Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
By removing the two side panels, one can open up the case for internal viewing. As aforementioned, the swivel doors can be unlocked from the two switches at the back of the case, and then the entire side panel can be lifted off of the hinges using the interior handles. The entire process takes less than five seconds, which is awesome. In contrast, the interior of this full-tower chassis is much more complex when compared to the refined and luxurious outside. Painted matte black all around and fitted with rubber cable flap hiders, the overall quality is great. Much like the exterior, the Cosmos II follows the same black color scheme.
The Cosmos II is an "ultra tower" -- from a marketing perspective -- that can house pretty much any size of motherboard. The motherboard form factors supported include mATX, ATX, eATX, XL-ATX, SSI CEB, and SSI EEB. The standoff mounting holes are clearly labeled on the motherboard tray; in fact, some standoffs are already pre-installed for you from the factory. The enclosure uses a 140mm 1200RPM exhaust fan rated at 19dBA. with a smaller 120mm top fan also rated at 1200RPM at 17dBA in the area above. The case allows an additional two 120mm fans to be mounted at the top. Just to note for your reference, there is sufficient room between the fan mounting bracket and the top bezel to fit thick radiators for internal water cooling solutions.
Below the top fan are two large openings that allow sufficient cabling room for multiple fan cables, motherboard power cables, and other of such category that require a top passthrough. Under it is a huge opening on the motherboard tray for users to easily install aftermarket CPU heatsink backplates. The hole is one of the largest I have seen to date, and will be able to accommodate motherboards of different generations easily.
One of the benefits of having such a large chassis are the internal build features and luxuries that manufacturers can focus on. In the case of the Cosmos II, the internal layout of the enclosure includes two separate chambers with entirely different airflow patterns. The above photo is a quick snapshot of the bottom area found at the top section of the case; where the bottom steel floor separates the two chambers. Here, you will find a total of ten expansion slots with removable thumbscrews. The bottom includes two rubber cable hiders for one to route fan cables and water hosing if you have a bottom radiator. Also, one may find it useful to route front panel input/output cables here for a cleaner internal setup.
Towards the front are the HDD mounting trays. These trays are made out of a fairly bendable plastic, and are easy to slide into place. To install a standard 3.5" hard drive, one will need to slide out a tray, place the HDD into it, align the screw holes on the sides, and use the provided screws in the accessory bag to fasten the HDD in. The side of the HDD tray includes rubber dampeners, which is quite nice. To install a 2.5" laptop or solid state drive, the user will need to position the drive with the holes found on the tray, and attach it with the provided screws. The user is also able to mount a fan on the HDD mounting frame to add more airflow.
The bottom area of the case includes the power supply bay and an additional area for adding HDDs, with the option of fitting a radiator setup as discussed earlier. The main difference between the bottom and top area is how the air flows. The top area utilizes the conventional push-pull design, where the cool air flows through the front of the case via a front intake fan, and exhausts through the back to the outside environment. The bottom area takes in cool air from the left side of the case, and exhausts the air through the opposing panel. In essence, the case incorporates two different push-pull configurations that are isolated from each other, but still includes basic necessities like good cable management features, and a very well thought out cooling design. The user can now fully incorporate water cooling into their enclosure in the bottom section, but still keep a fully air-cooled upper section. This will inevitably reduce overall sound, prevent major dust particles from entering the system (Since there are fewer fans located in the upper section), and much greater convenience.
Taking a look at the above image, you can get a close idea as to how the bottom section further operates. Behind the two provided 120mm fans and fan bracket are two additional HDD frames that allow an additional six HDDs to be utilized. As aforementioned, one of the main features is adding radiator support in this area by removing the two HDD frames, and installing the provided radiator brackets.
Simply looking at the back of the motherboard tray, we can see that the Cooler Master Cosmos II includes pretty much every convenient feature out there. Due to the huge gap between the motherboard tray and the side panel, there isn't any amount of wires that the Cosmos II cannot handle. Well, within reasonable limits, obviously. As well, the motherboard tray includes a plethora of rubber cable holes and several cable tie down points. The included cables from the front panel connections are all labeled with the exception of the usual USB and eSATA cords, which is simply not necessary.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
