External Examination:

On this page of the review we will look at the outside of the case, starting with the front and two long sides.



As seen in the below left image, the side that you use to access the motherboard area is a solid sheet of steel with a perforated area that would allow you to install a pair of 120mm fans. The opposite side of the case is just a solid sheet of steel - no openings. The main body of the case is constructed of thin steel, while the front bezel is plastic. All of it is finished in a somewhat matte black. The front bezel has two exposed 5.25" bays and one exposed 3.5" bay which is located about he I/O ports and buttons. At the bottom of the bezel is a pretty cool looking honeycomb mesh area provided for air intake and as a place for Cougar to get their name out their two times.



The next image takes a closer look at the exposed drive bays, I/O ports, and buttons. What we have in terms of I/O and buttons include: a reset button, a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, a microphone jack, a USB 3.0 port, and a power button. Nothing too crazy, but the basics are covered, and the inclusioon of a USB 3.0 port is nice.



The next two images round out the tour of the case's outside features. The back of the case features a top mounted power supply opening, your standard I/O panel cut-out, a perforated area used with an included 120mm exhaust fan, and four expansion slots. The bottom of the case is pretty plain, with four feet made by sticking rubber pads to stamped areas in the steel. There are also four holes which are intended to be used with a 2.5" SSD/HDD, which we will try out later.



Overall, the quality of the external features is acceptable, although simple. Other than the more aggressive look of the front bezel, the main body of the case looks like any basic case from the past 10+ years.