Tested 15 years ago: Cooler Masters Cosmos at an astronomical price

In the test 15 years ago, the Cooler Master Cosmos (test) featured an extraordinary case that attracted attention not only with its extraordinary design, but also with the astronomical price. Whether the case was worth the money depended on individual preferences.

Table of Contents

1 A real heavyweight
It was the inner values that mattered
Light and shadow
Conclusion

A real heavyweight

With dimensions of approx. 598 × 266 × 628 mm (H × W × D), the Cooler Master Cosmos was an expansive case and a real heavyweight at 16.9 kg. The latter was due to the body made of steel, which was covered with plastic on the outside. Only the side walls and the front flap were made of aluminum – since it was made with a material thickness of 3 mm, the weight saving was limited. Black perforated sheet metal was located behind the glossy black front flap. There were 4 × USB, 2 × audio as well as a FireWire and an eSATA connection on the front of the case. The Cosmos also offered space for five 5.25″ drives.

Some interesting details were housed at the top of the Cosmos. At the rear end there were gill-like air outlets, through which the two internal fans on the top of the case could discharge their exhaust air. In addition, the Cosmos had two carrying handles on the top, which were not only decorative, but were actually suitable for carrying the housing and the built-in system (to the LAN party). Equivalent to the carrying handles, there were two skids also made of solid aluminum on the bottom of the case. For users of water cooling, the Cosmos had two hose openings on the back.

It was the inner values that mattered

When it came to the interior design of the case, Cooler Master deviated significantly from the ATX case standard of the time. The power supply was positioned at the bottom at the back and the hard drive cage was replaced by six removable aluminum boxes for decoupled mounting of 3.5″ hard drives. The boxes were provided with foldable handles and could be fixed with a knurled screw. At the bottom of the case there was also a frame with a pre-installed 120 mm fan, which could generate a directed airflow via rotatable slots – similar to the ventilation in a car.

Another special feature was the mounting of the power supply: The power supply was mounted on a kind of pedestal, which was provided with a rubber frame, which ensured that the power supply was guaranteed to draw in fresh air – as long as the fan was pointing downwards. In practice, this didn't necessarily work as well as it did in theory – the two power supplies in the test were shorter than the pedestal and thus also sucked in warm air from the interior. Not only the solid steel walls of the Cosmos guarantee quiet operation, but also the pre-installed foam insulation.

Light and shadow

The good insulation of the Cosmos ensured that it was the quietest case in the test to date. Unfortunately, Cooler Master paid for this property with comparatively high temperatures. In particular, when compared to the marginally louder but much cheaper NZXT Zero, the Cosmos fared poorly in terms of temperatures.

Charts

Volume
System Temperatures

Volume

Cooler Master Cosmos silent:
- Front31,6
- Back35,2
- Top32,4
- Left32,7
- Right33,1
< /li>
Cooler Master Cosmos normal:
- Front35.5
- Back40.5
- Top37.7
- Left37.8
- Right37.4
NZXT Zero silent:
- Front32.8
- Rear34.8
- Top34.0
- Left35.8
- Right35.2
< /li>
NZXT Zero normal:
- front37.0
- rear39.7
- Top37.2
- Left41.8
- Right38.3
Silverstone TJ09 silent:
- Front34,9
- Back37.0
- Top34.8
- Left36,3
- Right35,3
Silverstone TJ09 normal:
- Front39.0
- Back41.7
- Top40.6
- Left42,0
- Right41,3
Silverstone SG01 silent:
- Front35.1
- Back36.2
- Top34,6
- Left35,6
- Right37,0
< /li>
Silverstone SG01 normal:
- front46,3
- rear48, 3
- Top46.3
- Left49.0
- Right50.7
Lian Li PC-V800 silent:
- Front36.0
- Back34.9
- Top34.2
- Left34,4
- Right35,3
Lian Li PC-V800 normal:
- Front43.3
- Back43.3
- Top45.1< /li>
- Left42,7
- Right43,0

Unit: dB(A) System temperatures

Cooler Master Cosmos silent:
- CPU63
- Mainboard46
- Hard Drive 143
- Hard Drive 242
- GPU82
- GPU Environment61
Cooler Master Cosmos normal:
- CPU54
- Mainboard35
- hard disk 138
- Hard Drive 236
- GPU79
- GPU Environment54
NZXT Zero silent:
- CPU58
- Mainboard34< /li>
- Disk 131
- Disk 230
- GPU62
- GPU environment42
NZXT Zero normal:
- CPU50
- Mainboard29
- Hard disk 128
- Hard Disk 228
- GPU60
- GPU Environment38
Silverstone TJ09 silent:
- CPU63
- Mainboard42
- Hard disk 130
- Hard disk 230
- GPU66
- GPU environment46
Silverstone TJ09 normal:
- CPU54
- Mainboard35
- hard disk 129
- Hard Disk 229
- GPU63
- GPU environment39
Silverstone SG01 silent:
- CPU67
- Mainboard50
- Hard disk 135
- Hard Disk 233
- GPU76
- GPU Environment51
Silverstone SG01 regular:
- CPU63
- Mainboard46
- Hard disk 131
- Hard disk 229
- GPU76
- GPU Environment48
Lian Li PC-V800 silent:
- CPU52
- Mainboard41
- Hard drive 145
- Hard Drive 249
- GPU91
- GPU Environment60
Lian Li PC-V800 normal:
- CPU50
- Mainboard41
- Hard Disk 147
- Hard Disk 240
- GPU87
- GPU Environment55

Unit: ° C

Conclusion

The Cooler Master Cosmos was an exceptional case in many ways. The manufacturer gave the Cosmos a unique design, the volume was exemplary and the model had many sophisticated features. On the other hand, there was the astronomically high price of over 200 euros, the high weight and the below-average cooling. In the end, it was therefore difficult to make a final judgment: The Cosmos was neither an absolute purchase recommendation nor was it advisable to buy it.

It was still successful: The Cosmos was so well received that Cooler Master later followed up with the Cosmos S, Cosmos II, Cosmos SE, Cosmos C700P and C700M.

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Tested 15 years ago: Cooler Masters Cosmos at an astronomical price

A real heavyweight

It was the inner values ​​that mattered

Light and shadow

Conclusion

It was the inner values that mattered