Coolermaster Cosmos 1000

[Goi]

Hi,

I'll be looking for a case for my long overdue build that will happen once the Penryn quad cores are out, and the Coolermaster Cosmos 1000 is at the top of my list. I've read some reviews of it and based on the pictures I'm pretty impressed with the build quality and attention to detail, and the price is right for me as well.

However, some of the reviews mention that the HDD compartment is problematic because there's not much cooling going on there, which can lead to high HDD temperatures. I'm going to have quite a few HDDs installed, so that is an issue for me.

Does anyone have this case and would like to comment on it?

TIA!

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Hey there Goi,

I have a few complaints about the Cosmos 1000 stricktly from a build/stress test point of view as I only had it in house for about 3 weeks for a customer build so I can't really say anything about the long-term of the case.

In comparison to other cases of the price point I think airflow is pretty poor. Given the massive aiflow found in cases sub-$100 I would think that a near $200 case could at least keep up but, thermally it's worse than the P180 in stock form. Acoustics are definately well above par, especially considering it's a cooler master but, not as good as the antec P18x's. You're absolutely right about the hard drive bays. I have four 150gb raptors in there and the two front most got hot enough for a SMART warning during hard drive benching. I'm also not super fond of placing hard drives on their side for the long term.

IMHO there a few much better options out there for less money. Are you going to be water cooling or just air? Is silence or performance more important to you?

 

[MichaelD]

Though I've not actually used the case, I've read a lot of reviews and owner thoughts on it. So, I'll second DerwenArtos12's feelings about the cooling. I.E. it is really poor, especially for the hard drives.

Sure; you can relocate the front fan/buy another fan and put it on top of the HD area. But that's not going to be very effective at pulling air over 6 poorly vented HD trays to begin with, AND it's going to screw up your air intake to the rest of the case.

The rest of the case rocks, pure and simple. Great looks (IMO), room to work and features...but the cooling ruined it.

The Cosmos was on my short list for a really short amount of time once I started investigating it's cooling properties.

For the same amount of money you can do MUCH better. LianLi has redesigned many of their cases for 2008.

If you want a big full tower (that can take 10 HDs stock!!) with superior cooling, check out the A70 or A71 (no door, door, respectively).

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
If you want a big full tower (that can take 10 HDs stock!!) with superior cooling, check out the A70 or A71 (no door, door, respectively).

Exactly what I was going to suggest depending on what he was looking for. Quite frankly though I think the 17B or the new K07 could probably serve just fine depending on just how many hard drives he wants.

 

[Goi]

Well the reason I like it boils down to a few factors
1) Within my budget. I'm not in the USA so after currency conversion it has to be <US$200
2) Full tower. I love huge cases.
3) It looks really good! Not too flashy, but still draws attention
4) Build quality looks better than most cases I've seen in this price range.
5) USB/Firewire/eSATA ports available
6) Based on the # of fans I thought the cooling would be good, but seems like I was wrong?

The only criteria that it didn't satisfy is that the motherboard is facing the opposite way from what I want. Since I place my case on the floor to my left near a wall, I would've liked a case that opens from the right.

I'm only doing air-cooling. I have a Tuniq Tower that's been sitting around for a year(like I said, long overdue!) so I'm going to be using that. I used to be all out performance(my current case almost has enough fans for lift off, but I've grown up a wee bit, so silence becomes a factor as well. Of course, cooling performance would still have to be good.

I have about 5 HDDs right now, but I'll probably just get a 1TB drive once I upgrade and put some of the smaller HDDs to cold storage, but still, expect about 4-5.

The A70/A71 are great, but way above my budget. They cost about US$300 where I am. I've not read/heard anything about the 17B or K07, they're not on Lian Li's website(at least I couldn't find them) and google doesn't show up anything also. But if they're Lian Lis, they're gonna be expensive I think.
If there's a better case that fits these criteria, please let me know!

