Cougar Conquer Case Review: Open-Air Eccentricity

Reviewing the Cougar Conquer case, an open-air, eccentric PC case made of aluminum and tempered glass.
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Article: www.gamersnexu...
The Conquer is a huge case. It’s easy to underestimate its size in pictures because of its unusual shape, but it’s large enough to easily fit a full ATX board at a diagonal, making it both taller and wider than standard cases.
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Host, Test Lead: Steve Burke
Editorial: Patrick Lathan
Video: Andrew Coleman
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[@GamersNexus]

Article: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3178-cougar-conquer-case-review You might like our Fractal R6 review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXmqcn2PmMx1fqs Pre-order the GN Modmat! store.gamersnexus.net/modmat

[@Pimpemon]

I hope your cats tail doesn't get in there when it is on.

[@anon6048]

Check out the Anidees AI Crystal

[@hunterlong1820]

Gamers Nexus I’ve missed the ICX sensors which are kinda fun to play with.

[@joetavener2523]

Gamers Nexus Steve would it be pointless to watercool in a case such as this because airflow/access is so good? Wondering what the delta between air/water would be and if the value of water is lessened in applications such as this (open air)

[@testiou]

tighten the screws on that wobbly table... or buy a new one that cost more than 20$

[@killerkn9786]

I bought this case because: a) unique looks b) fantastic thermals c) easily modifiable d) large size (could be a con depending on your available space but it is great for ATX and even EATX form factors) e) can reach into case to adjust gpu or ram if they are not making proper contact with mobo (without taking apart the case) and be able to shut the PSU off or switch to eco mode(if available) Some cons: 1) dust and cobweb management (although it is easy enough to clean due to its large space, i.e. don't have to disassemble the case) 2) it large and heavy 3) open access for kids and pets to wreak havoc 4) PSU orientation 5) cable management 6) cost Final thoughts: It's not the most convenient case but it shines in thermals and looks (at least for me). I have a young kid and a cat. I never have problems with them messing with it. The worst issue I have is with dust and cobwebs but a quick compressed air clean every few weeks keeps my hardware fresh and clean. The thermals are amazing as I use all 5 fan slots for intake. Nevertheless, this is a case where you either love it or hate it. Maintenance takes some time but for me it is well worth it if you can afford it.

[@INSANEDOMINANCE]

I want. "It's a $300 case." I guess I don't want.

[@OvenBak3d360]

I always listen to the tech jesus prophecy’s before I go to bed lol

[@unvergebeneid]

There must be a cheaper way to make a test bench look like ass...

[@thelastcopier]

I had a helmet that looked like that in Mass Effect.

[@hanifsulistiyo3559]

I can't unsee it now.

[@googlewolly]

Lmao this comment needs more likes.

[@bitmau5]

I have 2 cats and an original HAF X case. I'm pretty sure I mine a new cat from my screen filters once every six months. With my current HairballChain setup, I have a choice. Acquire a new cat every 6 months and take my chances on the Kitty Crypto market or be conservative and save up one, gigantic fluff ball and hope to dump it all off into the futures market with one fell swat. As for "conquering the Cougar" in this case, the choice is yours. I'm pretty sure this is not the case for me, but if you like to live your life a little frisky and hope that there is an upchuck on the futures hairball market, then maybe this case is for you. Signing off, Hairball Nexus

[@Sqtgdog]

My favorite part of this video, is the fact that you did some actual journalism to inquire about the 'knock-off' case. Thank you for not just regurgitating facts, and the same observations as everyone else.

[@canny7x]

I've had this case for almost 5 years. Mine has featured 2 very different custom cooling loops. I don't really have issues with dust because I clean it out regularly. Overall, I'd say it's not 'perfect' but I still like it because the open nature is great for cooling.

[@ElimRawne]

"Let's make a case where EVERYTHING can fly right in and screw up ALL the hardware" *Dev passes doobie over to other dev* "Ooooh dude! Mind Blown!"

