COUGAR Spike Black Steel / Plastic MicroATX Mini Tower Gaming Case with USB 3.0 and 12CM Cougar Fan

Pros: Included fan is not as loud as expected by the other reviews, though as a dedicated HTPC this would emit more noise than wanted. But hey, the case was $35! Low price, love the hinge installation for drives, low profile LEDs, and Front facing USB 3.0 (total selling point IMO)

Cons: None found yet!

Other Thoughts: I'm using this as an HTPC server but wanted a case that could be upgraded easily, still fit components I need for gaming, and nestle nicely into a little area in my small room. I found the perfect case!

Pros: This is a nice case if you are putting it in a small area. Sturdy, tool less, no sharp edges, and 4 120mm fan spaces. looks cool to with a blue fan in the front.
Love this case for the most part.(see cons)

Cons: I have 2 gripes about this case. first is no cutout for the motherboard back plate. not really a big deal cause i saw that in the pics so no egg for that. Did take away an for the lack of space between the side panel and the motherboard tray. It is so close it almost touches. Because of this, if you are not using a modular power supply, cable management is next to impossible!!!

Pros: Supports four 120mm fans to keep my small gaming rig cool. This case feels solid and not flimsy like other cases in this price range.

Cons: None that I can see.

Other Thoughts: I am not sure if you can mount a hyper 212 heatsink with both side fans installed. I can't remember exactly but I think my clearance to the side of the case was 160mm or so without fans installed.

Pros: Great mATX mini case for the budget gamer!

Just the right fit for mATX boards!
Great fan mountings front/rear/back

The free 120mm fan rated at .30 amps was icing on this deal!

Cons: Don't put high profile components inside.

Make sure to check measurements first.

Pros: Price and construction.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Very nice case for the money.

Pros: It has a nice look. While not heavy it is also not overly thin...not as "cheap" feeling as others. Not real big, but I still had plenty of room to work. PSU, HD and CD/DVD drives went in easy.

Cons: The only "con" is the cougar emblem on the front will want to come off if you try peeling the thin plastic covering off of it.

Other Thoughts: If you're looking to build a system I think you'll like this case.

Pros: For the money its a decent little case. Not going to go into everything cause others have said it .

Cons: Case fan is very noisy. Going to have to replace it. Not a big deal but an extra trip to the store before I can deliver it to the person I am building it for.

Other Thoughts: If you are buying this case get a different case fan.

Pros: Small, good HSF clearance (my Xigmatek Gaia fits, Intel 1155 platform), side panels are interchangeable, black interior is nice, fairly quiet fan, ample hardware and its cheap.

Cons: Thin steel feels flimsy before the side panels are attached, perforated side panel, front panel looks too gamer-ish, placement of the top external 3.5" drive bay may cause ram clearance issues, no cable management and no hole in the motherboard tray for heat sink mounting bracket access.

Other Thoughts: My previous ATX tower was lot bigger in height and depth but the width was nearly identical. In my old case, the side panel interfered with my Xigmatek Gaia 120mm heat pipe heat sink so I had to take out the window and let the heat pipe ends protrude. This case fits with enough clearance that I'm not worried about anything rubbing or interfering (but hard to measure).

That's the first big win for this case, #2 is that the side panels interchange side to side so I put the perforated side under the motherboard tray where it won't cause air flow issues.

I didn't like the configuration as delivered with the perforations on the side and rear mounted fan, that seems like it would blow hot air out the back just to get sucked back through the side, negating any benefit of the fan.

What I did was move the fan to the front, inside the front panel to pressurize the case and work with the PSU fan to create front to back flow and I swapped the panels so the perforations will not be the path of least resistance. It seems to work because I can feel air exiting both the PSU vents and the rear panel perforations, the noise is minimal.

The external 3.5" drive bay is centered so if you attach a 3.5" hard drive, it hangs over my ram slots. I have Crucial Ballistix vlp ram and it clears. Samsung green ram would work too but anything that extends over the ram clips probably will interfere with that hard drive location. There is actually room to slide the drive forward but then the mounting holes will not line up. If the bay had been offset like the lower 3.5" bays, the interference would be gone and they could have made it tool-less like the other two.

While we are on the topic of 3.5" drives, don't install the heat sink before the hard drives, I had to use the top slot because it was the only one I could get a drive in after my motherboard/hsf were installed and you can't install the motherboard after the hard drives are in. Unless you have a very very small heat sink, it will have to be removed to swap the two lower hard drives. A removable bay is what this case needs.

All in all, the good far outweighs the bad with this case and the price can't be beat.

Pros: Not flimsy feeling. Nice positive feeling power switch. No sharp edges that I'm aware of. Not cheapy.

Cons: Cougar sticker may fall off.

Pros: Great Price
Front panel USB3.0
Decent cooling options
Black interior
Tool-less drive mounting
Thumb screws for the 2 side panels

Cons: Only 1 USB3.0 on front panel

Other Thoughts: Just really love this case, had exactly what i wanted for a great price of $34.99.