Cougar Panzer Review 7

Cougar Panzer Review

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Value & Conclusion

  • The Cougar Panzer goes for 90 euros incl. taxes or 90 US dollars excl. taxes.
  • Excellent looks
  • Solid build quality
  • Excellent cable-management possibilities
  • Great liquid-cooling compatibility
  • Loads of space for thick radiators in the front
  • Can hold four 2.5" drives (six if you use the 3.5% plates as well)
  • Well-fitting glass side panels
  • Magnetic dust filter in the front
  • Mixed set of I/O
  • Cool white LED-illuminated strip in the front
  • Only one generic fan included
  • Only two 3.5" drives will fit
  • Quite the simple interior - no mounting holes for reservoirs or pumps
  • Stickers on glass panels annoying
  • Dust filter on underside a bit simple
The Cougar Panzer manages to pull off the same intricate and menacing look as its bigger brother, the Panzer Max. The exterior frame and wavy metal mesh cover offer a level of detail that is usually sorely missed with cases of this price point. Add the fact that none of the plastic or mesh parts feel cheap and throw in the glass side panels and you have a case that makes an incredibly solid and above-average impression when it comes to build quality.

On the interior, things are just as solid, but in stark contrast with the exterior as things are quite simple here. There are no drive bays, not even ones for hard drives. Instead, Cougar has chosen to utilize plates behind the motherboard tray and the shroud to allow you to add storage units to the chassis, with a total of six such placement possibilities. While this is a very solid number, some may find the limit of two 3.5" drives to be an issue.

Besides that, the Panzer scores with the solid metal shroud, extremely clean look after assembly due to the offset motherboard, and hard drive plates. If there is one aspect that can be improved, it would be the addition of mounting holes for pumps or reservoirs so that users can really take advantage of all the liquid-cooling possibilities within the Cougar Panzer.

Overall, at the sub-$100 price point, the Cougar Panzer delivers great quality, excellent looks, a functional albeit simple interior, great cable management, and glass side panels. And, while some may not like the fact that only one fan is included, Cougar also offers the Panzer-S, which adds three LED-equipped 120 mm units to the front of the chassis right out of the box.

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Apr 25th, 2024 16:30 EDT change timezone

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