Test – Cougar QBX – Conseil Config: Review| Specs | Price | CPU Performance | Profitability| Hashrate| best Coins | Config | Advantage (Pros) and Disadvantages (Cons) and other important features that will help you make better decision.
Today marks the inauguration of tests at Cougar, founded in 2007 in Germany the company offers peripherals / boxes / power supplies specially intended for “gamers”, which in general goes hand in hand with an aggressive look that will delight (or not) these latter. The mini-ITX boxes having been on the rise for some time these gentlemen from Cougar could not miss and therefore offer the QBX, particularly suitable for “gamers” configurations but this time with a sleek look that will make its sound possible. installation next to a TV in the living room for example.
Offered at a price of around € 50 including VAT, it is at the entry level of this type of box, perhaps a good starting point for a mini-ITX gamer config? This is what we will see!
| Cougar QBX | |
|---|---|
| Motherboard compatibility | Mini-ITX |
| Materials | Steel and Plastic |
| Available colors | Noir |
| Number of berries | 1 x 3,5″ 4 x 2.5″ |
| Fan location (s) | 1 x 8 cm at the front 2 x 12 cm above 1 x 9 cm at the back 2 x 12 cm at the bottom 1 x 12 cm on the left |
| Fan (s) supplied | 1 x 9 cm at the back |
| Expansion slots | 2 |
| Front connectors | 2 x USB 3.0 2 x Jack 3,5 mm |
| Maximum graphics card length | 35 cm |
| Maximum CPU cooling height | 10.5 cm |
| Maximum feed length | 14 cm |
| Additional features | Dust filters on the front (to be installed) and below Compatibility with a 240 mm radiator on the left side with a 120 mm fan |
| Dimensions | 36.8 (l) x 26 (H) x 17.8 (L) cm |
| Weight | 3.8 kg |
| Guarantee | 2 years |
| Price | ~ 50€ TTC |
Mini-ITX case requires the Cougar QBX has contained dimensions, 36.8cm in length, 26cm in height and 17.8cm in width, even if it is not the most compact in its category it is clear that we are very far from an ATX box, especially with a weight of around 3.8kg which should make the beast transportable without too much trouble once mounted.
The materials used are very classic, plastic (for the entire exterior, including the side panels) as well as of course steel for the interior, no noble materials such as aluminum here to of course limit costs. .
It will be possible to install a 3.5 ″ hard drive as well as 4 2.5 ″ drives (hard drive or SSD), which is rather important for a mini-ITX box, those who are fans of SSDs will be delighted! A 5.25 ″ slot is also available but only for a reader / writer in “Slim” format, which is hardly surprising given the size of the case. In terms of ventilation, however, Cougar offers a plethora of possibilities, 1 x 8cm at the front, 2 x 12cm above, 1 x 9cm at the back (supplied), 2 x 12cm at the bottom but also 1 x 12cm on the left side behind the grid of the side panel, as much to say that it will be possible to ventilate the configuration as it should be but it will be necessary to put the hand in the pocket for this because it is delivered only with a small 9cm in extraction .
Regarding the compatibility of the components here again Cougar did not go hand in hand with 35cm maximum for the graphics card and 10.5cm for the CPU cooler, it will even be possible to install a power supply in ATX format but 14cm in length, which should limit the choice.
Offered at a price of around 50 € TTC I must admit that these characteristics are rather promising, but theory and practice being too often different, the QBX will have to prove itself, let’s see that right away!
The front of the box offers a photo of the case as well as of course the brand and model as well as a most pompous marketing speech (“most stylish designs a pc case has ever seen”, “absolute best cooling on the market for a case of its kind ”). The brand’s own mix of color is present, black and orange!
At the back the same photo is present but this time showing the different functionalities of the beast, USB 3.0 at the front, support for a “Slim” reader, 35cm graphics card as well as compatibility with an ATX power supply. Below is a listing of strengths as well as a table of complete characteristics.
On the top a small warning message showing that there is a type of power supply that is not compatible with the QBX, at least it has the merit of warning before we realize once the assembly started that the power supply is not suitable, a good point coming from Cougar that other manufacturers would not have made.
When opening the box we come across a small cardboard box containing the bundle placed on the box itself well packed in its bag and taken in 2 polystyrene molds, a classic which should ensure logically problem-free transport.
