A Closer Look - Outside

The Cosmos S still has a very strong resemblance to the original Cosmos. At first look, there are very notable differences, the first being the large mesh in the side panel in combination with the new Cosmos S logo. Cooler Master mentions that the case is inspired by modern sports cars and the logo certainly underlines that.


The front of the Cosmos S chassis looks a lot like the Stacker series. The entire front is made up of seven drive bays. Each bay is covered by a metal mesh cover. These are held in place by locking bars on either side of the front.


The side panel of the Cosmos is made of brushed aluminum and only has a Cooler Master logo on one side, while the other side has a metal mesh, shaped much like the one found on the previous Stacker case.


Taking a closer look at the front, the two locking bars can easily be opened by a simple press. These are secured by a single plastic lock. Each drive bay cover has been clipped onto two rails. These covers are actually a bit loose. Cooler Master actually used metal bars to clip the drive bay covers onto in the Stacker, but the Cosmos S, while using the exact same mechanism, has plastic bars. These hold the covers well on top and bottom but tend to give way toward the middle of the front. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a saying which should also apply here.


A weak point of the original Cosmos was the cheap plastic top. Cooler Master eliminated this, by using a metal mesh in combination with perfectly painted, much harder plastic. You can take the entire top off, by removing a single screw. There is space for three fans, as you can install a triple radiator in the S variant of the chassis. The top I/O has been placed behind a sliding cover. You have four USB ports, one FireWire, audio and an eSATA connector - as you can see, nothing is missing.


The rear of the Cosmos S looks quite normal. The first thing you notice, that the PSU bay is located on the bottom. The top only has two holes to route water cooling out of the case toward the rear of the case. The middle holds a 120 mm fan, while the PSU bay on the bottom can hold the power supply either way.