 

[Zepper]

At least here in the states, CM will send you an extra fan bracket for the HDD stack for free. IDK if they will in countries where "consumer protection" isn't such a high priority... But it wouldn't hurt to ask if you find your HDDs aren't staying cool enough.

.bh.

 

[Goi]

OK will ask the distributor, who participates in a local hardware forum. Anyway, does the fan bracket help significantly? I'm still waiting for a review site that measures temperatures of the case internals. Most reviews just gloss over the looks and call it a day.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Lian Li PC-K7B It's quite new so it may not have made it out of the US yet but at only $120 here in the US it shouldn't be over $200 elsewhere.

[L-Lian Li PC-A17B]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112164[/L] Been around for a while and at at only $170 it may make it under your budget but barely.

 

[Goi]

Oh, these are mid towers...I was looking for a full tower. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and get the upgraded Cosmos S instead. It's about US$50 more where I am, but I really prefer the exterior design of the Cosmos 1000 to the S

 

[MichaelD]

The LianLi PC-K7B is a really nice case. It's pretty much a mini-me of the A70, right down to the dual, filtered 120mm intakes.

Have you looked at the A70 (no door) and the A71 (door)? IMO, they are both in the "Top 5 Best Full Tower" category. If you want a BIG case, these are it.

The only thing bigger (and much more expensive once you option them out) are the Mountain Mods cube cases, or LianLi's own 343 which is hard to find and $$$ too.

 

[Goi]

Yes I have looked at the A70/A71. Like I said above, they are too expensive.

I guess I'm looking for something in the same price range as the Cosmos 1000, but with better cooling, and full tower. The only bad thing about the Cosmos 1000 that's sort of a deal breaker for me right now is the cooling. Everything else is perfect for me.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Why does it have to be a full tower? There's plenty of room in the K07 for anything but quad crossfire. I understand that huge cases look cool and will generally make installation easier but, do the positives really out weigh the negative in your situation?

 

[Zepper]

The original Stacker, the STC-T01 is still a fine case. Why not that?

.bh.

 

[imbasic]

Have you seen the Coolermaster Cosmos S RC1100. Not sure when it is going to be available for purchase. There are several reviews on it so far sounding pretty good. I guess it is a little noisy but one can always get quieter fans. It is not as sleek as the Cosmos 1000 and has a different color scheme. If everything goes well with it, reviews and user comments, then I plan on purchasing it for my first build.

I was going to purchase the Cosmos 1000 because I really like the looks of the case but the issues others were having with it turned me off.

 

[Sheninat0r]

You could always try the new Cosmos S... it's revised, no door, new colors, touch-sensitive power button, no HDD drawers.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardwa...oler_master_cosmos_s/1

 

[MarcVenice]

These cosmos cases look like .... suitcases .... Fugly suitcases too. You should stop fretting about getting a fulltower, my p182 is a midtower, and jeez, it's huge as it is, enough space to stuff a baby in there if I had to

 

[Goi]

Thanks guys. In view of all this data, I think I'll increase my budget to include the Cosmos S and the Lian Li A70 in my list.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Goi
Thanks guys. In view of all this data, I think I'll increase my budget to make the Lian Li A70 my list.

:thumbsup:

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
Hey there Goi,

I have a few complaints about the Cosmos 1000 stricktly from a build/stress test point of view as I only had it in house for about 3 weeks for a customer build so I can't really say anything about the long-term of the case.

In comparison to other cases of the price point I think airflow is pretty poor. Given the massive aiflow found in cases sub-$100 I would think that a near $200 case could at least keep up but, thermally it's worse than the P180 in stock form. Acoustics are definately well above par, especially considering it's a cooler master but, not as good as the antec P18x's. You're absolutely right about the hard drive bays. I have four 150gb raptors in there and the two front most got hot enough for a SMART warning during hard drive benching. I'm also not super fond of placing hard drives on their side for the long term.

IMHO there a few much better options out there for less money. Are you going to be water cooling or just air? Is silence or performance more important to you?