As we can see the bundle is sufficient for the assembly but there is clearly no frills, again the costs must be kept to a minimum!
Here is the beast! One thing is certain, Cougar worked to lay us a sober case, no color here except a mixture of gray (the front face and the top) and black. Only the logo of the brand at the bottom of the facade disturbs everything, but it remains very discreet.
The front is in gray plastic like brushed aluminum with the logo at the bottom, the result is rather pleasing to the eye.
To the right of the front panel on the side is the connector, made up of 2 USB 3.0 ports as well as the eternal 3.5mm jack ports for the headphones and the microphone. Note the presence of a power button but there is unfortunately no reset button, which is not very serious either.
The top is in the continuity of the facade, the same gray plastic like brushed aluminum, it will however be possible to shift it slightly towards the rear to reveal the location of the “slim” reader, a little extra for those who have really need this type of device.
Below again the same gray plastic as well as 4 rubber pads which will act as feet for the QBX, in the middle a removable dust filter for the 2 slots for 12cm fans.
At the back there is not much to say, a grid hiding the 9cm fan which also seems a little restrictive compared to the honeycomb that is usually done, a connector to plug in the power cord (which is only an extension for the power supply at the front of the box) as well as the 2 perforated expansion slots for the graphics card. You can also see the 4 thumbscrews to hold the side panels in place.
The 2 sides are identical, a black (plastic) panel equipped with a large ventilation grid, we can also see that vents are present on all sides of the case. One thing is certain Cougar has worked to have the maximum ventilation possible for the temperature of the components installed.
Overall the build quality is good, there are no issues with poorly machined parts, the only small complaint I could make is the predominant presence of plastic, even for the side panels.
Once the side panel has been removed we fall on a removable plate which will be used to install a 120mm fan or a 120mm water-cooling system or a 240mm radiator equipped with a single 120mm fan. Let’s remove the 3 screws that hold this plate to get a good view of the guts of the QBX.
On the inside of the plate is a removable cage allowing the installation of a 3.5 ″ drive as well as two 2.5 ″ drives / SSDs. No anti-vibration system at the 3.5 ″ location on the other hand, which should have a greater or lesser impact on noise pollution, which we will see later!
Here are the guts of the Cougar QBX! As you can see it looks rather spacious, but don’t be fooled, you have to house the motherboard, the ATX power supply as well as the graphics card in this space! However, for a case of this type, handling and installation should go rather well.
Here is the part dedicated to the power supply, its fan will be installed against the grid (which once again could have been less restrictive) and it will blow up the box, in this way the heat released by the power supply will never be thrown away. inside the case.
We can see here the two locations for 12cm fans, just to ventilate the beast well.
At the front, on the other hand, there is only one grille for a fan of only 8cm (with a dust filter to be installed), given the size of the fan, the restrictive grille and the immediate proximity of the facade I doubt that ‘it is really useful.
The exhaust fan installed at the back of the case, a model A9225L12S from Hong Shen, which after research should run at a maximum speed of 2000 RPM and has a “Sleeve” type bearing.
The extension covers are fixed by conventional screws and secured by a plate to keep all these little people in place.
At the back of the motherboard we can see that there are a lot of holes to pass the cables and keep everything as clean as possible, on the other hand the space with the side panel will certainly not allow to hide everything, nothing which is out of the ordinary anyway on this type of product. A 2.5 ″ slot is also present at the bottom, the place is clearly not wasted 😉
Cougar had the good taste to put a black plastic sheath on all the cables coming from the front connectors in order to keep the aesthetic side intact, that’s always taken!
The Cougar QBX will be tested once with only the SSD plugged in and another test will take place with the Raptor hard drive plugged in, this one being literally hell in terms of its vibrations that will allow you to see how the box reacts.
The power supply chosen is not due to chance but given that the length of the power supplies in my possession were all 15 cm (see more) there was only the Corsair CS450M which was supposed to be compatible in terms of length but didn’t have the connector facing the right way, so I had to fall back on the LG Silverstone SX-500. In addition to the length of the power supply and the orientation of the mains connector, it will be necessary to take into account the location of the cables that leave the power supply, it will be necessary that the cables leave to the right of the box and not have a modular cable with a long enough graphics card otherwise it will not fit!
