Cougar Challenger Case Review: Is Competitive Performance Enough?
by Dustin Sklavos on October 29, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Cougar
- ATX
Testing Methodology
For testing Micro-ATX and full ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-2700K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| Accessories | Corsair Link |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 750W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and if the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Gigabyte for providing us with the GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Corsair for providing us with the Corsair Link kit.
- Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with the Hyper 212 Evo heatsink and fan unit.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
40 Comments
View All Comments
geniekid - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
If they were targeting the younger market, they should have at least been consistent. The front and the main body look like they're from two different cases. They should've at least made gratuitous use of non-right angles, plastic, and jagged edges on the main body if they were selling this to young children building their own rigs.Geraldo8022 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I like the looks of it and I might buy one. After all I almost bought a Pontiac Aztek.piroroadkill - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Don't knock the Aztek! The ideal vehicle for the budding meth cook..just4U - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Perhaps it's time to start sharing with these companies what are views are on a perfect case.For me I'd like something smaller along the lines of Silverstone's Temjin TJ08 but with a window to show off the build. Must have dust filters.. a removable motherboard tray would be nice (like the older lian-li's) Antec's usage (and coolermaster's) hard drive mounting system) generous space behind the motherboard for hiding wires.. Looks wise? should be more refined and tastefull. I like lighted fans but their something I prefer to put in myself if the build warrants it.
Hits in the past for me were:
Lianli PC60A
Antec Super lanBoy (original not those horrors they released last year)
Antec Sonata 1/2/3 (no .. it wasn't silent)
CoolerMaster Storm Scout
Corsair Carbite 600T
just4U - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
oh btw.. it doesn't have to have alot of fans.. front back top make them easily accessable to.piroroadkill - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
So get a Fractal Design Define R4 with the windowed side panel. Done.piroroadkill - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Here, even did the work to find it on newegg for you.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
just4U - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
lol.. there was no need. I am aware of Fractal Design's cases. We just started getting them here. The R4 is a nice case and priced fairly well but it has the door which is a star off in my opinion. I do however like their mini. It's very much on par with the Temjin from Silverstone. Both lack windows and while the silverstone does have a removable mb tray it's not really up to what some might be used to with older Lian-Li designs.eBob - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I can only come up with one word for my reaction to this case. I didn't even bother to read the rest of the review. I can't see anyone over the age of 14 wanting this.Telset - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Seriously are these the same people that made the cool cougar evolution case?I have the cougar evolution its awesome. But this is kinda ugly but probably looks better with 2 fans on the top to make it more uniform.