[@VanguardDetonados]

i have a p3 with a fury X and a H80i no other coolers, trust me the only thing that is going to happen is cutting yourself off, sharpening some pencils or shredding some paper bills. The dust will protect everything else.

[@Quacker_Gaming]

People think this looks bad? Have fun with your standard rectangle cases that get horrible airflow, causing increased thermals, and look so basic I'd fall asleep looking at them XD This case looks badass and performs extremely well. Honestly the only case over $200 I'd consider getting.

[@danielgidoni]

Congrats on 200k subscribers

[@nVizion]

Coming back to these old GN videos, because I was still curious about this case and if I wanted to do a full custom loop in it, and it's crazy to see how Steve has really grown his personality between then and now. New videos are much more exciting and up beat.

[@noctemrealm6013]

@Steve honestly,. this is becoming my favorite channel. love you guys man,

[@agauerm]

They should make a closed version of this, it looks very nice, but it must be a pain to clean the dust from the insides every week

[@tiagolx7313]

This is so beautiful in my opinion it's very futuristic. Thank you so much for your review i was waiting this for so long time 👍

[@chickenp7038]

TiagoAndréPT I have it and it is absolutely awesome 😎

[@tiagolx7313]

To be honest my friend, I was already looking for a case like this and this is beyond my expectations, I have two GPU's at this moment I have two 1070 TI in SLI and in my case the problem is that generates a lot of heat two GPU's running at the same time, so when I saw this Cougar I was surprised because of the dissipation of the heat there are many places where the heat escape so im happy and this will be my next upgraud :)

[@chickenp7038]

TiagoAndréPT I have 2 1080tis and there is no problem

[@chickenp7038]

TiagoAndréPT do you have discord? I could send you a picture of my pc

[@chickenp7038]

TiagoAndréPT don’t have Facebook

[@rogerj412]

After reading through the comments I now know that I'm a minority in this video. The look it actually kind of cool to me, as a designer. What I don't like is the Cougar badge on the front panel that looks to be inset so removing it would leave a strange indentation. If I wanted to spend that much on a case this is something I could see myself using.

[@MrOldMiguel]

I like it as well. I'm also a designer. I design trash heaps.

[@VeX-hr8yr]

Finally got mine after all this time. Brilliant case 360mm aio in the top for the CPU runs silent! personally I love this case

[@rduke6566]

Just picked up a used case for 💯.exited to build it

[@elliotescalante9369]

How is it keeping it clean and, keeping the components cooled

[@VeX-hr8yr]

@@elliotescalante9369 keeps everything nice and cool as it's basically an open test bench, I just use an air blower when it looks a bit dust comes up looking good as new

[@ASZzztoluca]

Every time I see this case I say "wow thats cool, but I would never buy it for me"

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

Brilliant as a showroom case, wouldn't look out of place at a car / motorcycle dealer, very futuristic. Way impractical for most other uses for several reasons (EMI concerns, dust, ...). Not a case for me for sure, but I can still appreciate it.

[@thegreatga]

I have one of these cases, and just finished my custom water cooled /cabling and it was most certainly a challenge. But it looks amazing! I chose it over the IN-Win D-Frame 2.0 because of price and availability.

[@happycamperjack]

They should really add a cup holder on top of the case just to make things even more interesting ;)

[@ares23dc]

Finally a review for a unique case. I also love the fact how people say it sucks. If Corsair/NZXT/Fractal would have come up with this, all fanboys would be drolling now.....It's thermal performance is outstanding and has great looks. I agree is very expensive though...

[@Najvalsa]

You'd have to use static pressure fans in this case in order to direct the airflow, it seems.

[@ChiralWolf]

I'd be really interested to see GN review some of cougars other more standard cases. I've been really happy with my trident full tower but I'd be curious to see how it actually stacks up in a controlled testing environment

[@xiwic461]

Gratz on 201k subs! and from Gamers Nexus i learn a lot keep it up! 10/10 :D

[@nickmccain6598]

Sooo, should I upgrade from my case I bought in 2000? Nahh. I'll just keep gaming with my eyes on the screen 1080p. Cause none of these new cases are 4k or 1080p.

