Cooler Master Cosmos S

Verdict:

[+] Cooper S

Well ventilated; space for water cooling; a nice touch-sensitive power button

[-] Escort L

Build quality niggles; pricey

Some letters sound sportier than others. We're not quite sure why, but 'R' and 'S' imply power, while 'L' and 'F' just don't. Just take a look at most car manufacturers' ranges: you'll find Type R, Cooper S and even a Focus RS, which must be the most powerful of all since it includes both letters.

We're sure that Cooler Master has followed the same inspiration in naming the new Cosmos S case. Even the new badge design would sit comofortably on the boot of a hot hatch. The Cosmos 1000 isn't being replaced by the Cosmos S though, as the noise dampening technology of the Cosmos 1000 still makes it a worthwhile purchase. For systems with a bit more power, the Comos S is more appropriate.

NEW DESIGN

As well as the name and the logo, Cooler Master has also updated the design, addressing many of the Cosmos 1000's faults. Gone is the front door in favour of an all-mesh design of ten removable 5.25in panels, three of which obscure the four-bay hard disk caddy, while one can be converted into an external 3.5in bay.

The new meshed front produces a more purposeful appearance and improves airflow, while the black and gun-metal grey of the Cosmos S is sleeker than the silver of the Cosmos 1000. The weight of the case has been cut to 13.5kg through the use of aluminium rather than steel.

The cheap-looking plastic roof venting of the Cosmos 1000 is replaced by acres of black metal mesh, which looks and feels far better. The front of the roof houses a sliding panel that conceals four USB ports, FireWire and eSATA ports, plus headphone and microphone mini-jacks. Unfortunately, the slide mechanism doesn't slide particularly smoothly.

In front of the I/O panel is a smile-inducing, touch-sensitive power button. Attaching the button is annoying, though, as it's hardwired into a 24-pin ATX extension cable, so you'll have to daisy-chain your PSU's cable with this one.

COOLING

Pull either of the two levers on the rear and the respective side panel pops open, usefully hanging open on its lower bracket attachment so that it can be carefully removed. The left panel has a huge, sculpted grille hiding a quiet, 900rpm 200mm fan.

This fan blows air directly onto your graphics card (or cards) and motherboard, and is rated at pushing 150cfm. This fan augments the simple and effective cooling of the rest of the case. Cool air is sucked in through the front by a supplied 120mm fan, and vented via two supplied 120mm exhaust fans mounted on the rear and in the roof.

As the hard disk bay is mounted in a traditional 'in-line' way, airflow through the case is largely unimpeded. The har disk caddy is horrible to work with though - it fits poorly and is needlessly difficult to remove. The supplied cooling is adequate for a fast system, and there's an additional 120mm fan mount in the floor of the case near the front, and room for two more in the roof.

WATER COOLING

If you want to use water-cooling, there's room for a triple 120mm fan radiator at the top, thanks to over 70mm of clearance above the motherboard. If space is still tight, you could install the fans in the gap between the main chamber's roof and the meshed outer roof. However, while the meshed roof panel slides off easily, we had to hammer it back in place with a fist as the fit is poor. Two pre-drilled holes are provided for routing water pipes out of the rear.

THE PSU BAY

As with the Cosmos 1000, the PSU resides at the bottom of the case, allowing a PSU with a downwards-facing side fan to suck cool air from below the case and vent it directly out the rear. The PSU grille has a removable air filter, and there's plenty of room for a large PSU, as there's little else on the floor to get in the way.

It's a pity that the motherboard tray isn't removable, but at least it has holes so that you can easily tidy up your cabling. However, the thin tray bends too easily, another example of the the Cosmos S not living up to its potential.

ROOMY

The Cosmos S is roomy inside; with a standard ATX motherboard and a 10.5in long ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 installed, there was around 130mm of clearance between the back of the graphics card and the rear of a standard-length optical drive. All the drive bays have quick-release buttons, and it's easy to install or remove drives thanks to the flip-open edges at the front of the case.

CONCLUSION

The Cosmos S is definitely better than the Cosmos 1000 - it has a more refined design and it looks better. However, while it's well designed, the ideas aren't always well implemented in reality thanks to several build quality niggles, such as the hard disk cage.

Whether these bother you depends on whether you expect perfection for £160, and how frequently you rebuild your system. If you can forgive some small faults, the Cosmos S's size, cooling and looks mark it out as an excellent chassis. and a great alternative to the much pricier SilverStone Temjin TJ07.

You can buy the Cooler Master Cosmos S from Aria Technology for £160.92 inc VAT now (price correct at time of review)

For more information on the Cosmos S, visit Cooler Master's website

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