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
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
I've maintained, for better or worse, that the only way you're going to get excellent cooling performance and acoustics in the same package is by spending up. That's not to take away from awesome budget performers like the Bitfenix Shinobi, but in my experience behemoths like the Cooler Master Cosmos II can usually at least justify their high price tags by offering the best of both worlds. Let's see if the Cosmos II can live up to that standard.
So far so good. The Cosmos II is the most expensive case we've tested, but it also generally offers the best cooling performance. Despite that, pay attention to how it trades blows with Rosewill's Thor v2 and keep in mind that the Thor v2 is more than $200 cheaper. Also interesting is how the Lo/Med/Hi results bounce around a bit, though we'll see how that changes when we hit the higher demands of our overclocked testing.
The Cosmos II's medium fan setting turns out to be just the right balance between performance and noise. Moving up from low to medium doesn't change much in the way of noise, but produces an appreciable decrease in temperatures, while high produces a jump in noise without really justifying itself.
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zappb - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
Oh yeaDeath666Angel - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
it just doesn't look very pleasing to me. Too much "1337 gamz0r pwn4g3".But that's just me. :-)
ReachTheSky - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
I'd be proud to own that. I'm honestly getting a bit tired of minimalism. There's not a whole lot of flashy "HEY LOOK HOW BADASS I AM!" cases that are also functional.Death666Angel - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
Like I said, just my own opinion. Nothing more, nothing less. And "badassness" and "functionality" are also very subjective, I wouldn't give this case high marks in either category, much less so considering the price. :-)michaelheath - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
Agreed. This case is aimed at the crowd of people who pay through the nose for features that accomodate the other components they paid through the nose for. As a person who lives within his means and requires no more case than what provides room for a modest gaming/entertainment machine, the Cosmos II is pretty overboard in most aspects, and I could put $350 to better use.Sabresiberian - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
Actually, I think this case is made so people like you can get swelled heads about how well you manage your money.I have a suggestion: give up your gaming/entertainment altogether. After all, it's really nothing you actually require. It's not only a waste of money because you spend it on things you don't need, it's even more a waste of money because it takes up your time, as well, time you could be using to make money instead of spend it.
;)
aguilpa1 - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
At this price I honestly expected it to have an integrated liquid cooling radiator with dual fans not just holes for one. I like to buy high end stuff but I still expect to get my money's worth. This isn't it.ZeDestructor - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
You'd like the Lian Li PC-A71F then. Its a big, black monser of a case that I'm planning to build my next rig in, complete with dual watercooling radiators...Tetracycloide - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
The thing is, it's really not that flashy in many respects. They basically took an ostentatious design and painted it matte black. Why they wouldn't go with cleaner lines or a color scheme that better accents the lines it currently has I have no idea. I think it fails on the aesthetic front by trying to split the difference between minimalism and snazzy, never quite reaching either and attempting to appeal to two tastes that are fundamentally opposites.Tetracycloide - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
Now that I've looked at it a little more and seen some additional close up shots from other review sites I've decided to change my mind. The case is flashy but in tasteful way although the tastefulness is largely left up to the builder. The mesh areas have a unique polygonal design layered into them that's almost fractal. With the matte black brush aluminum finish and the right color backlights (blue was the wrong choice IMO) the case could be very beautiful. Personally I'm thinking amber LEDs myself. Without backlighting many of the aesthetics of the case are lost IMO and it just looks like minimalism in areas that don't make sense because the other areas aren't very interesting without lights so the minimalist areas don't contrast with them enough. If you can imagine those areas backlit with LEDs it's a completely different case. The unlit pictures don't do it justice I think.