INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The fact that most PC Cases that arrive here for review purposes are designed and manufactured by the top and most well-known manufacturers in the market usually results in a very nice balance between quality and features, not to mention design. Every now and then however we do receive something special in both terms of quality and features (design too) manufactured by a not so well known company in the field and i believe that is quite more interesting since new companies lack not only the required experience but also the resources needed for such a project. So on our test bench today we have a product by such a company and more specifically the Evolution Full Tower by Cougar.

 

   COUGAR products are designed by COUGAR GERMANY, a professional R&D engineering team and COUGAR is part of the “HEC/COMPUCASE” Group. The unique combination of the world-famous German skills of designing the best products worldwide and HEC/s power and long-time experience to produce the best high quality products created innovative masterpieces in PSU history. The PC upgrading and DIY market is changing rapidly and is growing more and more. Professional user are asking for more than only stable and silent PSU/s, they want efficient and energy saving products without compromises in quality. COUGAR GERMANY created such products! COUGAR GERMANY combines the features of innovation and evolution to create efficient, powerful and unique products like “COUGAR POWER”. The purpose of COUGAR GERMANY is the satisfaction of the customer, reaching it by creating most valuable, advanced products. COUGAR – YOUR POWER!

 

   Cougar falls right in the middle of the two manufacturer categories i mentioned earlier since they may be rather new in the market and they may lack experience surrounding the design and manufacture of PC Cases but they don't lack the resources which is partially why their Evolution line of towers although their first attempt in the field is rather impressive. One thing you need to take notice of is that the Evolution Full Tower we have here with us today is referred to as the Evolution midi tower on the package so a product renaming probably occurred after the sampled arrived here, however i need to mention it in order to avoid possible confusion (even i learned of this change just recently). Still that’s not what really matters in the end so let's take a closer look and see just what it has to offer.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Evolution Full Tower arrived inside a plain cardboard box with a large image of the unit at the front right next to the Cougar logo.

 

 

Another product image along with a few words about it by Cougar can be seen at the left side.

 

 

 

A table with the features of the unit and several images right beneath it used to showcase them is what we see at the rear of the box.

 

 

The Evolution Full Tower is safely secured inside a cloth bag and two thick Styrofoam spacers.

 

 

The bundle consists of the typical user’s manual, two single to 3 way fan adapters, several cable ties, two rubber rings for the rear water cooling grommets and all the necessary screws required for hardware installation.

 

 

 

 

THE EVOLUTION FULL TOWER EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Evolution Full Tower features top build quality and a mild aggressive design which also looks quite elegant at the same time.

 

 

A large Plexiglas window is present at the left side panel right next to a fan spot and above the Evolution logo.

 

 

The empty fan spot can accommodate a single 140mm intake fan and also features an air filter.

 

 

Many PC Cases lately come with meshed front covers and the Evolution Full Tower is one of them.

 

 

There are six 5.25" optical drive bays present on the front of the tower while a 120mm intake fan is present behind the last 3.

 

 

Right beneath the 5.25" drive bays there's also room for another 120mm intake fan.

 

 

The Cougar logo is present at the top of the front fascia.

 

 

Right above the logo we see the top I/O which is quite impressive. So except the usual headphones and microphone mini-jacks we also see 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, the power/activity LEDs and a control knob with two buttons on both sides right in the middle which can be used both as the power on/off button and as a dual-way fan controller for use with up to 6 system fans.

 

 

But that's not all since next to the top I/O we see a large rubber surface with the Cougar logo on it.

 

 

This is actually the top SATA HDD Docking Station which can be used with both 3.5" and 2.5" drives.

 

 

Moving further towards the rear Cougar has placed another meshed area which can accommodate two more 120mm exhaust fans right beneath it.

 

 

As expected the rear also features a nice black matte color.

 

 

A single orange colored 120mm exhaust fan is present right beneath two closed water cooling grommets (can be opened with a screwdriver) at the rear of the tower.

 

 

The Evolution Full Tower comes with 8 vented PCI Expansion slots, not that i would expect anything less from a full tower.

