Cougar Evolution Mid-Tower PC Chassis Review

So how does the Cougar Evolution hold up? its a tricky one for me to judge, given that the chassis comes fitted with some very interesting features, especially on the I/O panel, with its unique fan controller system and competent device support, really high overall build quality throughout and robust fan installation options, but even with all that I can’t shake the fact that I simply don’t like the chassis. Of course this is my personal opinion, but that is after all the purpose of this review, so maybe I’ll explain a little more what I don’t like about this chassis and we’ll move forward from there.

The most apparent thing to me is the paint job and choice of plastics used in the design, both of which have a high gloss finish to them, even the black paint seems to have a “plastic” look to it, which doesn’t help much when you realise this chassis generates a lot of static and attracts a lot of dust, which made it difficult to keep clean throughout my build process given the chassis angular design. Some people may love this finish of course, but I’m not one for paint that manages to be both matte and glossy at the same time. I’m not overly keen on the Evolution logo on the side panel either, on a premium priced chassis such as this, it feels like a tacky extra and at best should have been included as an optional vinyl sticker.

The cable management wasn’t as robust as I was hoping, it’s better than having no cable management of course, but when you have a crystal clear side window to contend with it means you’re going to have to take a little extra care matching your cable colour or using cable covers if you want to keep a clean look to your build, around the back of the motherboard plate wasn’t pretty either, even with the rear cutaway on the reverse side panel, I had quite a challenge making everything fit.

Cosmetics out of the way, I can’t argue with the performance of this chassis, its rock solid and rattle free build doesn’t disappoint, the overall shape of the chassis looks fantastic and I really like the full length ventilated front panel too. It also handles cooling very well and with the addition of the fan controller helping you opt between maximum cooling or minimum noise it really is a versatile little brute.

So while it may have just missed out on one of our eTeknix awards, I don’t want to give the indication that this is a bad chassis, because it’s really not. If you’re looking for a chassis with tough build quality that can handle a great amount of air cooling, or a 120mm closed loop water cooling rig like ours and the style is to your liking then this is a solid purchase, but when the price tag seems to hover around £100 I can’t help but think you can get more for your money.