The Cooler Master Cosmos II is marketed as an ultra high-end, extremely well-built case with an almost complete feature-set designed to house the best and most of everything a PC enthusiast would desire. For US$349, it better.
January 3, 2012 by Lawrence Lee
Product | Cooler Master Cosmos II ATX Tower Case |
Manufacturer | |
MSRP | US$349 |
The Cosmos was one of Cooler Master’s largest and most popular cases. Debuting in 2007, the 25″ tall behemoth was received warmly by PC enthusiasts and gamers with deep pockets and ample floor space. To ring in the new year, Cooler Master has released the sequel, the even bigger Cosmos II with an an initial MSRP of US$349. Yes, many would consider this an absurd amount, but the Cosmos II is a premium product reserved for those who want the best of everything — build quality, space, features, and ease of use. We recently reviewed a budget tower, the disappointing Raidmax Viper; Now let’s see what you can get for five times the price.
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Given the cost and size for the case, Cooler Master felt it necessary to wrap the box with additional cardboard but it proved to be futile in the end. The dimensions and weight of the package proved to be an obstacle for the courier, with one corner of the box taking a noticeable beating, bending inauspiciously inward. Upon inspection we found some damage but it was mostly at the bottom of the case where it would not affect its aesthetics and/or thermal/acoustic performance.
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The Cosmos II is simply put, a world-eater, larger in every respect than any case we’ve tested previously, occupying some 157 litres of space. Standing 27.7″ inches tall, it towers over the Antec Twelve Hundred by almost 5 inches, its 13.5″ waistline spans 4 inches wider than the In Win Dragon Rider, and its 26.1″ depth edges out the SilverStone Raven Two by 3/4 of an inch. The exterior is a mix of a aluminum, plastic, and mesh, but the steel interior is what constitutes most of the Cosmos II’s 47 lb bulk. With the case being both supremely massive and heavy, the handle bars at the top are actually a necessary feature as it would be incredibly difficult to lift otherwise.
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The included accessories are a bit on a sparse side for an expensive, premium case. It ships with an 8-pin extension cable, PC speaker, radiator mounting brackets, keys for a pair of hotswappable external SATA bays, screws, and cable ties.
Specifications: Cooler Master Cosmos II | |
Available Color | Black |
Materials | Appearance: Aluminum, Mesh, Plastic Case body: Steel |
Dimensions | 344(W) x 704(H) x 664(D) mm, 157 litres 13.5(W) x 27.7(H) x 26.1(D) inch |
Net Weight | 21.5kg / 47.3 lb |
M/B Type | Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX, XL-ATX, SSI CEB, SSI EEB |
5.25″ Drive Bay | 3 |
3.5″ Drive Bay | 13 (2 from X-docking, Mid cage for 5 HDDs, Bottom cage for 6 HDDs) |
2.5″/3.5″ Drive Bay | 11 (converted from 3.5″ bay) |
I/O Panel | USB 3.0 x 2, USB 2.0 x 4, E-SATA x 1, Audio In and Out |
Expansion Slots | 10+1 |
Cooling System | Front: 200mm LED fan x 1 (converted from 120/140mm x 1) Top: 120mm black fan x 1 (converted from 200mm fan x 1/ 140mm fan x 2 / 120mm fan x 3 Rear: 140mm fan x 1 Side: 120mm fan x 2 (optional) HDD: 120mm fan x 3 (2 fans for bottom HDD / 1 fan for Mid. HDDs) |
Power Supply | ATX PS2 / EPS 12V |
Maximum Compatibility | CPU cooler height: 190mm/ 7.48 inch GPU card length: 385mm/ 15.10 inch |
EXTERIOR & DAMAGE
The Cosmos II measures 34.4 x 70.4 x 66.4 cm or 13.5 x 27.7 x 26.1 inches (W x H x D) for a ridiculous total case volume of 160.8 L. The next most voluminous case we’ve reviewed is less than half the size, the In Win Dragon Rider at 76.8 L.