[@mojo2418]

Nick McCain 1440p is really nice. I got myself a £70 case which is more then enough for 5 years plus.

[@licentioushowler3400]

To be fair, cases going on _that_ old may not be up to task for modern enthusiast hardware and you may find yourself occasionally ramming a square peg in a round hole. For example, CPU coolers have become more elaborate over the years, and it may be difficult to fit the taller and more effective heatsinks in some old cases, graphics cards might often get uncomfortably close to hard drive cages and limit your storage options or possibly not fit at all, and older cases were rarely designed to push a lot of airflow then as 80mm fans were far more common than 120 and didn't tend to be as numerous, which could potentially result in a GPU running hotter and dropping clocks. To be honest though, if you're just using mid-range hardware, you're probably perfectly fine.

[@nickmccain6598]

Licentious Howler yes you are perfectly accurate. I had to sneak my new hardrive through the front of the tower where the 3.5 floppy is supposed to be because the ram was in the way inside the case. When I first started gaming on 80mm fans. It got ridiculous hot. Now I carved out 2 spots on the side panel for some 120 fans. It runs so nice now. In march I might consider a new case for my ryzen build. But probably not.

[@XxLukexX]

Nick McCain I'd recommend a cooler master n200 bought it for £25 myself.

[@licentioushowler3400]

Damn! Cutting out holes on the side panel!? Nice going, trooper. To be honest, you might just consider continuing to mod this one case just to show the world who's boss at this point. : P

[@canuck21]

What a gaudy case.

[@aprisia]

From Cougar? No way. Next thing you'll say is that Bitfenix makes cheap crap...

[@canuck21]

+aprisia Bitfenix's logo looks like a tramp stamp.

[@pianoman3214]

Does this mean you guys are going to review the cougar panzer? because, in australia at least, it looks like it has the best potential performance for it's price.

[@pianoman3214]

Yeah i saw Hardware Canucks take on it, however, 1 - it's not in Straya 2 - i don't have the space to keep the front glass panel to have acceptable airflow and 3-, airflow is a must for me. I also don't think it's good value but so of average value, especially considering the panzer and the new evga cases have the same tooling while the panzer has a glass side panel (unlike acrylic) and more airflow. Source: www.pccasegear.com/products/38132/cougar-panzer-dual-tempered-glass-mid-tower-case (scroll to bottom and look at the tray of it) 3:18 compare it to the panzer's one = pd_-VoQLpws

[@infernaldaedra]

If this case had mesh I'm sure GN would love it.

[@dickr9345]

Now this is what you call an "out of the box thermals case" Ya know, cuz it's an open air case... Anyone? Bueller? No? Okay, I'll shut up now.

[@dickr9345]

SlowFox Its a reference to a question in this askGN vid(I think), that then became a channel meme. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ_MY5SObt1le8U

[@dickr9345]

At least, I think that was the first time we saw the phrase "OUT OF THE BOX THERMALS" IIRC someone took issue with Steve delidding and applying liquid metal in place of the stock paste TIM on the i7 8700k for testing. They believed he didn't test thermals "out of the box" prior to applying liquid metal, and should have. Later Steve made a joke about it. Where when he said it the audio got really loud and distorted to parody the original all-caps spelling.

[@SuperSilvi1990]

I need to start making cases. First case: They use tempered glass for the side panel. I got fiber board from home depot. Max sound dampering using spray in foam. Fans? Dewalt blower fan at 2000 cfm you'll have 20c on the cpu guaranteed.....The gpu might fly out if not secured properly. Water cooling support and window ac unit support. Crown molding and tile. PRICE: 80 bucks. Taking orders now.

[@dddumbster]

My heart jumps a little every time I see your table wiggle. Eeek!

[@PokeyDoggo]

Good that you made a disclaimer about it not being a price for performance case. At that point, for a few aluminium plates with holes in it and some glass for 300$, make your own. Only the powder coating might drive up the cost. It's quite laughable how absurd the price is. But guess they can use that to sue other companies and to pay the guy who sketched that.