Now let’s move on to the assembly, in this type of case there are always inherent constraints, which is quite normal however as I just said the choice of power supply is really the crucial point of the QBX, despite the length of 12 cm of the SX500-LG from the test configuration everything came in very just because of the modular cables, see instead:
The graphics card is only about 24cm in length, and it takes a bit of pushing for it to fit.
Once the problem of the power supply was solved there on the other hand the rest went extremely well, the arrangement of the box being well thought out nothing came to disturb the assembly.
Everything fits perfectly and is ultimately quite spacious if we do not count the power supply 😉
The discs in place on the plate provided for this purpose, the connection is done without the slightest problem.
And here is the beast completely assembled with the plate of the discs back in place!
In order to test the box, I will carry out an OCCT Power Supply test for 30mins and then take the temperatures of the main components such as the processor (average of the 4 cores), the motherboard, the graphics card as well as the hard drive.
Regarding noise pollution, I will proceed as in the file on silent PCs namely 1 raised in front, to the right, to the left, to the rear and above with the box in vertical position.
The temperatures of the components inside the Cougar QBX are quite good, in the average of what one can expect from a mini-ITX box with 34 ° for the processor, 36 ° for the graphics card and 51 ° for the motherboard, nothing that could endanger the life of the components!
Ambient sound level: 31dB
The noise pollution emanating from the Cougar QBX is quite high without being unpleasant to the ear. The 90cm fan rotating at a speed of 2000 RPM it is no stranger to this, but it is not only its fault because it emits a sound certainly audible but devoid of any parasitic noise, which is a good thing! The “problem” comes from the fact that the QBX is a particularly open chassis so there is absolutely nothing to block noise from escaping to the sides, so if something is noisy inside the case nothing. is made to contain all of this.
With the Raptor installed the vibrations are not necessarily heard even if it is directly attached to metal but it does raise the overall noise pollution a little due to the characteristic sound of the discs rotating at 10,000 rpm.
There is not much to say there except that the fans of the graphics card turn a little faster than on the other boxes, the fact that it is placed at the bottom behind filters is most certainly. the origin.
Under load and despite the single 9cm fan the Cougar QBX holds the road very well, 71 ° for the processor, 59 ° for the motherboard but on the other hand the graphics card suffers a little with 87 ° even if it absolutely does not. nothing alarming. Indeed and as I said above the fact that it is at the bottom in front of the dust filters without fan installed on the box does not help, with fans it would certainly be much better cooled.
Ambient sound level: 31dB
There all the solutions are roughly at the same level, that is to say very audible under load. With 52 dB maximum on the sides (open case requires) the whole is clearly not silent but remains acceptable for a product of this type, not to mention that OCCT really represents the maximum load which is not really achievable in real conditions. Note that the noise generated is not really due to the box but rather the components installed inside, if a graphics card is very noisy under load (such as the card in the test configuration) the box will not be able to make miracle, whether or not it is studied for silence 😉
Once again, the fans of the graphics card increase in speed more than on the other boxes, because of its location at the bottom of the box without really changing the situation, we go from 3700 for the others to 3964 in the Cougar QBX.
Here we are at the end of this test, what about the Cougar QBX?
The mini-ITX cases have been on the rise for some time now and all the brands go from their references, Cougar offers here a case that has a very correct finish, a rather pleasant sober look but above all a very small size. The biggest highlight of the QBX, however, is the possibility of installing a plethora of fans, indeed with no less than 7 fans in this small box it could accommodate a very large configuration without the slightest cooling problem even if a single 9cm fan at the back is present of origin.
On the other hand, and this is the case in almost all boxes of this type on the market, the choice of power supply will turn out to be really very painful, the box is given to be compatible with a power supply in ATX format of 14 cm maximum. length, which in itself represents a very small minority of products, but it will also be necessary to ensure that the orientation of the power cord plug is not on the wrong side. In addition to that, if luckily the length is good and the socket is on the right side, you will have to pay attention to the size of the graphics card, a modular power supply may interfere with the latter if it protrudes a few centimeters from the motherboard. , in short you will
Understand it if you plan to buy the QBX, be very careful with these two components!
In terms of price Cougar offers the QBX at around 50 €, if you are not afraid to do in-depth research so as not to have any surprises during assembly then it may be perfectly suitable for a gamer configuration, by adding at the same time some fans.
A big thank you to Valentin from Caseking who allowed me to do this test.
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