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INTERIOR
Though uncommonly large, the layout inside is fairly standard. The interior is spacious, wide enough to accommodate EATX and the various versions of XL-ATX motherboards, a ton of hard drives, as well as dual radiators, one on the ceiling, one on the floor.
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FAN ACCESS & SIDE PANELS
The Cosmos II shipped with four fans in total, a 140 mm model at the back, a 200 mm LED variant at the front, and two 120 mm units in the bottom compartment blowing over the hard drive cages near the case floor.
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ASSEMBLY
Assembling a system in the Cosmos II is a straight forward affair. Our test system consists of an Asus 790GX motherboard, a ZEROtherm FZ120 heatsink with a Nexus 120 mm fan, a WD Caviar hard drive and a Cooler Master 700W modular power supply.
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TESTING
System Configuration:
- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
processor – 3.2 GHz, 45nm, 125W - ZEROtherm Zen FZ120
CPU cooler with Nexus 120mm fan - Asus M4A78T-E motherboard
– 790GX chipset - Crucial memory – 2x2GB, DDR3-1333
- ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB
graphics card(s) - Western Digital Caviar Black
hard drive – 1TB, 7200 RPM, 32MB cache - Coolermaster
Silent Pro M700W – modular ATX power supply - Microsoft
Windows 7 operating system – Ultimate, 64-bit - ATI
Catalyst 11.1 graphics driver
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- CPUBurn
processor stress software. - FurMark
stability test to stress the integrated GPU. - GPU-Z to
monitor GPU temperatures and fan speed. - SpeedFan
to monitor system temperatures. - Seasonic
Power Angel AC power meter, used to measure the power consumption
of the system. - Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply, used to regulate
fan speeds during the test. - PC-based spectrum analyzer:
SpectraPlus with ACO Pacific mic and M-Audio digitalaudio interfaces. - Anechoic chamber
with ambient level of 11 dBA or lower - Various other tools for testing fans, as documented in our
standard fan testing methodology.
System temperatures and noise levels were recorded with SpeedFan and GPU-Z
at idle and on load using CPUBurn (K7 setting) and FurMark, an OpenGL
benchmarking and stability testing utility.
Baseline Noise
The Cosmos II shipped with four fans in total, a 140 mm model at the back, a 200 mm LED variant at the front, and two 120 mm units in the bottom compartment blowing over the hard drive cages near the case floor. The case also has a dedicated 3-speed fan controller for up to 8 fans broken into 4 different groups. The front 200 mm fan had an odd quirk when powered via the controller, producing a noticeable thumping sound, particularly noticeable at low and medium speed where there was less turbulence to drown it out. When powered through normal means, it sounded fairly smooth and benign, similar to the other stock fans. Oddly enough, the fan had a similar measured noise level regardless of how we powered it, so we left it connected to the controller.
Stock Fan Noise Level | |||
Fan | SPL @1m (dBA) | ||
Low | Med | High | |
Front 20cm | 14 | 16 | 24 |
Rear 14cm | 13~14 | 16 | 20~21 |
Top (rear) 12cm* | 12~13 | 16 | 23 |
Side (front) 12cm | 15 | 23~24 | 30 |
Side (center) 12cm | 15 | 23 | 29~30 |
Combined (front, rear, top) | 14~15 | 20 | 29~30 |
Measuring mic positioned 1m at diagonal angle left/front of case. *swapped from side |
The side fans blowing over the drive cages on the case floor were the loudest, measuring 15 dBA@1m on low speed, up to 29~30 dBA@1m on high speed. The mounting system is likely partially responsible as the plastic tabs holding the fans allows them to rattle somewhat. As these fans were unneeded for our testing configuration, we removed both of them, using one of them as an exhaust on the case ceiling. The front, rear, and top fans produced a similar amount of noise to one another, and combined, generated approximately the same amount as a single side fan.
