HardOCP News
[H] News
- Joined
- Dec 31, 1969
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- 0
The fellas over at Pro-Clockers have given the Cougar Evolution enthusiast mid-tower case the thumbs up based on price and performance. Here's a quote to get you started:
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Cougar Evolution Enthusiast Mid Tower
- Thread starter HardOCP News
- Start date
JesterOI
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2004
- Messages
- 162
That was almost my same thought, heh... cougars...
Ur_Mom
Fully [H]
- Joined
- May 15, 2006
- Messages
- 20,689
Yea, I thought it might be a hot older case making it rounds with the kiddies these days just getting into custom PC's.
my first reaction also.
Nside
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2011
- Messages
- 400
A simple mod made it a great case for me. I tapped some new screw holes for the front optional fan bracket that sits behind the lower 5.25" bays. I could then easily mount the fan and the radiator for the H60 into it, making it an intake (as suggested by corsair and many other users) while still keeping the case airflow front to back. I could also upgrade to an H80 with push/pull fans without losing any access to my motherboard, as it still wouldn't be as deep as the 5.25 bays.
Jury's still out on the fan controller as I'm waiting for a sale on some of the Cougar fans (I do like the orange blade fans, and they get great reviews) and I don't feel like loading this thing up with old fans.
I have only used the top HDD tray once, seemed to work well though. I would have liked the SATA cable to be black, or at least have the ability to use one of my own cables. Might get a black SATA extension cable
I don't like how the top i/o panel's cables drop right into the top 5.25 bay. After what seemed like forever, carefully routing and manipulating everything, I was able to slip the DVD drive into the top slot without putting too much stress on the cables.
seems like there could be more room behind the motherboard tray for any extra PSU cables, though I've rarely dealt with a sub-1kw PSU that had as many long extra cables as this TX750. The notch at the top of the CPU-backplate cutout is awesome. It allows the 4+4 cable to be run easily after the motherboard is installed.
The top-front finish matches my DVDwr drive perfectly, I guess that's the fruit from my labor trying to get that thing into the top bay. Almost makes me want to buff the logos off of the drive tray.
Could do without the giant blue "Evolution" painted on the left side. Doesn't seem to match anything else one the case. I've seen pictures without the branding, looks better IMHO.
One of the top fan brackets sits right in the way of my 4+4 CPU power input on the motherboard. Can't say it's the case's fault since the location of the 4+4 is right on the top edge of the motherboard, which doesn't seem that common. Would have been nicer if the case utilized the half inch of wasted space between the top of the metal part of the case and the plastic outer top of the case to keep the motherboard from being obstructed in any way.
Case has a lot of plastic on the top and front, and even on the bottom (In place of feet, it has rails)... None of it feels cheap though. Really good rubber down there too, the case will NOT slide easily on a solid surface even if you wanted it to.
Front audio port cable could have been a little longer considering the header location on most motherboards is at the very bottom left corner. it was still reachable, but it's pretty much a straight shot behind the motherboard tray to the closest cable-management hole.
Would have been nice if it came with an internal USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 header adapter like Corsair cases provide. I'm having trouble finding an aftermarket version of one of these.
The case came with little rubber cone-shaped pieces with adhesive on the bottom. Couldn't figure out what they were for until I built another PC with this same case, and realized it was for the mini-ATX boards that don't use the far right standoffs, you can put them under the edge of the board to help support it. The case also had a screw-less standoff pin installed in the center of the motherboard, that helps when installing the board, you can just push it onto the pin and it will hold the board while you put the screws in the other holes. It's nice that you don't have to keep pressure on the board toward the I/O plate with ones hand while fumbling with screws with the other.
Jury's still out on the fan controller as I'm waiting for a sale on some of the Cougar fans (I do like the orange blade fans, and they get great reviews) and I don't feel like loading this thing up with old fans.
I have only used the top HDD tray once, seemed to work well though. I would have liked the SATA cable to be black, or at least have the ability to use one of my own cables. Might get a black SATA extension cable
I don't like how the top i/o panel's cables drop right into the top 5.25 bay. After what seemed like forever, carefully routing and manipulating everything, I was able to slip the DVD drive into the top slot without putting too much stress on the cables.
seems like there could be more room behind the motherboard tray for any extra PSU cables, though I've rarely dealt with a sub-1kw PSU that had as many long extra cables as this TX750. The notch at the top of the CPU-backplate cutout is awesome. It allows the 4+4 cable to be run easily after the motherboard is installed.
The top-front finish matches my DVDwr drive perfectly, I guess that's the fruit from my labor trying to get that thing into the top bay. Almost makes me want to buff the logos off of the drive tray.
Could do without the giant blue "Evolution" painted on the left side. Doesn't seem to match anything else one the case. I've seen pictures without the branding, looks better IMHO.
One of the top fan brackets sits right in the way of my 4+4 CPU power input on the motherboard. Can't say it's the case's fault since the location of the 4+4 is right on the top edge of the motherboard, which doesn't seem that common. Would have been nicer if the case utilized the half inch of wasted space between the top of the metal part of the case and the plastic outer top of the case to keep the motherboard from being obstructed in any way.
Case has a lot of plastic on the top and front, and even on the bottom (In place of feet, it has rails)... None of it feels cheap though. Really good rubber down there too, the case will NOT slide easily on a solid surface even if you wanted it to.
Front audio port cable could have been a little longer considering the header location on most motherboards is at the very bottom left corner. it was still reachable, but it's pretty much a straight shot behind the motherboard tray to the closest cable-management hole.
Would have been nice if it came with an internal USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 header adapter like Corsair cases provide. I'm having trouble finding an aftermarket version of one of these.
The case came with little rubber cone-shaped pieces with adhesive on the bottom. Couldn't figure out what they were for until I built another PC with this same case, and realized it was for the mini-ATX boards that don't use the far right standoffs, you can put them under the edge of the board to help support it. The case also had a screw-less standoff pin installed in the center of the motherboard, that helps when installing the board, you can just push it onto the pin and it will hold the board while you put the screws in the other holes. It's nice that you don't have to keep pressure on the board toward the I/O plate with ones hand while fumbling with screws with the other.