Cougar MX500 Mid Tower Case Review

Today we are going to take a look at the latest case from Cougar, the MX500. This particular model has been designed for those users looking for a well featured case that is still affordable. We look forward to examining the extent to which this is true and if it truly represents good value for money. Cougar specifically target their range of products towards gamers, particularly those who are operating with limited budgets. We have looked at a number of Cougar cases in the past and have been generally impressed with the features they offer for the money. The last case we looked at from Cougar was the Challenger which we reviewed over here. We scored this down for the lack of cable management offers and the rather unusual design. It will be interesting to see if Cougar have improved these aspects with the MX500. Features Sleek modernistic look with hair-lined surface front panel design Superior capacity for longer high-end graphics cards up to 300mm, 330mm & 410mm. (depending on varies graphics cards requirement to change position with HDD bracket) Best ventilation solution and support for 7 fans Lots of room for cable feedthrough on the MB tray for easy routing and hiding cables, and provide a better airflow and neatness of system building Advanced dual USB3.0 for maximum data transfer speed 7 PCI slots provide flexibility for multiple graphics cards solutions Screw-less mechanisms on 5.25’’devices 3.5’’HDD trays x 7 (compatible for installing 2.5’’HDDs/SSDs x 7) Provide 2.5’’HDD trays x 3 (depending on the graphics cards length) Installation opening in the MB tray for easy upgrade CPU cooler Vented slot bezels for better cooling performance Removable air filters on the bottom cover & side cover to prevent dust from entering the enclosure. (Magnet filters are easy to remove and clean) High quality and game-style interior black coating The MX500 is supplied in a standard case box which features a black and brown livery. The front of the box features a large image of the case alongside some basic information. Flipping the box around reveals further details about the case alongside more images. Inside the box, the case is sandwiched between two slabs of polystyrene for protection. Inside the box, the accessory bundle consists of all the items we would usually expect to find with a case at this price point. This includes some 2.5” drive bays, and all of the screws required for installation. It is clear that Cougar have chosen to adopt a much more understated approach to the aesthetic design of the MX500 to the Challenger that we reviewed previously. It is painted entirely in black and has quite an attractive visage, especially when compared to the Challenger. In terms of build quality, the MX500 cannot really be faulted. The construction of the case is comprised of SECC steel and plastic which is what we would expect at this price point. It feels sturdier than most competing cases too. The front panel connections are located on the top of the case at the front. From left to right we find two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports and headphone and microphone jacks. To the right of these we find the power and reset buttons. Moving down the front panel of the case we find three external 5.25” bays, an external 3.5” bay and a large fan vent. Cougar pre-install a 140 mm intake fan behind this grille, however there is room for up to two 120 mm or 140 mm fans to be installed. There is also a large vent in the top panel of the case which can also support dual 120 mm or 140 mm fans, or even a 180 mm or 200 mm fan. This location would be the ideal position for the radiator of an all-in-one water cooling unit like the Corsair H100i. The rear of the case has a fairly standard layout, featuring a 120 mm exhaust fan vent, seven expansion slots and power supply mounting points at the bottom. Cougar include a 120 mm exhaust fan with the case. Removing the side panel of the case reveals the entirely black-painted interior. This will complement most component choices aesthetically and is generally the preferred finish amongst enthusiasts. There is plenty of room to work with inside the case, making the installation process fairly simple. The internal layout is fairly standard, with an array of seven drive bays on the right below the three 5.25” external drive bays. There are a number of cable routing holes cut into the motherboard tray which should let you achieve a tidy build in this case if you’re willing to put in the work. We also find a generous amount of room behind the motherboard tray for cable routing, which makes the process of achieving a tidy build even easier. Installing our Asus P9X79 motherboard into the case was fairly simple as there are no stand-offs required. We found it a little difficult to figure out which screws were which, though, as they are all supplied in the same bag. Cougar have thoughtfully cut a substantial hole into the motherboard tray to facilitate the installation of CPU coolers. This is ideal for those who plan to change their CPU cooler at a later date. There is plenty of room in the case for long power supplies. Our Seasonic Platinum 1000W is longer than most and we had no issues installing it or routing the cables through the pre-cut holes. Cougar have gone down the same path as the majority of manufacturers concerning the drive bays. There are seven hard drive caddies included which support both 2.5” and 3.5” drives, giving you the flexibility to choose what configuration you would like. The top three bays can be removed to allow extra room for long graphics card or to improve airflow if desired. We experienced no issues when installing our AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card into the case. This is a similar length to most current high-end graphics cards so it is unlikely that many users will experience difficulties. For our tests we will be using a Noctua NH-U14S to cool the Intel Core i7-3930K CPU in the Cougar MX500. Our test system also features an AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card. We manually overclocked the i7-3930K to 4.3 GHz by increasing the multiplier to 43x, leaving the baseclock set at 100 MHz. The voltage was increased to 1.35V to achieve this frequency. Test System: Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K Motherboard: Asus P9X79 Cooler: Phanteks Noctua NH-U14S Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2. Memory: 16GB (4x 4GB) Mushkin Blackline 1600 MHz Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7950. Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W System Drive: Intel SSD 330 Series 120 GB Monitor: Viewsonic VX2260WM. Software: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit). CPUID Hardware Monitor. Prime95 64-bit. Furmark V1.10.6 To test the thermal performance of the Cougar MX500 we loaded our test system for 15 minutes using Prime95 and Furmark and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor. We then restarted the system and left it for 15 minutes before recording idle temperatures. Room temperature was maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of our tests. These temperatures are certainly acceptable but they aren't as good as some other cases we've seen in the past. To conduct our noise level tests, we replaced the graphics card in our system with a AMD Radeon HD 5550 Silence which was passively cooled. We also momentarily disconnected the fans on the CPU cooler so we were only taking into account the noise generated by the fans in the case. The acoustic performance of this case is quite good. It wouldn't be classed as silent, but the noise levels are never that intrusive. This particular segment of the market has become especially competitive in recent years following the release of a number of excellent models from the likes of Bitfenix and NZXT. However, we still feel that the Cougar MX500 Mid Tower case is an excellent option for those who are in the market for a well-featured case on a budget. It is clear that Cougar have adopted a much more restrained approach when designing the appearance of the MX500 compared to the Challenger that we reviewed back in 2012. It can be considered a positive move that Cougar has chosen to adopt this approach as the MX500 is much more desirable than the Challenger. The feature set of the MX500 is impressive considering the price point. There are seven drive bays in total, as well as room for all the high-end components that you could possibly want to install inside. The cooling and acoustic performance of the case didn’t blow us away but we can’t expect high-performance cooling at this price point. The included fans will provide ample airflow for the majority of users, as we doubt the target customer of this case will be seeking crazy overclocks. The Cougar MX500 is listed for USD 65 on Newegg which translates into a price of around £50 in the UK. We feel that this is a great price considering the features on offer and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the MX500 to anyone looking to buy a case without spending a fortune. Discuss the review on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros Minimalistic design. Solid build quality. Great value for money. Cons Cooling performance could be better. Not yet available in the UK. KitGuru says: An excellent option for those looking for a well-featured case on a budget.

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Cougar MX500 Mid Tower Case Review

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