Cooler Master Cosmos II: Large and in Charge
by Dustin Sklavos on January 23, 2012 3:20 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Cooler Master
- Full-Tower
Introduction
The Cooler Master Cosmos is more or less legendary among top-of-the-line enclosures. It's not hard to see why, either: it's big, it has loads of expansion, and it looks like a giant refrigerator...for your computer. That said, some time has passed since the Cosmos originally landed with very little in the way of updates. Today, Cooler Master brings us the long-awaited update, the Cosmos II. With a $349 MSRP and a shipping weight of nearly fifty pounds, this enclosure is oversized in every way. Will it retain the cachet of its predecessors, though, or have advances in the computing market since the era of the original Cosmos left the Cosmos II a shiny relic of a bygone era?
I remember when I was going to school back in 2006; a custom-painted Cosmos was on display in the local Fry's Electronics as pretty much the paragon of what a chassis could aspire to. The Cooler Master Cosmos was expensive, big, and beefy. Yet today interest in monster computers with Full ATX boards is waning somewhat. When you can get a motherboard like the ASUS Maximus IV Gene, an X79 monster with all the trimmings in a Micro-ATX form factor, the market for a case that can handle an XL-ATX board starts to shrink. More than that, when something like Rosewill's Thor v2 offers most of the same creature comforts at nearly a third of the price, it can be hard to justify shelling out $349 for an enclosure. But let's see what you get with the Cosmos II, and then we'll hit the assembly and testing and see how it all comes together.
| Cooler Master Cosmos II Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | XL-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 5x 5.25" (2x Occupied by X-Dock, supporting 3.5" drives) |
| Internal | 11x 3.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 1x 200mm LED intake fan |
| Rear | 1x 140mm exhaust fan | |
| Top | 1x 120mm exhaust fan (supports 1x 200mm/2x 140mm/3x 120mm) | |
| Side | 2x 120mm fan mount; 2x 120mm fans on HDD cage | |
| Bottom | - | |
| Expansion Slots | 10+1 | |
| Front I/O Port | 4x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, mic and headphone jacks, eSATA | |
| Top I/O Port | Fan and LED controls, power and reset buttons | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearance | 15" (Expansion Cards), 190mm (CPU HSF), 200mm (PSU) | |
| Weight | 21.5 kg / 47.3 lbs | |
| Dimensions | 13.5" x 27.7" x 26.1" (344mm x 704mm x 664mm) | |
| Price | $349 | |
When I look at the spec table, two things jump out at me. First, how am I going to move a case that's nearly fifty pounds? (Very carefully.) Second, expandability is at an all-time high. I have no trouble burning as many hard drive bays as an enclosure can give me, but the Cosmos II has me beat. It supports up to thirteen 3.5" drives, and up to eleven 2.5" drives. That's on top of having eleven expansion slots, four USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports, and a built-in LED and three-speed fan controller capable of supporting seven fans and at least as many LEDs. Like the late, great John Candy, there's a lot to love in the Cosmos II.
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Xajel - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
This is one of the best designs I saw !!but I'm seeing it as very huge !!. I hope CM will make a smaller version of it... but not too small... the original Cosmos was the biggest I can think of as a case, so same size will be nice..
dac7nco - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
Jesus Christ you are a pussy. Go to the gym or something. In every review you comment about being frail, small or skinny. Review servers, eat pasta-roni and gain some bulk.Daimon
dac7nco - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
I love your case reviews, by the way... I am just a jerk. I bought a TJ-08 because of you.Daimon
fausto412 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
This case is HUGE and PRICEY. I wouldn't buy this but if someone game me one for free I would use it.tecwiz816 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
I have the original Cosmos X for the past 4 years now and I love it.ven - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
first of all very massive case,and i think instead of having this much amount of 3.5 drive bays CM could have left some place there with mounts so that a 360mm radiator can be fitted there vertically i would prefer for obsidian 800D.And as pointed out earlier with previous cosmos line the handle gives the case a alien species look but it's look nice. a windowed side panel(or door in these case) will also be nice update feature.Etern205 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
The massive size of this case even makes that ATX board look like a mini.Still have the very first Cosmos RC1000 and I still remember the day when it arrived in that gigantic
card board box. But I could of sworn it didn't look that big in the picture.
Cooler Master even let you build the original yourself (paper craft version) :)
http://www.coolermaster.com/microsite/Cosmos/
Stas - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
As an owner of the original Cosmos, I must say - this is disheartening on CM's part.CM Cosmos was large, quiet and beautiful; very elegant and easy on the eyes. I admit, it did lack in cooling performance for large video cards (I ran 5 HDDs in it and a volt-moded HD3870). When Cosmos S came out, I thought it was the perfection in its class - all of the great things from the Cosmos + cooling tweaks. Unfortunately, the "S" lost the padded side panels :(
This is very different from what I would want to see in CM's classy flagship. Flashy, unrefined, almost pretentious. Yes, it has performance to back it up, and surely quality, too. But it just doesn't have that sophistication of the former model. Besides, I paid $220 for my case... wtf did extra $130 go? A couple of extra fans? o.O
johnpombrio - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
I believe that the reason for a separate LED power connector going to the mobo is to use it to FLASH the LED when the computer is in sleep mode. Don't be so quick to diss something that I find extremely useful.Captain Zero - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
This reviewer is an embarrassment. What did he expect to be reviewing, an ipad? Of course it's big. The Cosmos is the tractor trailer of cases, not a Mini Cooper but he complains that it doesn't perform like a spots car. Moron. The comments here are equally dippy. These cases are large and exceedingly well-built and worth every penny. No self-respecting builder would put top-tier components in a cardboard box or complain about price. If you want a solid, robust case that's outrageously versatile with room to grow, you can't best the Cosmos line of cases.And for you pussies that think it's heavy, go ask your mom for help.