Cooler Master Cosmos II 25th Anniversary Edition Review - Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

The original Cooler Master Cosmos II was and still is a product of excellence. It still manages to impress, by the kilogram even as man this thing is heavvveeeh! The revamped Cosmos II 25^th Anniversary Edition however adds some extra flair. Sure 98% of the DNA retains and remains the same, however there are subtle enhancements bringing the product towards the year 2017. Its biggest and most primary feature of course is that sweet looking curved tempered glass side panel, the new blue LED bar and a few smaller intricate upgrades.

The Design

The Cosmos II 25^th Anniversary Edition is an Ultra Tower, as such it is aimed at the extreme enthusiast PC user, which happens to be a good chunk of the Guru3D visitor demographics. It's the guys with the XL-ATX motherboards, three to four graphics cards that need serious airflow and the room for hefty liquid cooling that this chassis appeals to. Well mission accomplished, the Cosmos II has everything you need. The airflow, the space, features like the HDD space, ease of use, USB 2.0 ports and then USB 3.0 ports and the integrated fan controller. But sure the primary feature remains to be its sheer looks. That is the one thing that people might dislike -- the color design. We say it over and over again, you can't argue taste as it is the most subjective thing and does not make the job of reviewer any easier. Some will hate the silver theme, and others will love this chassis for its looks. Fact is that if the aesthetics suit you, then really it will not get much better than this. Each and every little aspect of the chassis has been thought through really well. The design of the chassis has been made to make your life a little easier while combining the best features an enthusiast crowd seeks in a chassis.

Cooler Features

Back in 2012 I highly praised the X-Dock, and albeit it feels a little dated I am happy that it is still there. Simply slide in a HDD and boom, you are good to go. perhaps it however would have been a nice idea to create this feature for SSDs. Wishful thinking I guess. There is very little left to be desired as the CM team thought through it all, the optimal cooling, the fan and light controller, dust filters, the handles,  USB 3.0 integration, tool free design, that X-Dock and so on. Of course do make sure you connect the internal SATA cables to a hot swappable controller + software. If not, power down first of course. I do have to mention the side panel doors, it just works terrific. You can open / close them with easy. The tolerances are perfect, heck you could even slam a tempered glass side panel door closed and not worry about it. 

The Less Cooler Stuff

With the fan controller at its lowest settings, the fans used in the chassis are still too noisy for a 2017 product. In the end I rewired the fans to the motherboard fan controller and set and gave them a low RPM. That still offers decent airflow, but when you tweak them manually, the system goes from moderately noisy, towards silent. So, either you will likely re-wire the fans through your motherboard or replace the fans at one point. 

  

The Innards

All internals remain similar to the 2012 model, however they where great back then too, the biggest motherboards will fit, the most lengthy graphics card will fit, heck, even four of them if your mobo and multi-gpu setup allows it. Then there's space for liquid cooling, the lower drive bays which you can remove, the really nice motherboard cutout and there's just plenty of space left for cable routing through the grommet holes, all in that all-black painted interior. With the included five fans you can create a serious amount of airflow. You decide how fast you want to run them with the help of the fan controller, overall the balance in-between airflow and noise seems to be formidable, and I'm quite anal when it comes to noise alright. The number of SATA HDDs and SSD you can install are up-to 13. That is rather sufficient I'd say.

Pricing

Okay here is the quirky bit of the review, the chassis is priced 349 euros / 319 USD. If your eyeballs just popped out consider this, it's only 14 USD per kilo :-) It is what it is though, a premium ultra-tower chassis with aluminum and tempered glass elements. Next to that the run available will be limited as this is an exclusive Anniversary edition chassis.

So what if you already have a Cosmos II and like that tempered glass? Well good news! The panel mounting system is the same hence you can purchase and replace the side panels in Q3 of 2017. Who know, you might like that all black design combined with tempered glass even better than this Silver bullet design.

• EUR € 349,-
• USD $ 319,-

Final Words

First off, congratulation to Cooler Master for being around for 25 years! Obviously there could be just one series that qualifies as Anniversary edition, the Cosmos series that ignited the success of the company. Aside from its price level updated CM Cosmos II offers an excellent selection of features, requirements, looks and sheers space. We can once again wholeheartedly recommend it as one of the most impressive chassis we have tested to date. The photos do not do the product any true justice, once you meet and greet it for real, it will impress, massively (until you carry it, LOL). The Cosmos II 25^th Anniversary Edition will be available soon and complements the series that started it all for Cooler Master. Well done, and recommended if you like the color combo and are willing to pay the dough. And if you already have a Cosmos II, remember that the tempered glass panels can be purchased as standalone SKU later this year.

Congratz Cooler Master!

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