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
Noise and Thermal Testing, Overclocked
Given that the Cougar Challenger offers excellent thermal performance at a noise level that I still consider pretty reasonable when using stock components, I'm fairly optimistic that it'll continue to acquit itself well with our overclocked testbed. Cases that focus more on dampening noise and less on ventilation tend to wind up hurting the most here, when airflow becomes much more important. I expect the Cougar's middling acoustics to seem less harsh.
Thermal performance continues to be strongly competitive, though the Challenger does slip a little bit. Its main competitor turns out to be Corsair's budget-oriented Carbide 300R. That's bad news for Cougar, because the Carbide is hanging out at roughly the same price tag with a window in place and a good $10 cheaper without.
Fan speeds are essentially competitive. The Challenger holds a negligible lead on the Carbide 300R, mostly within the margin of error.
Idle noise is among the worst we've tested, but load noise is comparatively not so bad. This is one place where the Challenger does boast a substantial lead on Corsair's Carbide 300R; load noise is a good 3dB lower for roughly the same performance.
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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.