Before we continue with the review a paragraph form the Cougar website about the Company itself:

COUGAR was started in Germany in 2007 by a group of computer peripherals engineers who wanted to design with passion. We established a professional team, adhered to the design philosophy of technology centered on human use and esthetic perfection. These combinations lead to products that met the global demand for high-end professional gamers. COUGAR’s field testing of the chassis and power supplies constantly went beyond normal development to bring about a diversified line of gaming computer peripherals products and continues to this day. This enthusiasm and innovative spirit is a continuing source of vitality for COUGAR.
  
We firmly believe that to give gamers the highest quality and ultimately, beautiful products, a company needs to be in the forefront of technology. To that end, COUGAR has a group of world-class engineers and an innovative R&D team that works with enthusiasm, and who have a deep understanding of market and technological development trends. COUGAR also works with cutting-edge technology partners to develop and design extraordinary products with strict quality control in order to meet the global demand for high-end professional gamers.

COUGAR keeps up with the changing speed of innovation by remaining at the forefront of technological development with partners throughout the world including North America, South America, Australia, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and other places. And COUGAR aims to be the top eSports gaming brand in the world.

Brand philosophy
Passion X Innovation

With utmost passion COUGAR is keen to provide most innovative solutions that 100% meet customer needs. Thinking differently and adopting new trends while constantly focusing on functionality and user-oriented product improvements, that is our foremost corporate culture. COUGAR is always striving to satisfy demanding gamers with innovative and technological leadership.

Facebook: facebook.com/cougarworld/

Youtube: youtube.com/user/cougarglobal/

Back to the MX300 now:

The Cougar MX300 is a black mid-tower gaming case retailing at a very low price of 52 dollars. This is in the league of many OEM products, however does affordable also reflect in the included features and build quality ?

The MX300 gaming case features a rugged front panel with a honey comb mesh pattern. The side panel features a small window and room for up to two 120mm fans; aesthetically-wise the front of the MX300 case is a jawbreaker, very slick design there.

After removing the side panel we get a glimpse on the interior. Large cutouts are foreseen near the CPU socket and numerous small ones for easy cable routing. Even though the MX300 is a mid-tower there is still the possibility to install up to 3 2.5" SSD/HDDs and up to three 3.5" storage devices, more than plenty in combination with up to three 5 1/2" optical drive bays. No modular or rotatable HDD cages to be found here, simple and cost effective solutions are the key words here.

With the case totally stripped of the easy detachable front and top parts one can enjoy the simplistic design of the Cougar MX300 mid-tower gaming case.

As listed before the storage capacity is amongst the competitors offerings with up to 3 2.5" drives and another three 3 1/2 inch HDD platters. The drive trays of the latter are of a screw-less design: just gently pull them open, insert the HDD. Close the bay and the HDD is securely kept into position.

The optical drives also feature a tool-less design via a solid plastic mounting mechanism. Just turn the knob, insert the drive end then secure it. No screwdriver intervention required, however for the 2.5'' or SSD drive bays one requires to secure the drive by using screws.

Cooling wise the Cougar MX300 is a bit under-equipped out of the box with just one single 120mm fan serving as an exhaust fan. However this case has got big upgrade potential as up to 7 fans can be installed in total for maximum airflow. The addition of a second fan would have increased the retail price, though how big is the influence on the thermal performance to opt for this single fan setup.

• Front: 2 optional 120mm fans can be installed
• Side: 2 optional 120mm fans can be installed
• Top: 2 optional 120mm fans can be installed

Cooling is nice, though besides heat another factor to keep your hardware running in optimal condition are dust filters. Don't let the low retail street price fool you, the Cougar MX300 is equipped with a front, top and bottom dust filters.

The top filter is secured via magnetic strips, even though this solution is nowhere as nicely executed as with e.g. the Corsair cases, it however does the job perfectly.

The front panel features an integrated thin foam dust filter, a double backup as there's another removable plastic dust filter clipped onto the chassis itself.