 

 

As usual the spot reserved for mounting the power supply is located at the lower rear end.

 

 

What really stands out when checking the bottom of the case is the very large removable air filter.

 

 

I would like to see rubber coated thumbscrews used but unfortunately we can't have it all.

 

 

 

THE EVOLUTION FULL TOWER INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aside looking quite spacious the interior of the Evolution Full Tower is also black.

 

 

Six 5.25" drive bays may seem somewhat overkill but I understand that some people may actually need them (I do). Of course all six bays feature tool-less locking mechanisms.

 

 

The front 120mm intake fan is placed behind the last 3 drive bays and also features an air filter.

 

 

The downside however of having six 5.25" drive bays can be seen at the 3.5" drive cage which has only room for 4.

 

 

Of course the 3.5" drive cage is completely removable and kept in place with just two thumbscrews.

 

 

Once you remove the drive cage you gain access to the second front 120mm intake fan spot.

 

 

The drive trays are very easy to use but i would like them to be just a tad sturdier.

 

 

4 cable management holes and a large CPU Cutout are present on the mainboard tray.

 

 

The rear 120mm exhaust fan reminded me what orange and black make a great color combination.

 

 

All of the 8 PCI Expansion slots are kept in place with thumbscrews which usually are the next best thing to normal screws in terms of stability for your cards.

 

 

At the PSU space Cougar has placed an adjustable support bracket which can be moved front and back according to the length of your power supply.

 

 

As long as the installed PSU follows the standard ATX size and is less than 160mm in length there's room to install yet another 120/140mm fan at the bottom.

 

 

Although the Evolution has a spacious interior the same can't be said about the top since if you also fill the two 120mm fan spots you may have a hard time installing both your mainboard and CPU Cooler.

 

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only reason for this section is to showcase the available interior space of the case at hand and not to build a fully functional system.

The tray has room for up to 8 PCI expansion slots EATX mainboards so naturally our standard ATX board leaves plenty of room to spare.

 

 

You can install any CPU Cooler in the market in the Cougar Evolution Full Tower regardless of height.

 

 

The same pretty much applies for graphics cards since the available length of 305mm is enough to fit even the longest ones around (GTX 590/6990).

 

 

The drive trays are very easy to use due to their tool-less locking mechanism.

 

 

There's also enough space inside the case to use any PSU in the market regardless of size, however long ones will cover the extra fan mounting spot.

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   For all the people who follow us in Facebook my opinion about the Cougar Evolution Full Tower is quite obvious since if it was bad in any way i simply wouldn't have chosen it to house one of our test rigs. I mean what is there not to like? The build quality of the unit is great, the design is very good (if you like a balance between elegance and aggressiveness), it comes with a wide range of features such as USB 3.0, Dual-Way fan controller for use with up to 6 fans, a total of 7 fan spots, top SATA HDD docking station, spacious interior and a total of 6 optical drive bays. I bet that is also the main reason behind the decision by Cougar to rightfully reclassify the product from midi to full tower.

 

   The Evolution Full Tower by Cougar is currently available at around USD100 inside the USA (Newegg) and at 110Euros inside the EU, a price range which is mostly filled with midi towers. Regardless of the price however the Evolution Full Tower has a single important drawback and that's the rather small drive cage which can only accommodate up to four 3.5"/2.5" disk drives. Personally i can't say that i need more for this particular test rig but many people may not like that small limitation. Granted you can get 5.25" to 3.5" adapters to mount more drives but it's just not the same not to mention the extra cost. Overall the Cougar Evolution Full Tower is a very good PC Case with great quality, balanced design, plenty of features and a very tempting price tag which is why it gets our Golden award.

 

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Tool-Less Installation
- Top SATA HDD Docking Station
- Dual USB 3.0 Ports
- Dual-Way 6 Fan Controller
- Airflow (Up To 7 Fans)
- 6 Optical Drive Bays (5.25")
- Spacious Interior
- Price (For Some) 

 

 

CONS

- Room for Only Four 2.5"/3.5" Disk Drives
- Drive Trays Could Be Just A Tad Sturdier
- Very Little Interior Space at the Top of the Interior