[@icmn223]

Fry's Electronics has the Raidmax X08. I got one last week with a mail-in rebate & $10 discount which came out about $200. Looks much better than the Cougar, I really don't like the orange. If you look carefully at the Raidmax, it's actually quite a bit different. Unlike the Cougar, it actually has a pretty standard motherboard orientation and bottom power supply location.

[@sleepy1171]

Perfect review. Said everything I wanted to know.

[@spussego]

the Antec Torque and the Thermaltake AH T600 are the closest competitors I would think

[@lowesenoify]

That case looks like a fuckin' Decepticon

[@Maratuer]

cougar has the absoute bad asses looking cases

[@ogamov]

love your reviews

[@EldaLuna]

i like this kinda style its unique and weird in a good way. futuristic, sorta reminds me what id see an evil/good/hightech organization would use like from doom or mass effect or that old rage game of the sort.

[@burnstudios]

Do not want.

[@MsHUGSaLOT]

Raidmax.. blowing up PSUs since 1990.

[@turbo_bikini]

I love cougars, and they love me :D

[@MrAnonymous235]

Hey steve can you test the if the Titsn V has any actual IPC gain over the pascal arch?

[@raulsaavedra709]

That "shield" for the PSU on its own is in itself a huge banner saying: "Hey check out this obviously suboptimal and poorly thought-out placement for the PSU!" Such a bad placement choice in the first place is a quite the downer. I mean, it would have made a lot more sense (having the PSU there, which is bad to begin with) to simply set it sideways, exhausting towards a side, and not exhausting inside the enclosure and right below the GPU intakes, for chrissake. Even though the alien-head looks are flashy and interesting, I would by far consider other options, or building my own open-air custom enclosure from scratch, instead of spending any money on this design

[@Quinteger]

You said that Define R6 is gonna be the last case review for this year!

[@kerchoo_]

BEAUTIFUL

[@NemesisDestiny]

Any chance you would do a review of the Aerocool P7-C1? I really dig the look of it, and want to know how it performs under your rigorous, as-scientific-as-possible testing methodology.

[@pufaxx]

Plot of the next "Transformers" movie will be something about cat hairs.

[@ichinichisan]

Design patents are tricky things to litigate, as Apple v. Samsung (2011-present) has taught us.

[@SSS-mp8th]

Someone really needs to make a Jawa build out of this. Modding the PSU bracket to hold an intake fan would help GPU temps I bet. Curious how this will be against the Quadstellar another really unique case.

[@ticotastic4851]

Hey Steve!

[@thomas0hoelzl]

In some angles this "thing" reminds me of the Halo Master Chief Helmet. ^^

[@TheEmperor2029]

WHY Raidmax PC case description is written in turkish language? is it turkish brand or you opened info from turkish website?

[@miraflynn8935]

I didn’t know that your test system used exactly my PSU. Cool.

[@5ch4cht3l7]

Nolan Flynn Nice, you can feel special now!

[@joshuagawain9111]

Perhaps GN can answer his question. I have the Cougar Blazer which has similar colors to this case, but one of my orange panels has a nasty scratch on it. I have tried several different metallic orange paints that did not match and ultimately I end up removing the touchup with thinner because it looks worse than the scratch itself. If you know or can find out the exact brand of paint and the full name of the color itself, it would help a lot. I have searched the web for days and found nothing. This PC features several Cougar parts and I would like the orange to match.

[@howlers8]

sooo basically hunt up the raidmax if they get it out in time, if you like this one, because the raidmax version is likely to become impossible to find if Cougar files a lawsuit and cease and desist against Raidmax....

[@robodog7610]

Hey Steve, i have one question. Ever had any experience with Reeven cooling products?

[@Pabula]

Any chance to review cases like Corsair Air 740 or Silverstone FT05 that are kinda considered the best air cases to see how they measured to the RL06?

