Should you’re buying this case, know that it is available in eight mix-and-match mixtures. Whilst you’d anticipate to pay a bit additional for its variations with a tempered-glass face, right here it’s Cougar’s freer-airflow “Mesh” model that prices $10 extra; that’s since you get twin 160mm ARGB followers up entrance that you just don’t with the glass model. The “Imaginative and prescient” model is what I examined; it has a 462-by-1,920-pixel digital show on the face of the decrease chamber, on the left facet, and that bit of glitz provides $80.
Obtained all that? The 4 circumstances are represented because the CFV235 ($139.99, glass entrance, no show), CFV235 Mesh ($149.99, mesh entrance, no show), CFV235 Imaginative and prescient ($219.99, glass entrance, with show, my check mannequin), and CFV235 Mesh Imaginative and prescient ($229.99, mesh entrance, with show). Not sufficient selection? Cougar serves up all 4 configurations in a alternative of black or white. That makes for the eight.
Now, as for that funky two-part design. Cougar separates the motherboard chamber from the facility provide chamber of the CFV235 with an air hole, utilizing what would have been the facility provide shroud to cap the underside of the higher part, and including one thing that resembles a backside panel to the highest of the decrease part. The ability provide mounts upside-down on this chassis, with its cowl fan drawing air from vents in that high cowl.
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Whereas a lot of the face in my Imaginative and prescient mannequin consists of two glass items, a sheet-metal portion packing containers within the house between the CFV235’s motherboard tray and the fitting facet panel. From that perspective, the motherboard chamber is cantilevered from this construction.
The design places the “entrance” ports in an uncommon spot: on the decrease chamber’s left facet, close to the entrance, to the fitting of the show panel. Up there are two Sort-A USB ports and one Sort-C, plus a headset combo jack and two buttons. The Sort-A ports are Gen 1; the Sort-C port connects by way of Gen 2×2 (20Gbps max); and the combo jack helps each commonplace headphones and single-connector headsets with built-in microphones. As for the buttons, the smaller one flips by the built-in ARGB controller’s 18 lighting modes, whereas the bigger is the facility button. It exhibits its power-on indicator LED by a small gap.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The cut-out hole between the 2 chambers is extra evident whenever you view the case from the rear, the place a single rear panel covers each chambers’ backs. A 120mm ARGB fan is fitted to height-adjustable slots up high, the upside-down energy provide bay is inset deeply down under, and the dual 120mm ARGB consumption followers are faintly seen off to the facet by perforations in the fitting panel.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A detachable mud filter is accessible by way of the plastic tab seen protruding from the again of the hole.
Keep in mind what I mentioned in regards to the energy provide being deeply inset? This additional distance provides round an inch to the required PSU power-cable size to succeed in your 4-pin or 8-pin CPU energy connector(s) and the 24-pin essential connector, and the air hole between chambers provides roughly one other inch, in contrast with conventional tower designs. Some energy provides might not have lengthy sufficient cables, and you might have to supply an extension cable or cables, particularly for the CPU energy connector(s) in your motherboard. That will have been a considerate addition to the accent equipment.
A detachable twin 2.5-inch drive tray can also be seen close to the highest of the motherboard tray, considered from the again. It covers the same old gap positioned to permit entry to the assist plates required by some CPU coolers.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
You may mount two extra 2.5-inch drives (or 3.5-inch drives) above and inside the facility provide bay’s detachable drive cage, however remember that getting screws up by the highest of the cage (for the second drive) requires eradicating the screws from the underside of the case that maintain the cage in place.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A circuit board on the high of the case, behind the motherboard tray in a hidden spot, serves as each a six-device ARGB controller and a powered PWM six-fan hub. It passes by the PWM sign of an enter cable (sometimes related to a motherboard fan output), and it could possibly additionally use an enter sign handy off ARGB controller performance to a different system (sometimes from a motherboard ARGB header).
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Although its high panel snaps off with out instruments, and each facet panels elevate off the underside edge after unsnapping them from the highest, the CFV235’s entrance panel is redundantly secured with screws at its outer two corners. Given right here, it’s glass, in all probability not a nasty concept.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The highest panel has twin fan-mounting patterns to place as much as three 120mm followers or two 140mm followers inside an roughly 440mm house. That’s sufficient to suit any 360mm-format radiator I can consider, however not sufficient for any 420mm-format unit, because the finish caps of radiators often require 30mm to 50mm of house past the ends of the radiator core.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The motherboard chamber’s decrease panel helps a second trio of 120mm followers on threaded (#6-32) mounting holes.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Within the center, a knurled screw and bracket assist a horizontal tab that acts as a miniature graphics card brace. You merely loosen the screw to drop it out of the way in which, set up a card, and slide the bracket up till the rubber strip makes agency contact with the GPU cooler’s body. A second slot permits the unit to be moved to accommodate varied GPU exterior shapes and designs.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Holes across the fringe of the motherboard mounting space assist rear-facing motherboard connectors utilized in cable-hiding ATX or MicroATX boards from Asus’ Again to the Future (BTF) and MSI’s Undertaking Zero motherboard collection.
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(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Painted black on its again facet, the decrease entrance glass pops away from 4 snaps to show two screws that safe the decrease facet glass. The plate will slide ahead for removing after these screws are out, however remember that the port cables that feed the panel’s ports are zip-tied to the underside of the facility provide chamber’s lid and to the decrease fringe of the motherboard tray’s again.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A detachable body holds the facet panel’s digital show towards the facet glass; the show’s controller is mounted to the again of that body. Not that you’ve any cause to take it aside, however in the event you do take away the decrease facet glass, remember that the show panel might fall out if dealt with carelessly.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
