Cougar MX500 ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Chassis Review




/ 10 years ago

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Introduction


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It has been over nine months since we last saw a Cougar chassis in the eTeknix office, the last one we took a look at was the very unique Cougar Spike Mini. Nine months is too long, so we’ve got our hands on something new from Cougar, the gaming focused mid-tower in the form of the new MX-500 which is packed full of features that make it a great choice for those looking for a mid-budget chassis, we can’t wait to pick it apart and see what it has to offer.

Cougar has a solid reputation when it comes to affordable, feature packed products and while they may not be the first name that springs to mind when building a system (at least not here in the UK), they’ve proven before that they have a lot to offer with their chassis products and power supplies. The PC component market is far from short of great chassis in this price range, but as a consumer it certainly doesn’t hurt to have plenty of choice. Often manufacturers try to implement something unique, be that a feature or a certain design that makes it stand out from the crowd, I’m hoping Cougar have done something similar with the MX500.

As you can see from the specifications below the case will hold micro-ATX and ATX motherboards, which obviously allows room for up to 7 expansion slots. There is room for plenty of storage thanks to 7 x 3.5″ drive bays, and there are two pre-installed 120mm fans that add further value for money from the $75 / £50 retail price.

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The packaging is pretty straight forward, with a black and white photo of the chassis on the front and the full specifications (see above).

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Around the back we have a detailed list of each of the major components, as well as a break down of GPU size compatibility.

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Included in the box is a simple installation guide, screws, rubber grommets for the rear cable routing holes, a magnetic side panel dust filter and three 2.5″ drive trays.

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Exterior


The left side panel features a 120mm / 140mm optional fan mount. As you can see it’s turned 45-degrees and is at the moment just a big hole in the side panel.

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The magnetic dust filter that was included in the box just snaps into place and can be easily removed for maintenance.

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The right side panel is just a flat panel, no special features other than a pair of thumb screws at the back to hold it in place.

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There is plenty going on with the front panel, a lot of plastics overall, but nicely finished non the less. There are three clip-in covers for the 5.25″ drive bays at the top and there is a large air-intake section at the bottom with a screw in washable dust filter.

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Alone the top you’ll find a funky mesh panel which features an internal filter, it’s not quite a dust filter as the top is often used for exhaust, not intake. However it will prevent larger debris falling through into your chassis.

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The front panel features a rubber section that is great for holding flash drives and any other little bits and pieces people often leave on top of their chassis (I know I’m guilty of dumping stuff there). The IO panel features dual USB 3.0, dual USB 2.0, HD audio connections, reset and of course the power switch.

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Around the back there is a pre-installed 120mm exhaust fan, some extra water/cable routing holes with push-out metal caps (rubber grommets included in box),  7 ventilated and reusable expansion slot covers and a bottom mounted PSU cut-out.

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On the underside there are four large rubber feet and a huge magnetic dust filter.

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The filter can be popped off with ease, allowing quick and easy maintenance of the PSU intake and the bottom 120/140mm fan mount.

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Interior


The interior has been given the same powder black paint job as the exterior and this gives a nice uniform look to the chassis. As you can see, the motherboard stand-offs are built-in, allowing for quick an easy motherboard installation, which a huge CPU cooler mounting cut-out and a few cable routing cut-outs should make installing the rest of your components a breeze.

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There’s plenty of ventilation in the bottom for the PSU and dependant on the size of your PSU, you could also install a 120mm or 140mm fan or radiator in the base.

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Up top there is room for 2 x 120mm / 2 x 240mm / 1 x 180mm / 1 x 200mm fans, certainly no shortage of choices. Unfortunately there doesn’t look to be enough clearance for a radiator here.

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There is a high quality 120mm fan in the back which comes fitted with a standard 3-pin header. Below the fan there are seven expansion slots, each fitted with a ventilated cover and held in place with thumb screws for easy access.

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Each of the 5.25″ drive bays is fitted with a simple to use quick-release mechanism, allowing for tool free installation and removal of your drives. Below that there are two hard drive bays, the top half holds 3 x 3.5″ and 2.5″ compatible trays, although the left wall of this bay can be moved over to make it native 2.5″ when combined with the three hard drive trays that were included in the box. The bottom hard drive bays features four more 3.5″ and 2.5″ compatible trays.

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Each tray is made of plastic and features pegs to allow tool free installation of 3.5″ drives, but you will have to use the included screws to mount 2.5″ drives such as SSD’s.