[@Eighthgenbucket]

I love your videos man, but can you get some nicer looking test components? Red doesn’t always work 🤕 But anyway, I reg your videos, you’re my favorite reviewer by far keep it up

[@xr8dmoose135]

i hate to say it because it does look like the design was "pinched" from cougar... but the raidmax one actually looks better imo

[@chrisB_OG]

I wonder how this compares to the Vetroo K1 Pangolin

[@PorscheRacer14]

At that price you might as well go full hog and do a Mountain Mods case, but then again people may not be into a significant case like the Ascension

[@Pimpemon]

Wow! That thing is ugly.

[@MartinMcloughlin]

The Raidmax X08, though extremely similar at first glance shares only the same aesthetic, it looks like there is little to no actual same tooling used - Steve, have a good look and tell me, I can see that they look to have copied the idea, but that's it.

[@demos113]

Gave you the upvote as you had to go near that abomination. :-)

[@michaelw6015]

Its time for Lego Tehnics to release some nice case for self build

[@SuperBigboi94]

Is there an option to get this case with out the big cougar logo on the glass ?

[@imperia8923]

what if i used liquid cooling for the cpu with the 1 fan on top 2 fan in front config

[@MiraSmit]

So how do you keep dust away from components on this one?

[@charlotte1109]

Thank you tech Jesus

[@Battlecry45]

how could anyone think: "yes, this looks good. lets build it, lets sell it!" ???

[@Granhier]

People keep saying RGB is gaudy... LOOK AT THAT FUCKING THING

[@oliverrowe8648]

Can't seem to find your 900mm GN mousepads on your store?

[@OzanYasarOzan]

Hey Steve, why Raidmax website is Turkish? How many Turkish viewers do you have? 4? I chuckled.

[@777anarchist]

Poor man's D-Frame 2.0.

[@cybermitheral]

Hoping you guys can review the Q1 2018 released Cougar Panzer-G and Evo.

[@Rararawr]

Oh damn, didn't even know about those. Appear to just be the other panzers with glass panels. I wonder if its possible to upgrade my panzer max to the evo

[@cybermitheral]

Yeah I wasnt sure if they are just panel/fan upgrades or more.

[@CST-ft9dv]

Cougar is mad at Raidmax because they took their case and made it look a lot better.

[@RazorOne77]

do a Cougar Panzer Max and Evo Case Review

[@LannnR]

cool case

[@memphishancock6483]

Why didn't you review this before it came out a while ago

[@lolakyle8]

When IKEA made a PC case...

[@Gripen90]

it would look like Fractal... both swedish companies.

[@ASZzztoluca]

Cardboard revision, when?

[@i_am_acai]

Ikea is much more minimalist and doesn't have many products with this many sharp edges and angles and would probably curve it off

[@WingofTech]

Andrew Chen That would be really cool looking actually. :P

[@DR-br5gb]

@@i_am_acai I'm sure everyone loves taking to you

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Does that computer case that looks like the part of a motorbike where the engine goes.

[@BramSLI1]

Did Raidmax get bought out by Thermaltake?

[@WayStedYou]

PC case from Horizon Zero Dawn

[@d.sylvain9876]

your table seems not stable LOL

[@djquantize]

I'm surprised with the components Steve choose here for the build. Would have thought he would have gone with some wheels, handlebars and gears.

[@ShitboxXx360]

I actually like the design but that price is way too crazy

[@MrTurbohampster]

Right in the front bottom! :-)

[@V0LK4N]

are you having dust problem?

[@IceBergs]

How is this even considered a case? It's like a big block of casench

But asked for the Panzer Max not Conquer review :/

[@midoshaima]

Can I fit two 3.5 HDDs and two 2.5 SSDs. Please advise!

[@lolol1725]

I would not feel safe transporting that thing

[@jakesullivan3017]

This only looks nice painted. Some modded did a Galax HOF theme (I think GCF) and it was cool

[@Aereto]

Can't really use open air cases when my environment has consistent dust build up.

[@rclokers]

I Just buy my raidmax X08 and it's perfect

[@JoriDiculous]

Bad they didn't go all the way and made the two front panels have electric or hydraulic operations.

[@MrKZdemos]

Review the 'lian li pc o10wx'