CoolerMaster (CM) has always catered to enthusiasts with their Stacker series of cabinets, which represent the upper echelon of the world of desktop cases. The Cosmos (codename RC1000) deviates from the hardcore (and pricey) Stackers, with something that offers designer looks.Brushed steel is rare but always a hit, and the Cosmos sports panel quality and a finish second to none—even better than CMs own RC830 series. It has two aluminium bars on the top and bottom. The front door is equally attractive—tinted fibre and you can change its orientation (left or right). We also noticed the two rubber covered holes in the back of the cabinet—perfect for the tubes of a liquid cooling kit.

There’s a fan on the bottom of the case handling air intake, while the two fans on the top and one rear fan are exhausts. CM states this creates some negative pressure—which explains why they have a VGA duct without a fan—it’s bang in the middle of this negative pressure region, and should divert air onto hot running graphics cards. Our 8800GTX did keep its cool even during long gaming sessions. Dust filters have been provided at appropriate areas—these are easy to remove and clean. The power supply mounts at the bottom—similar to Antec’s P180.

Removing the side panels is as easy as flicking a switch. There’s a lot of space to work with inside, and the first difference is the six hard drive trays complete with handles—hard drives will now sit sideways (vertically), which restricts airflow—particularly since they’re 3 drive rails in a row.

Everything from the side panels and power supply housing, to the HDD trays and the fan mounts have silent, rubber treatment to keep the dBs down.

The Cosmos is undeniably attractive. If you want class and have money to burn, it makes a good buy. It also makes sense as housing for an overclocked, water cooled setup. As far as air cooling goes, the better-ventilated Stacker RC830 will outperform (though it costs more). The only downside we can come up with is the choice of metal—steel—which makes the Cosmos a hefty proposition at 16.9 Kg. We’re told there’s an aluminium (and costlier) version coming soon.