Cougar Panzer EVO RGB ATX Case Review: Bigger, Brighter, Better

Hardware Installation & Test Configuration

Accessories come in a brown box zip-tied to the back of the chassis. Inside, you will find various screws, motherboard standoffs, zip ties, headphone hanger, fan splitter and RGB controller and remote. The box also contains an owners manual.

The futuristic design extends from the outside of the case through to the inside. The interior of the Panzer EVO RGB is painted black to match its ruggedly handsome exterior. There are four large cable pass-through holes with rubber grommets in the motherboard tray for cable management, two at the upper left hand edge of the motherboard tray with rolled metal edges specifically designed for routing fan cables and the ATX12V/EPS12V power cable. We measure a full 42mm of space in the area directly behind the motherboard tray for routing cables.

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Given the fact that this is a full-tower chassis, we were a bit taken back by the size of the main compartment. Compared to the Panzer G, a mid-tower chassis, the interior of this case seems small by comparison. Partially, the reason for this is that the outer shell of the case extends a full two and a half inches past the frame at the bottom, two inches in the top, front and back of the chassis. This creates an expectation that the inside of chassis should be larger than it actually is. The large PSU tunnel main compartment and the large air duct that diverts air from the intake fans to the area behind the motherboard tray, also add to the oddly cramped feel. Even so, the overall look inside this chassis is still very clean.

Compared to the outside dimensions of this chassis (266mm wide), the max CPU cooler height (170mm) seems a bit shorter than it should be. That is until you take into account that the actual frame of the EVO RGB is only 180mm wide.  The same applies to maximum graphics card length. That said, those of you running multi-GPU set-ups should be more than happy that this chassis' eight expansion slots can accommodate graphics cards up to 390mm, even with radiators or all-in-one coolers installed in the front of the chassis.

Unlike the majority of PSU tunnels we see today, this cover is not a part of the frame and is constructed of plastic. Removing the cover is a fairly simple matter of pushing the side in with your thumbs until the plastic tabs are free of the notches cut into the frame. Every power supply we tested, from the smaller EVGA 450 BT, all the way up to larger units like the Corsair HX1200i and the Thermaltake Toughpower 1475W, fit without a problem. The one complaint we did have is the lack of vibrational dampening material under the PSU. We like the way Cooler Master incorporated the use of a two piece removable power supply tunnel in the MasterCase H500P Mesh White that allows end users to customize it to their personal needs. 

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The Panzer EVO RGB has mounting locations for up to six 2.5" (two convertible from 3.5") and two 3.5" hard drives. All drive caddies are constructed of plastic. Four of the six drive mounting locations are dedicated 2.5" slots featuring a tool-less, slide-in design that makes installing hard drives and SSDs a snap. The two 3.5" / 2.5" drive caddies are mounted directly behind the motherboard tray. Oddly enough, due to the design of the 3.5" hard drive caddies, the exposed PCB on the bottom of the your hard drives face out. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but this is after all, a case with tempered glass side panels intended to showcase your system build.

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Cooling

In total, there are mounting locations for up to eight 120mm fans: three in the top, three in the front, one in the rear, and one in the base of the case. The Panzer EVO RGB can also accommodate up to six 140mm fans, two in the front and two in the top. The chassis ships by default with three 120mm LED-lit Vortex RGB intake fans in the front. The rear exhaust fan location supports up to 120mm fans and is outfitted with a 120mm LED-lit Vortex RGB fan by default.

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The included RGB controller can accommodate up to eight fans and four LED lighting strips. Each fan contains 18 LEDs which are capable of more than 100 different RGB lighting effects. The fans can also be tweaked via the software provided by your motherboard vendor. There is also a handy remote that allows you to change colors and lighting modes on the fly.

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This chassis can accommodate radiators in the top, front, and side panels. The three 120 / two 140mm mounting locations in the top of the case can be used with a wide range of 360mm or 280mm all-in-one coolers with radiators up to 40mm thick, with fans supported within the space between the chassis frame and exterior glass.

The front of the chassis can accommodate radiators up to 360mm. Radiators and coolers can be installed with fans on both sides in a push-pull configuration as long as the fans pushing air through the radiator are mounted in the stock location outside the frame of the chassis. Enterprising enthusiasts could save a little money, and maintain the great looks of this chassis RGB lighting, by mating their radiator or all-in-one cooler to the existing factory installed fans.

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The rear of the chassis supports 120mm radiators or all-in-one coolers in the exhaust fan location over the CPU socket area in single and dual fan configurations. 120 / 140mm coolers can be mounted in the bottom of the chassis, under the PSU tunnel. 

Test Configuration

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