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Around the back there is plenty of room for cable routing, just a shame there are not more cable tie loops to help keep things neat and tidy.

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Tidy or not, 20mm of clearance is a lot of space for a chassis of this size, so stuffing excess cables behind the motherboard shouldn’t be much of an issue.

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In the front you’ll find the other pre-installed fan, a high quality 140mm fan with orange blades. There is room in the front panel for 2 x 120mm or 140mm fans.

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Complete System


The MX500 was a joy to work with and while there are a few little tweaks that I would like, I’ve really nothing to major to complain about. Total build time was just 25 minutes, and the speed is thanks to the more than ample cable routing space behind the motherboard, which helped keep the build looking clean despite the lack of rubber grommets. Cable management is nice, but of course this chassis has no side panel windows, so cable routing is just for improving airflow rather than aesthetics.

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The hard drive bays are easy to work with and allow for quick installation and removal of your drives.

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The tidy cable management has left airflow nice and clear, giving plenty of room for our Corsair H80i and GTX 560Ti to breath. We would have loved to have a 240mm radiator in the top, but unfortunately there just wasn’t enough clearance.

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120mm radiator in the back is hardly a bad thing and is more than enough cooling power for most mid to high-end gaming system, there is also a lot of room for tall tower air coolers.

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Our GTX 560Ti fit’s easily and while we could have moved the middle hard drive bay out completely to make a LOT more room, there really was no need, although it’s always nice to know you can make room for monster cards such as the 7990 and GTX Titan.

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All panels back in place and the Cougar looks simply stunning, there are a few areas such as the top panel where you can faintly see your components, but overall the case is sealed up nicely and all intakes a filtered, which is always a welcome bonus.

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Final Thoughts


Price

The MX500 is available in the US for around $75 from Newegg, so it easily falls into the low to mid budget end of the market. Given its wide range of features, component support and overall quality that we’ve seen here today, it is without a doubt a solid investment. I struggled to find any UK retailers with stock, but you can expect prices in the region of £45-55, which is again an absolute bargain.

Overview

The MX500 has exceeded my expectations in terms of quality and features. Given that there are already a lot of great options in this price bracket from the likes of Cooler Master, Corsair and many others it can be hard to choose the right chassis for your build and I know a lot people may not go towards Cougar as their first choice, but you would be foolish to not at least consider the MX500 as an option.

The case features lots of little treats that improve the overall value of your purchase, the biggest of which has to be air filters. With a washable air filter on the front panel that can be easily accessed via the front panel thumb screws, then another large washable magnetic dust filter on the bottom, another magnetic filter on the side panel fan mount and a clip-on debris filter on the top panel you can rest assured that Cougar have taken every step to keep your system clean and tidy on the interior, and your components dust free.

On top of a comprehensive set of filters you can also enjoy the front 140mm intake fan and the exhaust 120mm fan which have been pre-installed. Both are high quality, high performance fans and more than enough for any low to mid range system build. Those looking for a higher end system are more likely to invest in some after market fans to take full advantage of the multitude of fan mounting points that the MX500 has to offer.

Modular storage is always big win for a gaming chassis, being able to move the top bays over and convert them to native 2.5″ trays is nice and this also frees up extra room for long GPUs. If you really need to you can completely remove the upper hard drive bays for very long graphics cards or to help improve airflow from any front mounted fans.

Radiator mounting space is quite limited, but at this price range it’s perfectly acceptable and the collection of dust filters and pre-installed fans goes a long way to creating a robust air-cooled system.

Overall design isn’t too exciting, but it’s hardly dull either and provides clean looks, rock solid build quality and offers a pretty sensible set of style features that will appeal to a wide audience. Combine all this with the price and you’ve got a very good value for money product on your hands, which is why I’m happy to award it with our eTeknix Bang for Buck Award.

Pros

  • Modular storage bays
  • Comprehensive collection of washable dust filters
  • 140mm and 120mm fan pre-installed
  • Lots of cable routing space behind motherboard
  • Huge CPU-cooler mounting cut out
  • Competitively priced

Cons

  • Lots of fan mounts on top panel, but not room for 240mm radiators.

“Cougar have shown us in the past that they can make a product worthy of the cash in our wallets and the MX500 continues that trend in style. It may not be the greatest chassis ever made, but in this price range it’s a very strong contender and certainly worth your consideration.”

Bang-For-Buck

Cougar MX500 ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Chassis Review

Thank you Cougar for providing us with this information.

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