Tom's Hardware Verdict
Sporting an attractive curved glass design, the Cougar FV270 is good, but not ground-breaking.
Pros
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GPU bracket included
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Attractive curved glass design
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A lot of cooling capability
Cons
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Loud
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Expensive
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GPU thermals aren’t great
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Remember when you could only see into your PC through a small, likely scratched-up acrylic window? I sure do, but those days are long gone, especially with the case we’re testing today, the Cougar FV270.
The Cougar FV270 is one of the more unique glass-focused PC cases due to its curved and angled front panel, mimicking three-sided designs like the Hyte Y60, but with two pieces of glass. The case is priced at $180 and is offered in both white and black. That price certainly isn’t cheap, but it’s the same as the competing (non-curved) Phanteks NV7, and comes with one 120mm aRGB fan, while the NV7 doesn’t ship with any fans.
Is the Cougar FV270 worth the money, and is worthy of a spot on our best PC cases list? Let’s look at the specs, then we’ll get into its details and testing results and find out.
Specifications of the Cougar FV270
| Type | ATX Mid-Tower |
| Motherboard Support | Mini-ITX, Micro ATX, ATX, E-ATX |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 20.9 x 10.6 x 20.2 - inches |
| Max GPU Length | 16.5 - inches |
| CPU Cooler Height | 7.1 - inches |
| External Bays | X |
| Internal Bays | 2x 2.5-inch, 2x 3.5-inch |
| Expansion Slots | 7 |
| Front I/O | 1x Type C Gen 2, 2x USB 3.0, headset/audio and reset button |
| Other | Curvedl glass panel |
| Front Side Fans | None |
| Rear Fans | None |
| Top Fans | None |
| Bottom Fans | 1x 120mm |
| Weight | 37.5 pounds |
| Warranty | 2 years |
Features of the Cougar FV270
The Cougar FV270 isn’t your average glass-engulfed mid tower, as it features a curved tempered glass panel. This isn’t the first case to feature this shape, but most competing models, including the NZXT H6 Flow, do so with multiple pieces. So props to Cougar for giving this case a curved front edge.
As you may have noticed, the need for a GPU support bracket is growing more and more necessary each year, due to the increase in size and weight of graphics cards. Fortunately, the Cougar FV270 comes with dedicated GPU support, something more case companies should consider.
In addition to a GPU support stand, the FV270 has a rotatable PCIe bracket, which allows for a vertical GPU. However, you will need to purchase a riser cable, as the FV270 does not include one. I really like the design of the rotatable bracket; it doesn’t wobble like the one on Lian Li’s Lancool 216.
The Cougar FV270 has a ton of room for cooling, but only comes with one fan, in an angled section up front where it can blow cool air at your GPU. The included fan is a 120mm aRGB spinner but does not include any sort of controller. You’ll still have to add your own fans, though, because a single intake fan isn’t going to be enough to keep high-end components cool when they’re also surrounded by glass.
On the bright side (literally), Cougar makes a little stand for this front area, where you to display your favorite action figure, called Center Stage. However, I haven’t been able to find any links to buy the Center Stage separately here in the US; I’ve only seen it come with this version of the case that has preinstalled fans.
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Like most of Cougar’s higher-end cases, it seems like water cooling would be the most ideal for this chassis. The top of the FV270 can fit up to a 360mm radiator, with a 280mm on the side, 240mm above the PSU shroud, and up to 140mm in the rear.
The case’s IO is decent, with one Type-C Gen 2, two USB 3.0, separate audio jacks, and a reset button.
The Cougar FV270 is larger than most mid towers. At just under 21 inches tall, it’s arguably a full-tower case. In fact, the FV270 is the same height as the Phanteks NV7, and according to Phanteks, that chassis is a full tower.
Room for hard drives and SSDs isn’t great for a case this big. You can fit two 2.5-inch drives or one 3.5-inch drive behind the motherboard, or four 2.5-inches or two 3.5-inches if you decide to use the dedicated hard drive caddy that connects the back of the power supply area.
As expected from a chassis of this size, you have a lot of room for the largest GPUs and CPU coolers. The FV270 can fit graphics cards up to 16.5 inches, which is more than enough for a giant RTX 4090 with a radiator. While air cooling might not be the best choise with a case like this, you can fit heatsinks up to 7.1 inches tall.
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Testing Hardware
Our testing hardware uses Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake platform. We’re using a Core i7-12700KF, cooled by a Noctua U12s air cooler. Our graphics card is a Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and our motherboard is the MSI Pro Z690-A WIFI.
