Cooler Master Cosmos SE

[Darksaber]

Cooler Master Cosmos cases: Large and capable, these come with a hefty price tag to match. The Cosmos SE looks like a smaller version of its bigger brother, but has Cooler Master sacrificed cool features, or has the company created a new universe in the sky?

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[JDG1980]

This review was a bit thin. Where are the thermal measurements?

 

[erixx]

Temps are rarely issue in big cases. Bit the more the better.

What is boring is that same old mini mobo in all tests...

 

[Darksaber]

Temps are rarely issue in big cases. Bit the more the better.

What is boring is that same old mini morbo in all tests...

Hi Erixx, about the motherboard - this is to allow for comparability between two cases - it acts as a point of reference. It does feature all the important aspects: dual-slot configuration possibility, USB 3.0 onboard, just as wide as high-end full ATX boards. The only downside is the fact, that the mATX board is shorter, but length has never been an issue in cases. If they can hold a specific size, then it will fit, while the available width inside a case can differ. Thus the use of an extra wide mATX board.

 

[Darksaber]

This review was a bit thin. Where are the thermal measurements?

Hi JDG1980,

we do not do thermal tests - never did. Try to find another review with 50+ pictures . Reviews have always been featuring this level of detail.

While it is certainly not uninteresting to have temperatures, the cooling performance depends heavily on the type of hardware inside the chassis and also means that one would have to run load benchmarks in an environment that can be completely differently to what I use. I live in Austria, trying finding an apartment with controllable internal temperatures. We do not have air cons for example.

 

[rawad]

Great review Darksaber, thank you.

 

[Nabarun]

First of all, it's NOT a mid tower (Well, in reality it IS, but CM does market and label it as a full tower). Check out your own posted photo:

So all your thoughts about how great it's "out of the box" water-cooling options are "for a case of this size" make no sense. One has to get rid of a lot of stuff to accommodate a decent 360mm rad in there. There are ONLY seven pci expansion slots. They are selling it at a much higher price than the best full towers in the market - Phantom 630, Corsair 750D and even their own Storm Striker/Trooper. You would really know how "tight" the case is if you had tried to install an XL-ATX motherboard (or even an ATX one for that matter) with a few 3-slot GPUs etc. It IS a full tower case and it costs a LOT, and you have rated it MORE than the best full towers out there, so it would make more sense to see if it actually deserves it's "full tower" and price tag. You can check what I mean by prices at one of our online retailers here And speaking of ratings, seriously? Phantom 630 8.9 and this piece of cr@p 9.3 ?????

 

[erixx]

Thanks Dark Saber for the time answering me. I understand that mobo must be like a Suisse Knife! But yet Cadaveca should lend you some more modern mobos, hehe, just for pics for the sexy hardware thread

 

[erixx]

This is real tower!
(Vobis circa 1995, my second PC

 

[Darksaber]

First of all, it's NOT a mid tower (Well, in reality it IS, but CM does market and label it as a full tower). Check out your own posted photo:

So all your thoughts about how great it's "out of the box" water-cooling options are "for a case of this size" make no sense. One has to get rid of a lot of stuff to accommodate a decent 360mm rad in there. There are ONLY seven pci expansion slots. They are selling it at a much higher price than the best full towers in the market - Phantom 630, Corsair 750D and even their own Storm Striker/Trooper. You would really know how "tight" the case is if you had tried to install an XL-ATX motherboard (or even an ATX one for that matter) with a few 3-slot GPUs etc. It IS a full tower case and it costs a LOT, and you have rated it MORE than the best full towers out there, so it would make more sense to see if it actually deserves it's "full tower" and price tag. You can check what I mean by prices at one of our online retailers here And speaking of ratings, seriously? Phantom 630 8.9 and this piece of cr@p 9.3 ?????

Hi there,

There is a huge difference in quality between the Phantom 630 and the CM Cosmos SE. While both are great cases, the Cosmos SE is well built and goes into far greater detail in terms of design than the Phantom 630. NZXT has never been too keen to offer a chassis with great level of detail when it comes to looks (not saying that they look bad).

In the end you are comparing apples to oranges really.

 

[Nabarun]

Hi there,

There is a huge difference in quality between the Phantom 630 and the CM Cosmos SE. While both are great cases, the Cosmos SE is well built and goes into far greater detail in terms of design than the Phantom 630. NZXT has never been too keen to offer a chassis with great level of detail when it comes to looks (not saying that they look bad).

In the end you are comparing apples to oranges really.

Disagree. NZXT has the most variety in terms of "looks". It's a personal thing whether somebody likes the looks - a LOT of people do. I personally hate the "nosey" looks on the front panel and even the Z-like side windows etc and half-exposed front intakes and controls on the top (I have a lot of cats who like to get on top for the warmth ) But they ARE full towers and can fit all the best gear and wc stuff NATIVELY without having to sacrifice anything and they cost less. I do agree on the quality factor, though, particularly the hdd caddies. But what about the Corsair 750D or CM Storm Stryker? They can fit all that AND are good quality and cost less. I just don't see the justification of tagging this case "full tower" and higher-than-the-best REAL full towers pricing.

 

[Overclocker_2001]

for 170€ (200$) i hope there will be a total dust proof (at least)...
sure is well built (can rotate hdd cage to have decent airflow).. but there is no real FRONT dust filter

could be a good case if priced at 150€ or have real dust filter on all intake

 

[Vario]

The cosmos 1000 has amazing build quality compared to my Antec or NZXT chassiss , I am sure this is the same.