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Test Results: 2 x ATI Radeon HD 4870 (CrossFireX)
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System Measurements | ||||
System State | Idle | CPU + GPU Load | ||
System Fan Speeds | Low | Med | High | |
CPU Temp | 34°C | 50°C | 47°C | 44°C |
SB Temp | 56°C | 68°C | 66°C | 63°C |
HD Temp | 31°C | 31°C | 30°C | 29°C |
GPU #1 Temp | 79°C | 92°C | 90°C | 90°C |
GPU #1 Fan Speed | 1080 RPM | 2350 RPM | 2280 RPM | 2290 RPM |
GPU #2 Temp | 69°C | 86°C | 85°C | 83°C |
GPU #2 Fan Speed | 1000 RPM | 1950 RPM | 1880 RPM | 1730 RPM |
SPL@1m | 21 dBA | 31~32 dBA | 31~32 dBA | 34 dBA |
System Power | 193W | 528W | 526W | 526W |
CPU fan set to 100% speed. Ambient temperature: 23°C. |
With the rear, top, and front fans set to low speed, our test system idled with reasonably good CPU and hard drive temperatures while the Southbridge was a bit hot at 56°C, an unfortunate consequence of being saddled beside two pieces of hot hardware. The HD 4870’s had high idle temperatures too as the stock coolers were spinning at only ~1000 RPM (they don’t typically ramp up when idle). At one meter’s distance, the noise level was a fairly quiet 21 dBA and the ticking of the front fan was not as audible with the rest of the system turned on.
Pushed on load, the medium speed setting seemed to work best, delivering slightly better temperatures and lower GPU fan speeds then the fans set to low. Best of all, the overall noise level didn’t change as the extra cooling allowed the GPU fans to slow down. The CPU and Southbridge temperatures rose by 13°C and 10°C respectively compared to idle, while the graphics card heated up to 90°C/85°C. In the this fan configuration, the noise level was measured at 31~32 dBA@1m, which, while loud by our standards, is quite good for our dual HD 4870 configuration. The ticking front fan also blended away into just a slight hum, having been more or less drowned out.
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CrossFireX Configuration Comparison (Load) | ||||
Case | Cooler Master Cosmos II | In Win Dragon Rider | In Win BUC | Antec P280 |
Fans Speeds | top, rear, front @med | top, rear, sides @9V, front @5V | top, rear, front @9V | top, rear, front @low |
CPU Temp | 46°C | 35°C | 46°C | 45°C |
SB Temp | 65°C | 46°C | 63°C | 64°C |
HD Temp | 29°C | 31°C | 30°C | 28°C |
GPU #1 Temp | 89°C | 85°C | 89°C | 89°C |
GPU #1 Fan Speed | 2280 RPM | 1890 RPM | 2050 RPM | 2440 RPM |
GPU #2 Temp | 84°C | 82°C | 85°C | 84°C |
GPU #2 Fan Speed | 1880 RPM | 1680 RPM | 1780 RPM | 1950 RPM |
SPL@1m | 31~32°C | 32 dBA | 32~33 dBA | 32~33 dBA |
CPU fan set to 100% speed. All temperature results adjusted to 22°C ambient. |
Though easily the most expensive case we’ve tested, from a pure performance standpoint, it fails to capture the crown, beaten out by the brute-force cooling system of the In Win Dragon Rider, with its huge left side fan, and right side fan blowing onto the back of the CPU. However it did edge out both the In Win BUC and Antec P280, producing similar thermal results but with a 1 dB improvement in noise level. This doesn’t sound like much, but its a significant amount with our hardware configuration.
AUDIO RECORDINGS
These recordings were made with a high resolution, lab quality, digital recording
system inside SPCR’s own 11 dBA ambient anechoic chamber, then converted to
LAME 128kbps encoded MP3s. We’ve listened long and hard to ensure there is no
audible degradation from the original WAV files to these MP3s. They represent
a quick snapshot of what we heard during the review.