Acoustic Results for the Cougar FV270
Our acoustic test consists of three scenarios: We run the CPU at full load, the CPU and GPU at full load, and an optimized mode. The CPU full load test runs the CPU and case fans at their maximum speed. For the CPU and GPU full load acoustic test, we also stress the Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and set the fans at 75% speed, because in gaming, the fans never run at 100 percent and are far too loud when they do.
For the optimized mode, we run the GPU fan speed at 30% and the CPU and included case fans at the lowest speed they will spin.
Because the Phanteks NV7 and the Cougar FV270 are very similar, we also tested them the same way. When we reviewed the NV7 (which doesn’t ship with any fans), we added two Noctua AF120 fans (one on the side and in the rear for intake and exhaust) since the tower doesn’t shop with any.
While the Cougar case does include a single 120mm fan, it does not include an exhaust, so we installed the same AF120 in the rear as we used in the Phanteks case. After testing the acoustics, the FV270 proved to be quite loud, but keep in mind these are stress tests and do not represent everyday scenarios.
Thermal Results for the Cougar FV270
For the thermal tests, all case and CPU fan speeds are set to 100%. The Core i7-12700K is set at a 4.7GHz clock at 1.3v on all performance cores to ensure consistent power consumption across test scenarios. Letting the GPU run at 75% fan speed enables it to maintain its power target while sticking to one reasonable fan speed, so the temperature is the only variable.
Just like with the acoustic test, we had a single Noctua 120mm fan screwed into the rear of the case for exhaust.The GPU thermals are not good, especially with the Cougar where you have a fan angled toward the GPU for almost dedicated intake. Besides that, the CPU thermals were fine and could only be improved with more fans.
Bottom Line
While sporting a curvedl glass panel and a ton of room for custom cooling, I don’t recommend the Cougar FV270 over the Phanteks NV7, given the two have the same MSRP of $180. With that said, I am not a custom cooling enthusiast. Those interested in a custom loop might be more interested in the panoramic view that the FV270 offers.
Sure, the option to install Cougar’s Center Stage platform is cute, but I haven’t been able to find it sold separately in the US; I’ve only seen it included in the FV270 variant that comes with pre-installed case fans, and that will set you back $360. The Cougar FV270 is a decent case, particularly if you love the idea of curved glass. If you can live without it, the Phanteks NV7 is a better choice – but be prepared to bring your own fans for either option.
MORE: Best PC Cases
MORE: Best Mini-ITX Cases
Myles Goldman is a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews keyboards and cases.
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Heat_Fan89 Looking at the price, I don't consider $150 all that expensive for a case. In the past, I have purchased Lian Li cases exceeding $200. My biggest concern is with all that glass the case will weigh more AND it will generate more heat on the inside. Though, it really is a nice looking ATX case.Reply -
Stomx Make boxes more spacious. Manufacturers by inertia still assume that people place computers on the tables ??Reply -
Lamarr the Strelok I'm glad they called this expensive. The person called it decent but the cons are expensive,loud, and has mediocre thermals with a 3070 they used . I may be wrong on that. I do like the huge size.I don't know much about water cooling but it seems there would be enough room to make it quieter if you were skilled enough to do it.Personally I'd skip on this even if I was in the market for a pricy case. There are like a million cases out there that could match the style generally and actually perform better.And many are a lot more affordable than this cougar.Reply
That's why we have a lot of different choices which is good for buyers. -
Jagblade After having not posted in nearly 10 years, I simply had to after reading this awful review. Now, I don't particularly care for this case and much prefer something like the NV7 (or NV9) or H6 Flow, but come on.Reply
You rely on the single bottom/front included 120mm fan (which is a subpar cheap fan you ought to be replacing anyway) for intake and then add another 120mm fan to the rear as exhaust. This creates negative air pressure, and in a glass case too boot. You also use a cheap air cooler on the CPU. You utilize this unrealistic and awful setup and then have the audacity to complain that thermals are terrible?
Then you set both of these fans to run constantly at 50%, the GPU fans to run at a constant 75% (which is unnecessary even under load in a properly cooled case,) and the CPU cooling fan to 100% which is also completely unnecessary, and then complain about how loud the "case" is?
This individual should not be doing case reviews for Tom's Hardware. The testing methodology is completely compromised. The fan speeds are cranked way up for no reason and totally inadequate cooling is used. The review here does not in any way indicate a realistic scenario in which this case will be used.
Plenty of videos on youtube reviewing this case will all fan slots populated and proper fan curves used and almost every other reviewer has this case performing on par with Phanteks' NV series of cases and roughly as quiet.