Cooler Master Cosmos SE Review

Cooler Master Cosmos SE Review

Introduction

Cooler Master are back with a new Cosmos case, this time though rather than the elite pricing that came with the Cosmos 2 the SE comes in at a much more reasonable £140. The specification list below certainly reads well although no mention of watercooling support in that list, so let’s move on to a video so we can answer all these questions and many more in a full fat TTL length case review.

Specifications

Model COS-5000-KKN1 
COS-5000-KWN1 (windowed)
Available Color Midnight Black
Material Polymer, steel, aluminum, mesh front bezel, rubber
Dimension (W / H / D) 263.8 x 569.4 x 524.4 mm
Weight 10.8 kg
M/B Type ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
5.25″ Drive Bay 3 (exposed)
3.5″ Drive Bay 8 (hidden)
2.5″ SATA HDD Drive Bay 18 (hidden; 16 converted from 3.5″ bays)
I/O Panel USB 3.0 x 2, USB 2.0 x 2, Audio In & Out
Expansion Slots 7+2
Cooling System Top: 120/140mm fan x 2 (one 140mm black fan installed, 1200 RPM, 19 dBA)
Front: 120mm blue LED fan x 2 (installed; with LED on/off), or 140mm fan x 1 (optional)
Rear: 120mm fan x 1 (installed, 1200 RPM, 17 dBA)
Side: 120/140mm fan x 1 (optional)
HDD cage: 120mm fan x 2 (optional)
Power Supply Standard ATX PS2
Maximum Compatibility VGA card length:
with HDD bracket: 276mm / 10.9 inch
without HDD bracket: 395mm / 15.5 inch
CPU cooler height: 175mm / 6.9 inch

Video

Conclusion

So lets start with the positives. It looks more expensive than it really is with those trade mark bars for the feet and handles at a quick glance you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking it was the Cosmos 2. The large side windows and the blue LED stripes around the buttons and front of the case just add to that. The build quality is awesome, verging on bomb proof where the steel is concerned, the plastic feels tough and durable and the mesh areas just seem to help your eyes enjoy the case that little bit more while providing the ventilation needed without looking cheap or out of place.

The thing is the SE is much smaller than the Cosmos 2. MUCH smaller but so is the price. It’s even smaller than the Storm Trooper. So as with everything when you make a case smaller you end up with less room inside and you sure do notice that with the SE to the point that with the HDD bays installed it feels cramped. You can remove those bays to help open it’ll up to fit longer graphics cards and even a water cooling radiator in the front if you wish.

Something very strange is one of the front fans is actually about 30% covered by the lower optical bay cover, we understand you can use that area for an optical bay sized device but having a fan partially hidden just sends our OCD senses crazy, we personally think that those two fans no matter how needed to be moved down or that 3rd optical bay just got rid off. It may be a picky thing but it just doesn’t look or feel right.

The Cosmos SE is a good case but we cant help but feel that you are paying for form over function. The Trooper is cheaper, bigger and much easier to build a rig in and there are many other cases out there that cost less and deliver more – the difference being none of them look this pretty really. I think the main point we are trying to make is if you love the Cosmos design and cant afford a Cosmos 2 then the SE will be perfect for you, its just you will have to live with a few compromises to have that chunk of sexy on your desk.

It’s by no means a bad case, and it does look the dogs danglies plus if you are handy with the tools there are a lot of possibilities for making this case your own. Sadly though we can’t give it a gold award just because it looks the like a Cosmos but is much cheaper, it does still feel small and for the price doesn’t quite deliver what we would call an OC3D Gold award worthy case, it does however get a very shiny silver.

    

Thanks to Cooler Master for sending the C-SE in for us to review, you can discuss your thoughts in the OC3D Forums.