Each recording starts with ambient noise, then 10 second segments of product
at various states. For the most realistic results,
set the volume so that the starting ambient level is just barely audible, then
don’t change the volume setting again while comparing all the sound files.
- Cooler Master Cosmos II – Baseline – stock fans (top, rear, front) at 1m
— low (14~15 dBA@1m)
— medium (20 dBA@1m)
— high (29~30 dBA@1m)
- Cooler Master Cosmos II – 2 x Radeon HD 4870 test system at 1m
— idle, stock fans on low (21 dBA@1m)
— load, stock fans on medium (31~32 dBA@1m)
FINAL THOUGHTS
Given its price-tag we were expecting a heck of the case and that’s exactly what we got. The Cosmos II’s mix of aluminum, steel, mesh, and plastic has been molded to give it a completely solid feel and a unique look that errs on the classy side rather than the garish. Aside from the thin plastic skirt that curves into the bottom, the build quality simply can’t be beat. The side panels alone are almost an inch thick at some points and have a bulletproof mounting system that can’t be misaligned. The size and weight is a huge turnoff however despite the presence of handle bars. It’s a beast to lug around when filled to the brim with gear, and even empty it’s a bit of a pain.
The good thing about its size is it can fit just about any hardware configuration you can imagine as it supports up to 10 fans, 13 x 3.5″ hard drives, 11 total expansion slots, and both a 240 mm and 360 mm radiator. It also has the usual features you’d expect in a premium case: front USB 3.0 and eSATA, tool-less installation for drives and expansion cards, removable fan filters, removable drive cages, excellent cable management, and a pair of external bays for hotswapping SATA hard drives. Cooler Master also went all out on the fan controller, an impressive piece of hardware that can adjust up to eight fans between three different speeds. It’s more capable than any stock solution we’ve seen, though a dial-based model with full control and the ability to turn fans off altogether would’ve been nice.
Aside from the physical aspects of the case, we have but two major complaints. The first concerns the included 200 mm blue LED intake fan which creates an annoying ticking noise when powered by the fan controller. It’s also the only included fan that has the 2-pin connector necessary to work with the fan controller’s LED toggle switch — the other seven 2-pin cables are completely useless, at least for the moment. It’s likely that a future line of Cooler Master LED fans will take advantage of this otherwise gimmicky feature. Our other big peeve is the complete lack of SATA backplanes for the internal hard drive bays. We would’ve guessed that some would be included given the expense of the case and its ample hard drive support. The external hotswap bays mitigate this omission somewhat, but it’s not a true substitute.
From a performance perspective, the Cosmos II did well, putting up similar numbers to the Antec P280 and other recently reviewed towers at a moderately lower noise level, but it didn’t wow us. While it is enormous and has extensive fan support, the Cosmos II’s cooling scheme is still rather conservative. This contrasts directly with the aggressive cooling strategy of the In Win Dragon Rider which remains the best performing tower we’ve tested (by a longshot). Some consider the Dragon Rider to be rather ridiculous looking but in our opinion, its aesthetics are at least as off-putting as the overall dimensions of the Cosmos II.
Of course we wouldn’t recommend a US$349 case to our general audience and the Cooler Master Cosmos II obviously isn’t being marketed as such. It’s an ultra high-end, extremely well built case with an almost complete feature-set designed to house the best and most of everything a PC enthusiast would desire. The cost can hardly been seen as extravagant compared to the price of three or four top-notch graphics cards, a Sandy Bridge Extreme CPU/motherboard, a custom water cooling system, and 8+ hard drives. If you’re planning a system without at least two of these four elements in mind, the Cosmos II simply isn’t worth the price, neither the hit to your bank account or the strain on your back.
Our thanks to Cooler Master for the Cosmos II case sample.
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Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Tower
Antec P280: Performance One Refresh
Antec Solo II: The Legacy Lives On
SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E: MicroATX Evolved
Cooler Master Silencio 550 Quiet ATX Tower
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