A Closer Look - Inside

Access the interior by removing the four screws holding each panel in place. In comparison to the exterior, Cougar has kept the interior fairly straightforward and simple with an all-black paint job, the usual layout, and a plastic shroud on the bottom. However, looking behind the motherboard tray, it becomes apparent that there is a bit more to it than meets the eye at first.


There is about 45 mm of space between the case's edge and the motherboard tray, which is required to fit 3.5" drives comfortably, but also has the added benefit of giving you lots of room to work with to route cables nicely.


The space is utilized quite well since Cougar put four angled 2.5" drive bays into the front area. These are completely tool-less, and even though you may easily remove them, are designed in a way that allows you to slide drives in and out with ease. You will also find two 3.5/2.5" drive trays for more traditional storage units here.


Cougar placed a solid shroud on the bottom of the chassis to keep the interior as tidy as possible and hide the cable mess you will usually find at the base of a power supply. Unfortunately, it comes with this ugly sticker to tell you how to detach it. A shroud out of metal would have been better, and it should have some sort of additional use besides solely covering the PSU, like holding additional drives or allowing for a pump to be placed on it. It simply looks like wasted potential for a chassis with a lot of detail in all other areas. This becomes especially apparent during assembly as a few openings for cable routing would have been great as well.


If you look closely into the front, there are three RGB-equipped 120 mm fans that push air into the case with a magnetic metal mesh cover set to keep dust out of the interior. A plastic shroud has been placed along the left edge of the fans to divert some of the air behind the motherboard tray and cool the hard drives between the side panel and board.


The PSU bay in the rear does not come lined with any rubber layers as an anti-vibration measure, but odds of this becoming an issue are slim. Above that are the eight expansion slot covers, each secured with a thumbscrew. In the very top, you will find the previously mentioned 120 mm fan.


All the cables within the Cougar Panzer Max are sleeved black and of the standard variety. You will also find a SATA power connector alongside three 3-pin fan connectors which lead to the fan controller. With the included splitters, you may connect a total of seven such fans to this unit, and through it, the built-in controller. Interestingly enough, all four RGB LED units are PWM 4-pin variants; they cannot be attached to the controller at all, making it useless out of the box.