.

 

If this is what you want, Antec 300 is a good candidate. comes with 1 120mm, 1 140mm case fan, you can also mount two extra 120mm case fan in the front to cool down your hard drive. It is usually cheaper than CM590.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

[timsutton]

I just wish you could get more 3 to 4 cages that look like the original.

 

So what's the difference between the cage that comes with the 590 and the STB-3T4-E3-GP?

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=2542

 

They are still compatible, no?

[timsutton]

If this is what you want, Antec 300 is a good candidate. comes with 1 120mm, 1 140mm case fan, you can also mount two extra 120mm case fan in the front to cool down your hard drive. It is usually cheaper than CM590.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

Thanks for that - didn't realize it was as cheap (or slightly cheaper in this case). I've always liked Antec stuff, though I guess the advantage with installing separate 4-to-3 bays after the fact is that each one has its own space for a fan, keeping the cooling possibly more uniform across disks.

 

Am I right that both the 590 and (Antec) 300 come with two fans, just that Antec's is mounted on top and the CM 590's is mounted in front of its 4-3 cage?

[GK20]

Am I right that both the 590 and (Antec) 300 come with two fans, just that Antec's is mounted on top and the CM 590's is mounted in front of its 4-3 cage?

 

i used both cases, then Antec 300 and now CM590, for my unRAID.

 

(a) CM590 has only ONE 120mm case fan, it does come with another one in a 4-in-3 HDD cage.

(b) Antec 300 comes with two case fans, one 120mm, one 140mm

 

both allow you to add more case fans but to cool hard disk by adding fan in the front, antec 300 has better design.

CM590 you can have same effect if you use 4-in-3 HDD cage like this one.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817993002

 

[timsutton]

i used both cases, then Antec 300 and now CM590, for my unRAID.

 

(a) CM590 has only ONE 120mm case fan, it does come with another one in a 4-in-3 HDD cage.

(b) Antec 300 comes with two case fans, one 120mm, one 140mm

 

both allow you to add more case fans but to cool hard disk by adding fan in the front, antec 300 has better design.

CM590 you can have same effect if you use 4-in-3 HDD cage like this one.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817993002

 

Interesting. Maybe the 300 makes more sense after all. I don't need the 4-in-3 cage right away, and I didn't realize there's actually space for two 120mm fans in front as I get past my 3rd or 4th drive. Has anyone tried fitting the Cooler Master 4-in-3 in the remaining 5 1/4" bays in the Antec 300?

[lionelhutz]

So what's the difference between the cage that comes with the 590 and the STB-3T4-E3-GP?

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=2542

 

They are still compatible, no?

 

Yes, they will both work in the case at the same time. The included one is a one piece frame and it has the blue rubber bushings to mount each drive with included longer screws to reach through the bushings. You can look at pics of the STB and see how it has removable sides which have the rubber bushings for mounting.

 

Peter

[GK20]

Has anyone tried fitting the Cooler Master 4-in-3 in the remaining 5 1/4" bays in the Antec 300?

 

Yes it does, when i was still using antec 300 while i was adding 7th disk, i got one of this CM 4-in-3 HDD cage

to expand the total HDD capacity on 300 to 10 (6 + 4).

 

 

[aim60]

I screwed 3 1/2 to 5 1/4 adapter brackets to the hard drives, and mounted them 1 per bay in a cm590.  Not as convenient as hot swap bays, but I can remove one drive at a time without disturbing the others.  And being farther apart, they get good air flow without front fans.  Am using 2 140mm top fans & 1 120 rear fan, and all of the drives stay reasonably cool.  5400/5900 rpm drives run a lot cooler than 7200s.  I don't plan on running out of drive bays any time soon.

[WeeboTech]

I screwed 3 1/2 to 5 1/4 adapter brackets to the hard drives, and mounted them 1 per bay in a cm590.  Not as convenient as hot swap bays, but I can remove one drive at a time without disturbing the others.  And being farther apart, they get good air flow without front fans.  Am using 2 140mm top fans & 1 120 rear fan, and all of the drives stay reasonably cool.  5400/5900 rpm drives run a lot cooler than 7200s.  I don't plan on running out of drive bays any time soon.

 

This is a good option for those looking to save a few dollars yet keep highly expandable options open.