Cooler Master Cosmos II 25th Anniversary

[Darksaber]

The Cooler Master Cosmos II was launched in 2012 and became one of the brand's most recognizable enclosures. Now, half a decade later, Cooler Master presents the Cosmos II 25th Anniversary edition to celebrate a quarter century in business and to bring the iconic chassis back to a new generation of enthusiasts and gamers.

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[Caring1]

Pros and Cons needs a bit of work.
Removing the hard drive cages in the base and replacing it with a 240 Radiator is not a pro, where is the ventilation?
Way too many drive bays up front, only one Hot swap bay is needed for a H.D. or Optical.
Size could be a lot smaller, mid tower would be great, also the back of the Motherboard tray could have been made black, no one needs to see that.
Any reason a 280 Radiator can't be placed on the top, as it states 2 x 140mm fans can be installed?
I want it, but in mid tower size, it's still one of my favourites as far as looks go.

 

[Chaitanya]

Pros and Cons needs a bit of work.
Removing the hard drive cages in the base and replacing it with a 240 Radiator is not a pro, where is the ventilation?
Way too many drive bays up front, only one Hot swap bay is needed for a H.D. or Optical.
Size could be a lot smaller, mid tower would be great, also the back of the Motherboard tray could have been made black, no one needs to see that.
Any reason a 280 Radiator can't be placed on the top, as it states 2 x 140mm fans can be installed?
I want it, but in mid tower size, it's still one of my favourites as far as looks go.

you can put a 280mm rad on top but it cannot be longer than 320mm(according to CM website). In general this case is a lost opportunity and dont understand why CM released this obnoxious monstrosity in 2017. No USB Type-C or removable bays for better liquid cooling support either.

 

[Darksaber]

Pros and Cons needs a bit of work.
Removing the hard drive cages in the base and replacing it with a 240 Radiator is not a pro, where is the ventilation?
Way too many drive bays up front, only one Hot swap bay is needed for a H.D. or Optical.
Size could be a lot smaller, mid tower would be great, also the back of the Motherboard tray could have been made black, no one needs to see that.
Any reason a 280 Radiator can't be placed on the top, as it states 2 x 140mm fans can be installed?
I want it, but in mid tower size, it's still one of my favourites as far as looks go.

Thanks for the catch on the radiator size. Fixed. it can take a 280 or up to 360 mm up top.

As for the other points: I do not know if you recall, but the Cosmos II was initially released in 2012. This is a refresh to celebrate 25 years with a few updates. There actually used to be a smaller version of the Cosmos, the Cosmos SE: http://www.coolermaster.com/case/full-tower-cosmos-series/cosmos-se/ it was launched at the end of 2013. You can still find it out there if you really want it.

 

[Ruru]

Damn, too expensive. Otherwise it would be a great chassis for me. I've had the Cosmos S and I liked it.

 

[Assimilator]

Massive wasted opportunity here:

* As the review states, making all of the front USB connectors USB 3.0 would've been nice, especially considering the price.
* As per @Chaitanya , lack of USB Type-C support (would've been more useful than an HDMI connector IMO) and non-removable 5.25" drive bays is archaic in this day and age.
* No mounting positions for SSDs/HDDs behind motherboard tray, again a legacy of reusing a half-decade-old design.
* Why even bother with the tempered glass on the right (motherboard tray) panel? Who wants to show off their messy cables?

Not much of an effort from CM for their 25th anniversary, just an outdated design with (of course) some added LEDs for bling.

 

[dj-electric]

CM could have done so much more with the glorious cosmos II
I owned this one before and the modding potential was great. All CM needed to do is look at some modern cases and some modded ones.

 

[Nokiron]

What a disappointment. I expected them to retain the outside and redo the inside.

Cosmos II is an old case with an old layout, releasing it in the same state is just pointless.

 

[Caring1]

There actually used to be a smaller version of the Cosmos, the Cosmos SE: http://www.coolermaster.com/case/full-tower-cosmos-series/cosmos-se/ it was launched at the end of 2013. You can still find it out there if you really want it.

Unfortunately it has a different physical appearance and doesn't look as good.

 

[Ruru]

First I didn't like the RGB everywhere thing, but now I'm having RGB stripes on my rig. But I don't understand this tampered glass hype, that's just a terrible fingerprint magnet. I like my "classic" acrylic side window on my Phanteks P400S.

But if the price would be ~150€, I'd get this.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I remember back in the day when i was considering a Cosmos S

 

[WarEagleAU]

ouch that price is too high for a lackluster anniversary edition.

I agree on the usb 3.0 and type c ports.

For $350 it better transform and do tricks.

 

[Ruru]

I remember back in the day when i was considering a Cosmos S

I had Cosmos S and it was fine, tho the cable management wasn't that fine when comparing to more modern cases. I gave it to my friend since he was in need of a even somehow modern case (he had a Sonata III before).

 

[S73fan]

Thanks for the review

 

[Vario]

Would have been nice to have the case be 100% metal with less plastic rather than have glass side panels.

 

[Scrizz]

Regardless of what others say, I like this case.
I think I prefer the original Cosmos 2 since it doesn't have glass. lol

 

[neatfeatguy]

ouch that price is too high for a lackluster anniversary edition.

I agree on the usb 3.0 and type c ports.

For $350 it better transform and do tricks.

The side panels better come with a remote control to open/close and it better build the computer for me at $350.

I really liked the Cosmos 1000 case I had, mostly for the looks. I really hated the weight of it (around 45 pounds when empty) and I disliked the lack of placement of fans without having to mod the case. I had to jerry-rig a front fan location by cutting out some HDD bays on mine. It looked ugly on the inside, but you couldn't see it from the outside. I also hated the small amount of space you got for routing cables behind the motherboard.

I can't fathom why anyone would really want this case at $350. It looks pretty nice, but the price is outrageous.

 

[D1RTYD1Z619]

Watch the Hardware Canucks YouTube video. Its very informative and Dmitry makes some very good points.

 

[Grings]

Can fans be fitted to the other side of the top panel and the roof still fit over it?

Otherwise this looks a bit limited in what thickness radiator you can fit up there, with the mounts being central and not offset away from the board

 

[Vario]

The side panels better come with a remote control to open/close and it better build the computer for me at $350.

I really liked the Cosmos 1000 case I had, mostly for the looks. I really hated the weight of it (around 45 pounds when empty) and I disliked the lack of placement of fans without having to mod the case. I had to jerry-rig a front fan location by cutting out some HDD bays on mine. It looked ugly on the inside, but you couldn't see it from the outside. I also hated the small amount of space you got for routing cables behind the motherboard.

I can't fathom why anyone would really want this case at $350. It looks pretty nice, but the price is outrageous.

After the 1000 I went with an A05 because I couldn't deal with the nuisance of a massive heavy case anymore.

 

[scevism]

Is there any update on the side panels for purchase yet?

 

[abcdude]

Reviewer, what do you mean by "not protected out of the box"?
What kind of protection are you referring to? Do you mean the aluminum is not polished or what else?

"However, unlike the Cosmos II from 2012, the handles and feet, which are made out of aluminum, are not protected out of the box, though the movable panels in the front and top are."