Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra Tower Case Review

The Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra Tower is by far one of the most unique cases we have reviewed, not because of any innovative features but from the sheer size of the thing.  This case is clearly one of the largest we have seen, and we suspect most reviewers will say the same.  So what sparked such a radical change in case design?  Well, we believe that advances in motherboard options had a large part in the change, namely the fiasco of trying to find a chassis that would support the EVGA SR-2 when it was first released.  Granted the board was never intended to be in a chassis but why limit yourself.

Overall we found the quality of the case to be excellent, all of the sliding doors operated without any issue including the front drive door which moves on a hydraulic gear and held closed with a few small magnets.  Of course the only thing that could have made it better would be to motorize the panel.  Both of the side panels are completely clean and comprised of a hybrid mix of anodized aluminum skin with plastic inner panel.  Due to the construction there is little chance of installing a side window, and making it look good, though in our opinion that is a positive rather than a negative.

There are very few modding opportunities with the Cosmos II that won't completely alter the look of the case and what options you do have were made available by the Cooler Master designers.  Every fan position can support a multitude of fan sizes with the option to mount a radiator in each one.  The biggest surprise is how the lower HDD rack can be converted to support a dual fan radiator and that Cooler Master has included the parts to make this happen.

Sadly, our feelings for the case are rather mixed.  Yes this case is very unique and clearly deserves the Ultra Tower name but the features found on the chassis are not unique simply because they have already been done.  For instance, Sliding doors covering the external drive bays, check. Dual cooling zones with cross flow HDD cooling, check. Top mounted triple fan radiator support, check.  These things don't constitute a totally unique chassis design but combine them with large enthusiast class motherboards and multiple video card options and you have a one of a kind case design that will be hard to match.

Ultra Tower
XL-ATX Motherboard Support
Option to Install Ten Fans
Watercooling First
Excellent Styling
Mix of Aluminum and Steel
Carrying Handles
No Side Window
Fanbus with LED Controls

Weight, this thing is heavy
Only includes a single LED fan
Cannot lock the side panels