Review: Our initial impressions weren’t great, but after looking twice we were pleasantly surprised with the construction and features of Cougar's Evolution PC case.
At first glance the Evolution doesn’t look like much. Our initial impression upon seeing the grilled front was that it drew clear inspiration from other models on the market. But then we spent more time checking out its honeycomb grill and discovered that despite our first impressions, this is in no way a cheap knockoff design.
The case itself is made from good, solid steel, wrapped in a plastic fascia. There is ample room for airflow thanks to the grilled front and top panel, which has room for two outtake fans. What is really quite neat about the fascia is the inclusion of a hot-swap SATA connector, which hides under a rubberised trapdoor in the top of the chassis. This is designed to fold down and provide a stable resting point when you connect a drive, while also protecting the fragile SATA plugs when not in use.
Cougar has also included two USB 3, two USB 2 and audio ports, as well as a fan speed control dial that can switch between two different groups of fans. It’s a surprisingly comprehensive front panel design, and we particularly like the way Cougar has implemented the fan controller.
Our initial impressions were also erased by the built quality of this case. There is no give when we try and bend it out of shape – a sign of quality construction – and the internal metal is thick and strong, with rolled edges to avoid injury. It uses a tool-less design, with plastic clips for 5.25in drives and plastic caddies for 3.5in drives.
There are only four 3.5in bays in the Evolution, plus a single adaptor for mounting a floppy or hard drive in one of the 5.25in bays. This is a relatively low number of drive bays, and while it should be enough for most users, it is worth keeping in mind if you are the type that craves more storage.
The motherboard tray is designed around easy building. There is an ample hole behind the CPU to facilitate changing heatsinks as well as strategically place holes around the edge of the motherboard. Thankfully Cougar has paired this with a slightly raised area on the side wall of the case, designed to provide a bit of extra room for cable routing – it is a nice overall touch to the case.
Like most modern cases, the PSU mounts at the bottom rear of the case, and Cougar has included a slide out filter that not only covers the PSU intake but also allows for the inclusion of a separate intake fan on the base, forward of the PSU. Airflow into this is unobstructed thanks to the plastic on the base, which lifts it a few centimetres above the ground.
Cougar’s Evolution is a perfect example of a case were initial impressions don’t count. The case has ample airflow, incredibly robust construction, plenty of building space, will fit large graphics cards and has some nifty cooling controls. The looks may well polarise, but apart from that this is a fantastic chassis for those hankering to build.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012