I call BS on the hard drive claim, I am running raid-0 for over four months now without any issues.

The airflow is good, it is the silly VGA plastic device to keep heat out of the case. This is iffy at best.

I have replaced the majority of fans in the case. It has some of the best air flow I have ever seen.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Zstream

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
Hey there Goi,

I have a few complaints about the Cosmos 1000 stricktly from a build/stress test point of view as I only had it in house for about 3 weeks for a customer build so I can't really say anything about the long-term of the case.

In comparison to other cases of the price point I think airflow is pretty poor. Given the massive aiflow found in cases sub-$100 I would think that a near $200 case could at least keep up but, thermally it's worse than the P180 in stock form. Acoustics are definately well above par, especially considering it's a cooler master but, not as good as the antec P18x's. You're absolutely right about the hard drive bays. I have four 150gb raptors in there and the two front most got hot enough for a SMART warning during hard drive benching. I'm also not super fond of placing hard drives on their side for the long term.

IMHO there a few much better options out there for less money. Are you going to be water cooling or just air? Is silence or performance more important to you?

I call BS on the hard drive claim, I am running raid-0 for over four months now without any issues.

The airflow is good, it is the silly VGA plastic device to keep heat out of the case. This is iffy at best.

I have replaced the majority of fans in the case. It has some of the best air flow I have ever seen.

Are there four drives? Are they raptors? Do you still have the stock fans? Do you have all four drives in the front four racks?

What are you comparing it to? It has horrible airflow compared to the CM690 or the Antec 900 that are each about a quarter of the price of the cosmos, let alone a stacker or a Ll PC-17 or a Silverston Kublai or a Ll PC-K07. Heck, it didn't flow as well as my modified Coolermaser centurion 532 or a P182 I built right about the same time with the stock tri-cools. So again I ask, what are you comparing it to to say it has some of the best airflow you've seen?

 

[Tullphan]

Fixed link for Coolermaster Cosmos RC1100.
BTW, SVC is carrying them now...$249.99.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Tullphan
Fixed link for Coolermaster Cosmos RC1100.
BTW, SVC is carrying them now...$249.99.

I gotta say, that tripple top fan area would fit an MCR320 really nicely. Still not as good a WC case as a TJ-07 but, a very viable option for no-mod water cooling.

 

[Goi]

Thanks for the heads up Tullphan. I get SVC updates too, but unfortunately I'm not in the USA anymore so that isn't very useful for me. Fortunately, prices are pretty comparable where I am.

 

[Goi]

Anyway Zstream, what are your drive temperatures like, and what kind of mods have you made with regards to cooling? Higher RPM/larger fans? How much of a difference does this make? Some temperature comparisons of stock vs modded would be appreciated. I'm still open to suggestions...

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
Are there four drives? Are they raptors? Do you still have the stock fans? Do you have all four drives in the front four racks?

What are you comparing it to? It has horrible airflow compared to the CM690 or the Antec 900 that are each about a quarter of the price of the cosmos, let alone a stacker or a Ll PC-17 or a Silverston Kublai or a Ll PC-K07. Heck, it didn't flow as well as my modified Coolermaser centurion 532 or a P182 I built right about the same time with the stock tri-cools. So again I ask, what are you comparing it to to say it has some of the best airflow you've seen?

Five drives to be exact, four in raid-0 (seagate 7200.10) 500gb and the other one is 750gb for backups.

Better airflow then the CM690, Centurion 5, Thermaltake armor, Stacker 810.

The only needed fan that should be replaced is the one on the bottom so the air flows from top to bottom. I replaced mine with the Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 63.7 CFM

Anyways with an ambient temp of 67F the reported temps on the 6300 & 2.8ghz is at 32-34C and 40-44C load. With all fans replaced it is 27-28C and 36-40C load. I forgot to add I am running a 8800GTS and a 3870HIS turbo. The VGA plastic guard/cooler thing is pretty poor in design. That is why it was removed...