The Cougar MX500 is a clean-looking chassis with a few functional extras. Clocking in at 75 euros at the cheapest retailer is alright, as the mixture of materials is good and everything is solid and feels of good quality. There is not too much to report on when it comes to the exterior as the look is rather straightforward and simple. Sure, Cougar markets the chassis as a gaming case, but it may actually look a bit too bland for those gamers who go for cases in this price range. With that said, the rubber mat on top did put a smile on my face. While not a big feature, it is nice to have as placing an external hard-drive there would not only keep it from scratching up since the mat would also absorb any vibrations. Another highlight is the elaborate fan-mounting possibility in the ceiling; it really gives the user the utmost in flexibility.
Diving into the interior, there are the modular hard-drive bays, another highlight. These can be converted into 2.5'' bays because of the included hard-drive trays. The two fans Cougar includes out of the box, one of the retail variety, are nice as well. In stark contrast to that are the weird implementation of the cooling possibility with its magnetic cover and the non-removable dust filter in the top of the chassis. It would have also been nice had Cougar included rubber grommets with the cable-routing holes and more points through which cables can be affixed to the back of the motherboard tray.
The chassis ultimately weighs in nicely with some good features, but also suffers from some obvious shortcomings. Priced at 75 euros in Europe, it is a bit on the expensive side since it goes for a cool 60 euros in the US of A, and that is with a basic tax calculation. Considering its price in the US, the Cougar MX500 is a great buy, and one we can recommend with much afterthought. European shoppers may have a harder time when it comes time to decide, though, as the 75 euros segment is both diverse and viciously fought over.