Stylish design of a particular product can make a lot of difference in sales of the product and when there is a perfect combination of style and quality a product actually becomes a best seller in the market. Gaming PCs are becoming more and more sophisticated nowadays. With advancement in technology they are becoming smaller and smaller yet more effective and powerful. They vary from the size of a cube to that can be hanged in a wall.
Different gamers choose different sorts of chassis, however an absolute mini chassis would limit the hardware installations and thereby would limit the gaming possibilities. Cougar provides the best possible chassis with optimal notions and maximum options. The Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis is exactly an example of the same where style meets quality and precision. Well this is a very unique Chassis that is meant to support all the electronic and digital parts that will give you an ultimate gaming experience like never before.
The Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis is highly sophisticated as well very user friendly as well which makes it the first choice for gamers. The best thing about this device is its size as its really small and cute which actually is totally opposite to the modern gaming chassis that is pretty big and requires a lot of space. So now let’s go on to the specifications of this product and know it better.
Cougar QBX mini- the overview
The Cougar QBX Mini-ITX chassis is a real beauty with elegant looks and built in specifications for perfect hardware combinations. The front surface is an epitome of excellence with stylish designs found on a pc case. It has the ability to house a total of seven fans thus providing the best cooling in the market of gaming pcs. It has the full potential to house a power packed pc at its full specification with the latest available technologies. It is thus one of its kind in the market.
Best in class size
Since the old gaming pcs had tower tall chassis, it has been a common belief that power packed pcs has to be quite bulky. However that is not the case for Cougar QBX Mini. It has support for high end latest graphics cards, can accommodate up to 4 SSDs along with 7 fans that come with water cooling support. All of this comes in a 15 inch long dimensional case. Thus it is actually a powerhouse with the mini size.
Specifications of the Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis
When it comes to the specifications of the Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis there is a lot to know so let’s understand it point wise.
- This device has a Mini ITX case, with a Mini ITX Mother board along with 178 x 291 x 384 (mm) / 7.01 x 11.46 x 15.12 (inch) dimension.
- This device supports Slot Loading Slim ODD with One 3.5” internal drive bay (HDD) and Four 2.5” Drive Bay (HDD/ S SD) along with 2 Expansion slots .
- When it comes to the sound system or you can say sound output the Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis is gifted with a 2 x USB3.0 / HD audio I/O Panel.
- An awesome cooling system of 7 fans where the fans are arranged in such a manner that they cool the whole unit effectively and no matter how much the device is used it does not get over heated and you can enjoy superior gaming for hours together.
The cooling systems with fans have unique specifications as
- Maximum of 7 fans with water cooling
- Front : single 80mm fan which is optional
- Top : 2 fans of dimension 120mm which are optional
- Rear : single 90mm fan which is pre-installed
- Bottom : 2 fans with dimensions of 120mm which is optional
- Left side: single 120mm fan or a single 240mm radiator with single 120mm 120 mm fan can be installed or a combination of single 120mm fan with 120mm radiator can be installed.
This device also has a fan filter that can be removed and cleaned very easily.
- The easy cable management system in the device also is an add on to the quality of the QBX Mini-ITX. This provides a cable feed that runs through the motherboard tray for managing and hiding cables.
- This among those devices that also has Radiators inside it where the first Radiator is a 240mm radiator and the second one is 120mm Radiator s both fixed with 120mm fans each.
- The Graphic card length is 350mm which is again best in its class, with a maximum cooler height of 150mm.
- The PSU is a PS2 ATX type that can be up to 140mm long.
Best in class cooling system
One of the things that make the Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis imply unbeatable is the cooling system. It is pretty common for gaming devices to get heated up pretty fast because of the speed and the clarity that they provide so it becomes mandatory for a gaming device to have a superior cooling system to make the device last long.
The Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis is cooled by 7 fans which make sure that no matter how long you play the device remains at a constant temperature and never gets over heated. This feature is ensured by water cooling vascular system that runs with the 7 cooling fans. The cooling feature is well understood by the following few points as listed below
- 7 cooling fans with water cooling that provides best in class cooling
- The design of chassis is aimed for best cooling support. Few openings along with fan locations allow a constant circulation of air with cooler air being constantly circulated into it.
- A special feature is Power supply Airflow which enables the circulated air to get in it, cool the system and leave out again with dedicated openings.
- Water cooling come with a radiators of 240mm equipped with fans of 120mm.
What’s in the box?
The unboxing of the Cougar QBX mini is a hell new experience. The box comes in a coloured attire which somewhat signifies a flagship product. Though many are of the opinion that coloured boxes signify a superior quality. The packaging is extensively well which increases the excitement multiple fold.
