Driver

Even though we can use the COUGAR ATTACK X3 without installing any software, the COUGAR UIX System software is available to expand upon the functions that are already available. It is also compatible with other Cougar products, which makes managing multiple peripherals inside a single location possible.


Downloading and installing the software is quick and easy. Some companies make the installation a little harder than it needs to be, and it is nice to see that COUGAR has kept it as simple as possible.


When we load up UIX System, we will get something similar to what is shown above. Here, we can assign keys, create macros, change modes, and release the keyboard's true potential.


On the COUGAR ATTACK X3, we have three keys that change the gaming profile, which, if set up correctly, allows you to use different macros depending on the game you wish to play. Click on the "Game Profile Management" button and this screen will appear, which allows us to edit our profiles. You can also change the picture and profile name, which makes figuring out which layer you are making changes to easier.


Once you have selected the profile you wish to change, you can start programming the keys to do pretty much anything you want. You can program them to emulate different letters, run pre-made macros, open programs, and more.


To swap a key, simply pick it and change its function to whatever you like; here, I made my own macro and assigned it to the "X" key.


To create your own macro, create a new group by clicking on the "new group" button. Once you have a group, create a macro by using the "new macro" button.


My macro is really simple as I just sought to write "techpowerup.com" with a touch of a button. To do so, simply press "start record" and type in what you'd like. It might take some time to make it work exactly as you want since it will record everything you do. You can delete parts of it and set timings, though, which helps a lot. With the recording done, pressing "X" in mode 2 will make "techpowerup.com" appear.


Moving on to the "Performance" section of the UIX software, we can see how easily the polling rate, the N-Key rollover or repeat delay are changed. Most of these can be done on the fly with the FN key, but it is nice to see these options in the software as well since it allows us to fine-tune everything at once.


The final category is dubbed "Lighting Control" and does as its name implies. For the COUGAR ATTACK X3, there aren't very many lighting options. All we can do here is change how many steps there are for the backlight button. So, instead of scrolling through 0%, 33%, 66%, 100%, and breathing mode, we can remove those we don't use. I removed the breathing option and 33% and 66% stages to give me no more than an "on" and the "off " option.

Performance

The COUGAR ATTACK X3 performs very well. The Cherry MX switches are, as to be expected, very nice to use. The Blue switches I opted for have a nice weight of 50 cN (g). Their click is audible as per usual, and as is to be expected for Blues, there is a pronounced tactile bump. Some people find these switches to be a little too heavy or noisy, but as my daily driver uses Cherry MX Greens, I am used to the noise and actually prefer a slightly stiffer switch. Switches are all about personal preference, however, and the main thing here is that these switches are of good quality. The switches don't feel loose at all and don't vibrate one bit. The larger keys have stabilizers to ensure they can be pressed anywhere to still register the key stroke.

Typing on the COUGAR ATTACK X3 is very nice, but the board feels very light to me, far too light, in fact. The aluminum and plastic combination looks fantastic and doesn't flex at all, and the build quality is fine, but it just feels somewhat cheap because it weighs so little. Thicker aluminum or a more solid plastic surround would have really improved the board's feel, finishing the whole package off nicely.