Introduction

We would like to thank Cougar for supplying the review sample.



Cougar's LX line thus far includes two members with capacities of 500 W and 600 W. These units are only 80 PLUS Bronze certified since they mostly address budget-oriented users and definitely not enthusiasts. Their features are pretty interesting despite their low efficiency since the platform includes two DC-DC converters for the generation of the minor rails instead of a more affordable cross-regulated design. Both PSUs also use a fully modular cabling design and a quality HDB (Hydro Dynamic Bearing) fan. Very rarely does a Bronze PSU feature flat modular cables and a quality fan and is as compact as these. Some of you might wonder why Cougar didn't leave any of these exotic features out, like the fully modular cables or the HDB fan, in order to use better components that would increase efficiency. The platform probably needs a lot of tweaking, but we believe the main reason behind such a decision to be a marketing strategy. Cougar most likely sought to avoid the tough competition in the 80 PLUS Gold category with this line. Their main competitors in the Bronze category are Corsair's Builder series (CX and CXM) since EVGA's Bronze units belong to an even lower category.

We are going to evaluate the LX600; it has a capacity of 600 W and is equipped with four PCIe connectors, which makes a pretty strong gaming system possible. Given the low energy needs of modern GPUs, a mid-capacity PSU can easily support two of them. Its other features include a single +12V rail and a 40 °C temperature rating for continuous full-power delivery. We should stress here that many budget PSUs have lower temperature ratings.