The Cougar MX300 mid-tower gaming case is a stunning looking case; the honeycomb touches to the front panel and meshed grills really give it that professional yet aggressive look. Even though it is a midi-tower sized enclosure the internal design allows support for graphics cards up to 310mm in length. Even installing our high end Corsair AX1200i power supply proved no challenge for the Cougar MX300.

Cooling wise the MX300 shows a lot of potential; being upgradable with a total of 7 120mm fans leaves at first glance no room for any options. Sadly, probably to keep the price at a bare minimum, the Cougar team only equipped the MX300 with one rear 120 fan; this lead to below average performance in the out of the box configuration. Secondly this gaming oriented case only supports 120 AIOs; too bad as the 240 models are really popular and perform at a far better cooling versus noise ratio. It is all about adding an inch here and there that would make this case the ultimate bang for the buck gaming enclosure.

The cable management possibilities are also pretty limited due to the limited space between the motherboard tray and the side panel. The multiple thick cables from the Corsair AX1200i  could not be properly fitted so they had to remain in the front compartment of the case. The same remark as for the cooling paragraph, adding even just half an inch would allow for far easier hardware installation. The absence of a top hole to route the 8 pin power plug through is also a missed opportunity by the Cougar team.

Nevertheless we have to keep things in perspective here: this MX300 mid-tower case is retailing at sometimes half of the price of competitor's offerings. The latter might have a better standard cooling configuration and better designed cable management possibilities. The Cougar MX300 is for the price a solid offering with great cooling upgrade potential. Sporting an attractive honeycomb and mesh design is one of the main highlights of this case besides its super low end price tag. The hardware compatibility is more than plenty for a case of this caliber, yet we can't repeat it enough that it would have been nice to see the addition of a second fan to enhance the airflow. Please swap the pointless misplaced window for a 120 fan! The build quality is okay but an inch here and there would have made this case even more versatile and a bit more easy to work in.

For the price the Cougar MX300 is a steal, good looking and more than plenty for the average gaming enthusiast. Those that feel the urge for maximum cooling performance better look for cases carrying a totally different price tag. MadShrimps awards the Cougar MX300 the Value award as the affordable price tag flips over the scale.

PROS:

• Low price tag
• Great design
• GPU support up to 310mm
• Cooling upgrade ability

CONS:

• Limited cable management possibility
• Only one fan included
• No AIO 240 support
• Misplaced window

We wish to thank Venessa from Cougar for the MX300 sample

Bernice from Gigabyte for the Z97X SOC Force motherboard

Harry from Corsair for the Vengeance Pro kit and the Hydro H80i cooler

Tones for providing the Intel i7-4770K processor