 

[Ja.KooLit]

First of all, it's NOT a mid tower (Well, in reality it IS, but CM does market and label it as a full tower). Check out your own posted photo:

So all your thoughts about how great it's "out of the box" water-cooling options are "for a case of this size" make no sense. One has to get rid of a lot of stuff to accommodate a decent 360mm rad in there. There are ONLY seven pci expansion slots. They are selling it at a much higher price than the best full towers in the market - Phantom 630, Corsair 750D and even their own Storm Striker/Trooper. You would really know how "tight" the case is if you had tried to install an XL-ATX motherboard (or even an ATX one for that matter) with a few 3-slot GPUs etc. It IS a full tower case and it costs a LOT, and you have rated it MORE than the best full towers out there, so it would make more sense to see if it actually deserves it's "full tower" and price tag. You can check what I mean by prices at one of our online retailers here And speaking of ratings, seriously? Phantom 630 8.9 and this piece of cr@p 9.3 ?????

nah... its not a full tower... It is wider than usual mid atx but it is still considered as mid tower.....

for me a full tower is a case which can support quad sli or quad fire with atleast 8 expansion slots...

 

[TissueBox]

Have to say, this case was unpleasant to work in. I believe it exceeds the mid tower dimensions (I may just be pulling this statement out of nowhere) so it cannot be called a mid tower, however, the workable room in which you fit your major components is evidently lacking. I find it ridiculous that an ATX-spec motherboard would cover half of the rubber grommets. Furthermore, I can't even fit a 30cm cold cathode in there without the cold cathode being awkwardly angled or hitting something - that's how little room there is. Thankfully, it can still fit a Phanteks PH-TC14PE.

If you look at the pieces that hold the 5.25" drives - they block A LOT of airflow, and you can't install them going from the front to back; you won't be able to place your fans there any more. There is an awful amount of rad space, but you also lose much of your storage space if you decide to install a radiator in the front.

All in all, while it has the "premium quality, look and image" that I absolutely adore with the Cosmos series, the case's workable room for the major components is small, and some more practical design choices could have been made (like a different method to mount the front fans without having to mount them against the pieces which hold the 5.25" drives, or allowing air to pass through the 5.25" vents easier).

 

[Darksaber]

for 170€ (200$) i hope there will be a total dust proof (at least)...
sure is well built (can rotate hdd cage to have decent airflow).. but there is no real FRONT dust filter

could be a good case if priced at 150€ or have real dust filter on all intake

The price has already fallen below 150€ The chassis price was a bit higher when the review was written.

 

[Nabarun]

nah... its not a full tower... It is wider than usual mid atx but it is still considered as mid tower.....

for me a full tower is a case which can support quad sli or quad fire with atleast 8 expansion slots...

If you read my post a little carefully, you"ll see that it's not my opinion that the case should be called a Full Tower - the Manufacturer claims it is so. I was simply pointing out that the review should be updated with the correct information, which our beloved Darksaber has for some reason chosen not to.

 

[Darksaber]

If you read my post a little carefully, you"ll see that it's not my opinion that the case should be called a Full Tower - the Manufacturer claims it is so. I was simply pointing out that the review should be updated with the correct information, which our beloved Darksaber has for some reason chosen not to.

Currently in the road. Fixed

 

[Nabarun]

Currently in the road. Fixed

Great! Would be even better if there was a touch of criticism (not just "there ain't no space, buddy") in the review about the lack of space and slots for a "Full Tower" which costs more than most (Even Newegg in US and Scan in UK - not just in India).

 

[Kovoet]

I have every Cosmos except this one but I have changed over to the Corsair Carbide 540 and you know what I am glad that I did as I think it's a lot easier to work with with and better looking.

 

[Vario]

I think every Cosmos has had major flaws but its an art case more than anything. A mac pro style case for a PC enthusiast. For mine, lack of intake airflow so I had to modify the front panel to have a 120mm intake and run 38mm thick fans everywhere. The drive cooling on the 1000 is very poor, I had to add a 92mm San Ace Denki to the top left drive cage to blow onto my two drives. This is mounted with zip ties and is inside the first cage pull out but mounted to the vented metal portion, so that cage can be removed. As I had more drives, I will probably add a rad grill to the front and back of the drive cages (one inside, one on the front) in the future so that I can have air flowing through that entire section and expand the door's rubber grommet gap to accomodate 2 more fans at the lower level. I also plan to remove the roof and put in a 3x120mm radiator grill to the roof (under the plastic louver panel). When I run my 120x38mm thick fans (5 of them) on full plenty of airflow goes through the case so its not a big deal but it gets noisy. At lowest volume/speed levels it still cools well enough for 24/7 operation, the delta is only about 4*C between max and min fans. To me, the Cosmos 1000 is the best of all of the cosmos's for looks but the wire management really sucks, you have to tuck the wires all into the lower drive bays and then run extensions everywhere.

This new cosmos looks great but its out of my price range and my next case will be fully custom (wood chassis with 90 degree rotated motherboard using my salvage Antec 300's components).

I bought this case for $50 off craigslist, ordered a new $15 shipped I/O top panel from the CM europe store, window panel from Canada for $45 shipped and a second door panel (so I can modify one, have a stock one) for $30 shipped. Each fan was about $10. Probably have close to $200 in this thing but I have modified almost EVERYTHING.

 

[Dave65]

My next case!

 

[WarEagleAU]

Looks good and as always top notch on the review DS. I thought about going for this as my next case but I really believe
I am going to Corsair for their cases (750D or if I can swing it the original 850D or 900D). While I have always wanted a CM
Cosmos Case both the original, and II are a bit out of my price range for what they offer.