CONCLUSION

   With quite good and solid rail stability, great looks, flat cables and an 80 Plus Bronze efficiency certification the latest CMX V.3 850W is certainly not the best power supply unit out there as we speak but for casual users and gamers it's actually a very good solution. The only problem we could find is the somewhat high noise levels coming from the 135mm intake fan by Young Li Tech Co. Certainly we are well aware that not many people will manage to push the unit up to 95% load and i even doubt that most people will even hit 70% but that doesn't change the fact that Cougar (HEC/Compucase) chose to use a relatively noisy fan model and with so many models in the market i just don't know why that is. I am not looking for perfection from a model aimed primarily towards gamers and i do realize that for most gamers high noise levels are of no concern especially since most graphics cards tend to be much louder than PSUs but our goal always is to present our findings and let you the end consumer decide.

   After checking out the usual online stores the Cougar CMX V.3 850W is nowhere to be seen but the current MSRP is set at USD129.99 inside the USA which is the second negative thing about this unit. Of course since the MSRP is set at USD129.99 i expect the unit to hit the stores at around USD110 (if not less) which is actually not bad at all but if that doesn't happen Cougar will have trouble convincing people to choose this unit over a few 80 Plus Silver certified ones available for slightly more. Regardless of the price however the CMX V.3 850W PSU is a good choice for gamers and casual users which is exactly what Cougar advertises it for. Had this been a PSU aimed towards enthusiasts, overclockers and professionals it wouldn't meet our expectations but since that's not the case it walks away with our Golden Award if only just barely.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Good Performance Levels
- 80 Plus Bronze Certified
- Flat Modular Cables
- Haswell Ready
- 3 Years Warranty 

CONS

- Current Availability
- Noise Levels (For Some)