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.
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DanNeely - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
If noone bought these monstrosities the companies who designed them would've gone bust years ago?Perhaps the Cthulu cult is going hightech.
bigfire - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Hah, yeah. It's quiet ugly.mattgmann - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Please review some cases that an adult might actually consider purchasing. This may be the ugliest thing I've ever seen.Kepe - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/tag/casecoolingpsusLucian2244 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
This must have looked well on paper because i can't explain how a design like this was chosen.Will you review the 200R ?
piroroadkill - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
That is the ugliest case I've ever seen. It's worse than your average 90s beige tower with bulbous plastic fronts. What the hell?jabber - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
...dragons or girls holding big guns on it.Good Grud that's awful.
DanNeely - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
"the USB 3.0 header cable actually includes an alternate USB 2.0 header built into it, both convenient features."Every case maker in the world needs to copy this feature ASAP instead of copping out with 2x3.0 and 2x2.0 ports on the front that are going to become a liability in a few years when even your USB Christmas tree us designed to use 3.0.
Kiste - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
This case is ugly. In fact, it's so ugly that it's probably gonna give me nightmares. It's a horrible monstrosity and an abomination and it needs to die.Orvtrebor - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
An 8yr old would love this case.I'm not being sarcastic, throw on a healthy dose of led's and you've got a gaming case that a kid would truly be proud of.
Not every case is meant to be used in a professional office environment or a tastefully done den/gaming room.