The airflow is not limited at all as alike the Bitfenix Ronin case we reviewed before; nevertheless the perforated HDD cages limit the direct airflow onto the motherboard and/or graphics card.

Temperature wise this Cougar MX300 is not a stellar performer out of the box. The inclusion of an extra fan would have added up to the price, but increased the air flow big time; it would have made MX300 a lot more competitive towards rivaling offers. Luckily the MX300 has room for an additional 6 extra 120mm fans. Nevertheless we only opt to include the temperature results in an out of the box configuration.

Keep in mind these are still safe temperatures, though over 10°C difference in temperature over the Fractal R2 MINI case is something to think about before rushing out and buying this enclosure. Okay the ARC MINI costs about 38 euros more, yet includes out of the box 3 case fans which can be hooked up to the included fan controller. To be honest in the standard configuration this MX300 is not an ideal partner for your beloved gaming hardware; heat remaining trapped inside the case can lead more rapidly to instability issues or in worst case scenario even to more rapid hardware failure. A hardcore gamer will make the compromise between noise and cooling performance, usually in favor of the latter.

Noise wise, mainly thanks due to the inclusion of only one single cooler, the generated noise remains sub 33dBA. A value comparable with the noise in a normal living room.

Wrap up time...

The Cougar MX300 mid-tower gaming case is a stunning looking case; the honeycomb touches to the front panel and meshed grills really give it that professional yet aggressive look. Even though it is a midi-tower sized enclosure the internal design allows support for graphics cards up to 310mm in length. Even installing our high end Corsair AX1200i power supply proved no challenge for the Cougar MX300.

Cooling wise the MX300 shows a lot of potential; being upgradable with a total of 7 120mm fans leaves at first glance no room for any options. Sadly, probably to keep the price at a bare minimum, the Cougar team only equipped the MX300 with one rear 120 fan; this lead to below average performance in the out of the box configuration. Secondly this gaming oriented case only supports 120 AIOs; too bad as the 240 models are really popular and perform at a far better cooling versus noise ratio. It is all about adding an inch here and there that would make this case the ultimate bang for the buck gaming enclosure.

The cable management possibilities are also pretty limited due to the limited space between the motherboard tray and the side panel. The multiple thick cables from the Corsair AX1200i  could not be properly fitted so they had to remain in the front compartment of the case. The same remark as for the cooling paragraph, adding even just half an inch would allow for far easier hardware installation. The absence of a top hole to route the 8 pin power plug through is also a missed opportunity by the Cougar team.

Nevertheless we have to keep things in perspective here: this MX300 mid-tower case is retailing at sometimes half of the price of competitor's offerings. The latter might have a better standard cooling configuration and better designed cable management possibilities. The Cougar MX300 is for the price a solid offering with great cooling upgrade potential. Sporting an attractive honeycomb and mesh design is one of the main highlights of this case besides its super low end price tag. The hardware compatibility is more than plenty for a case of this caliber, yet we can't repeat it enough that it would have been nice to see the addition of a second fan to enhance the airflow. Please swap the pointless misplaced window for a 120 fan! The build quality is okay but an inch here and there would have made this case even more versatile and a bit more easy to work in.

For the price the Cougar MX300 is a steal, good looking and more than plenty for the average gaming enthusiast. Those that feel the urge for maximum cooling performance better look for cases carrying a totally different price tag. MadShrimps awards the Cougar MX300 the Value award as the affordable price tag flips over the scale.

PROS:

• Low price tag
• Great design
• GPU support up to 310mm
• Cooling upgrade ability

CONS:

• Limited cable management possibility
• Only one fan included
• No AIO 240 support
• Misplaced window

We wish to thank Venessa from Cougar for the MX300 sample

Bernice from Gigabyte for the Z97X SOC Force motherboard

Harry from Corsair for the Vengeance Pro kit and the Hydro H80i cooler

Tones for providing the Intel i7-4770K processor