Coolermaster Cosmos

kilroys2 · 3 Feb 2009 at 20:05

Hi folks,

I'm currently in the process of building my second gaming rig and for the case I have nearly decided upon the Coolermaster Cosmos, the rest of the components are...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 (I intend OC'ing this to 3.2Ghz)
Asus P5Q-E
Xigmatek HDT-S1283
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) 5-5-5-18
EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked 896MB

I'll be using my 5 existing hard drives - a WD Raptor as my OS/Games drive as well as 4 WD AAKS series drives - 3x 750GB and 1x 500GB. I'll also be adding a WD Green Power 1TB drive (WD10EADS) to the new build bringing the total to 6 drives.

Now, my current rig is housed in a Wavemaster which I love to bits however its just too cramped for newer graphics cards and a taller CPU cooler such as the Xigmatek. Hence I need a new case for this build.

Now, my main worry with the Cosmos is the well documented problem regarding overall airflow within the case and the hard drive cooling, or lack thereof. To compensate for this I intend replacing the fans with Noctua NF-P12 120mm fans which will bring the overall price of the case to around £190. Looking at alternate cases, the only one that takes my fancy is the Lian Li PC-A7110 however that retails for over £230 which is still £40 more than the Cosmos with the new fans.

Thus, my question is this, based on any personal experience or reliable user reviews what are your opinions on the Cosmos and am I going to run into any significant trouble with regards my hard drives or overall system temps?

Oh and before you guys suggest other cases I would like to point out that I am a sucker for clean designs and, more importantly, front doors on cases. While I know this may fly in the face of optimal cooling solutions I must say I really do love the look of them when closed. It's also one of the primary reasons I'm discounting the new CM ATCS 840 series, although if the price dropped to around £180 I *may* consider it due its similarity to my Wavemaster.

Blackwhite · 3 Feb 2009 at 23:52

You can install only 4 HDD's in this case I believe.

VARDY · 4 Feb 2009 at 00:03

you can install 4 using the 4-in-3 cage. to add more you will have to find another cage. OcUK dont sell the official ones but they do sell alternatives:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-019-BT&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=72
there should be more than enough space to add one of those and not worry about cramped conditions.

with changing fans on the cosmos, you might find removing the one on the HDD cage to be a bit of a pain. the rest are easy to remove, and up top theres a chamber to put 3 fans which means they dont intrude on the space inside (good place for a triple rad)

cooljimy84 · 4 Feb 2009 at 00:19

just got this case myself, it's big (even bigger than i thought !!!)

i've only opened the bag once (as it a birthday present to my self) and dribbled a bit

EsaT · 4 Feb 2009 at 09:51

kilroys2 said:
Lian Li PC-A7110 however that retails for over £230

Original A71 is nearly 100 cheaper and has acoustically lot better HDD mounting.
With saved difference you can get damping material to install to panels, even basic bitumen mat would improve resistance against vibrations lot. (A7110's light and thin Akasa Sh*tmat foam is useless)

kilroys2 · 4 Feb 2009 at 14:21

Blackwhite said:
You can install only 4 HDD's in this case I believe.

That's the Cosmos S you're referring to, the original Cosmos can house 6 drives in its drawer system and its the one I'm looking at.

I hadn't actually considered the Lian Li A71 to be honest as I wasn't mad about the styling. I'll have a read of some of the reviews though and see how it fares. Overall though I'm not too focused on silence, anything approaching quiet will do. Given that I'll be overclocking the CPU and I have other hot components in there its cooling that I'm primarily concerned about. That being said, no harm in trying to strike a nice balance.

EsaT · 4 Feb 2009 at 17:31

Six fans is rather plenty for keeping air moving through it... they're all reinforcing same airflow instead of creating airflow shortcircuits/fighting against each others.
Also if expansion cards need more cooling there's this cooling kit. (costs same as expensive fans like Noctua... LL isn't robbing buyers in accessory prices)
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro...ex=232&cl_index=2&sc_index=34&ss_index=83&g=f
And in case of memory/motherboard running hot you can use for example cable ties or two pieces of wire for attaching normal 12cm fan to that vertical pillar similar to this:
http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/upload/image/V2010/v2010t9.jpg
So there are good options for boosting airflow to components normally not receiving direct airflow but those components wouldn't be hot at all for this kind of case.

Keeping door closed adds only small airflow impedance because of plenty of holes in sides of it/slot between door and front:
http://www.nordichardware.com/skrivelser_img/532/A71_20.jpg
So considering HDDs don't fail weekly or even monthly I don't see any reason to even consider so much more expensive A7110 over original.

If you're one of those who considers 1500rpm fan quiet then Lian Li's 1200rpm stock fans would go well. While they can't keep up with quietest silencing fans (especially with good low rpm airflow of Scythe SlipStreams) they're quite nice for ball bearing equipped stock fans.
But even without real silencing goals I would recommend at least adding few millimeter thick basic bitumen mat or something similar (general supplies shouldn't cost much any) to bigger panels because they're so light... except door which is heavy.

http://www.nordichardware.com/Reviews/?page=5&skrivelse=532
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-249841_10_0.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LianLi/PC-A70/4.html