Installation

Because this tower can use up to E-ATX motherboards, Cooler Master decided to not have any preinstalled standoffs.  Instead there is a paper taped in the back panel, with a letter by each standoff hole.  The left picture shows the chart, telling you the standard standoffs used for each motherboard type.  This made it very easy to throw in the standoffs needed, with no extra bumps to subtract from the style.  This wide view also shows all the holes to pass cables in the back panel.

Here are the included accessories.  They don't want you to be short on anything you need for this install! Here is the list:

• 20x Cable Ties
• 17x Standoffs
• 35x #6-32 Screws
• 35x M3 Screws
• 1x 8-pin Power Extension (This would have looked better with a mesh or shrink wrap)
• 8x Cable Tidy (Large zip ties with an adhesive side.  These are for power cables)
• 1x Set of Brackets for 3.5" Drive Installation
• 1x Buzzer to be a Motherboard Speaker
• 2x 3-pin Fan to Molex Adapters.

To install drives, you must first remove the faceplates.  On the Cosmos S this is extremely easy.  The front sides pull aside (see earlier picture), and you press in on a clip.  That's it, nothing more!  When you take out the bottom three, you can slide out the hard drive cage.  The hard drive cage stores four 3.5" hard drives in the space of three 5.25" bays.  Mounted to the front of it there is a 120mm red led fan to blow fresh air across the hard drives and into the tower.

These are the side panels that hold the hard drive cage in place, so the tool free clip can engage.  Setting them aside you can see the blue rubber mounts, Which helps to absorb any vibration from the drives. You can also see where the screws go in, holding the drives into the cage. 

Once back in place, the cage sits at the bottom of the tower.  This is a common, but convenient place since most SATA headers are at the bottom of the motherboard, and it places it closer to the power supply.  The right shot shows the seven expansion covers.  They are all held securely in place by thumb screws.  I know a lot of towers are going with tool free bays, but I personally like my cards screwed down.  The included thumb screws are a nice benefit, giving me the security I want, and the convenience we all like!

Looking at the installed power supply, you can see the extra holes; showing that once again the Cosmos S is made to handle anything you throw at it.  Not all power supplies follow the standard screw pattern, especially as the size increases, but that won't be an issue here.  Looking in the back panel post install, I don't even have to bother straightening the cables.  They are all inside the large cavity behind the motherboard and drives.  There is a ton of room back here, easily containing whatever cables you can push back here.  Also note that the 8-pin extension came in handy to get around the back, up and over, and around to the motherboard.

Cavernous is the only way to describe this space.  I have a decent size power supply, but there is still plenty of room to have a longer one.  Don't mind the stock cooler, it will be replaced by the Cooler Master V10 shortly, and there will still be room to spare.  For a quick throw together the cables stay plenty out of the way, and with a bit of time you could make them disappear entirely.  Considering that this tower takes up to an E-ATX motherboard, long graphics cards are of no concern.  There is plenty of space between my 8800GTS and the drives. Oh wait, that is six inches!  Again, the 24-pin and 8-pin extensions should have been mesh or shrink wrapped to improve the appearance, and I probably will do that soon.  I wouldn't use the 24-pin at all, but it has the leads for the power button and the IO LED's, both of which are really nice.

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Posted by Chad Feb 24, 2009 Last Updated: Mar 01, 2009