The box comes with the original Cougar QBX Mini packed from Taiwan, along with it is a packet of screws, a user manual, smaller packet of smaller screws which are for the ODD installation and finally a 80mm fan filter for the front mount fan installer. It is however suggested to go through the manual before any handling of the chassis.
A closer tour of the Cougar QBX
- Exterior
The body of the Cougar QBX chassis is mostly made of aluminium mesh. Both sides have the aluminium mesh finish which gives a sneak peek into the interior contents along with a circulated air cooling. This feature is however absent in other chassis with sealed body. The front surface is aluminium brushed to give a hairline surface texture. The brushed matte finish looks absolutely appealing on the chassis.
The front panel comes with I/O ports along with two USB 3.0 ports. The audio ports are pure metallic sockets instead of plastic ones. Thus when it comes to quality, Cougar does not let anyone down. The cheaper brands use plastic red or green sockets which is absolute no for QBX mini.
The top surface looks quite simple and plain, however a close look yields fan mounting holes with mesh aluminium for ventilation. The top panel has a sliding system that can be opened to reveal the ODD bay.
The bottom panel is supported with quite high stands which keeps the surface off a few distances from the ground. There are multiple holes on the feet for the screws of 120 mm fans. A total of two 120mm fans can be installed here on the bottom panel. There is an additional fan filter which is removable that is an extraordinary wire mesh that filters off all the dust.
- Interior
The Cougar QBX chassis is a beauty packed with multiple performance features. The interior is amazingly beautiful and is perfectly modular for any gaming expert. The interior is so designed that one can add any case, remove it or add another hardware and put it back on. The layout might be small yet it has a smarter arrangement. It can pack multiple high end hardware which one would never expect by just looking at it from outside.
- Left side
The left side of the interior of QBX is equipped with a removable interior panel before which the side panel has to be removed. The interior panel is attached to the frame by screws.
This interior panel has multiple hardware holding capabilities. It has screw holes for a single 120mm fan along with a 3.5inch hard drive cage and two 2.5inch hard drive slots. The drive mount can be removed and other hardwares can be installed. For instance a 240mm radiator can be installed or a 120mm fan would fit perfectly fine.
- Right side
The right side of the chassis has a huge cut out for the motherboard which gives easy access for installation of cooling fans on the motherboard back. Behind the motherboard area there is another bay for 2.5inch SSDs.
- Top panel
The top panel is simply attached to the chassis by two screws at the back. It can be removed after removing the screws and one can have better access to the QBXs interior for easy installation of hardware and drives. There are 2 slots for 120mm fans. However one might face issues for installing both 120mm fans on this pan el as there is a power source beneath the second slot. A smaller fan can be used in this slot.
- Build and installation- revealing the requirements
To get the maximum outcome from the QBX Mini, the following minimal hardware requirements must be kept in mind.
- Processor : Intel i5-4670k
- Motherboard : ECS z97i-DRONEmini ITX
- CPU coolers : Cryorig H7/ID cooling IS-40 SFX
- Memory : Kingston HyperX 10-year Anniversary Edition 2x4GB 1886 MHz
- Graphics card: Gigabyte GTX 770 OC Windforce
- Drives: Kingston Hyperx SSD, SuperSSpeed S304 SSD
- Power supply: Silverstone PP05-E Flat PSU cable set
- Hidden front drive with ODD
The front of the chassis is equipped with a module for the slim slot that loads the ODD and a drive bay that holds the 2.5inch drive.
- Power supply port
The power supply port is located behind the front panel closer towards the right of the chassis. The input power socket faces the top of the QBX with the rear facing the top too. At this orientation the power supply is supposed to receive fresh air flowing in from the side of the chassis through the aluminium mesh.
Superior Design
Gaming devices are pretty huge and cover a lot of space; some people say that these devices look like hulk as well. But when it comes to design the Cougar QBX Mini-ITX Chassis is super-hot and sleek. This device is 2 times smaller than the normal gaming chassis but has more than what you see in a modern day device related to gaming. So you see this is a whole package of excellence.
A final verdict
The Cougar QBX Mini-ITX chassis is a dream chassis for every gamer out there. It has impressive and pleasing looks and boasts a powerful interior for holding the latest hardwares. The hairline aluminium finish with a matte finish is every gamers’ feast to the eye. Besides the interior features are a very welcoming one. The size of this chassis is perfect to carry around when needed.
The overall aluminium frame makes it durable as well as light weight. The best feature about it is presence of 7 cooling fans with water cooling systems. Thus it is surely value for money. With some 50-60 dollars in the wallet any gamer can own this piece of excellence. As far, it can be one of the best gaming chassis.
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