Cougar has launched a smart looking new PC case which is aimed at “travelling gamers and LAN Party dominance”. Its design is said to be “military style… study and solid,” which is hard to argue with, but for a Mini-ITX case with portability in mind it is both relatively large (175 x 335 x 403mm, or 175 x 299 x 403mm [21 litres] not including handles) and weighty (6.05kg unpopulated).
The Cougar Dust 2 features sand blasted anodized aluminium panels front and back, featuring minimal bevels and angles, which are finished in a cool Desert Sand, Iron Grey or Space Silver. Atop of the case, front and back is a pair of carry handles, which are said to be comfortable, and look like they are hewn from anodized metal. Easy to access I/O is available to the front left side, next to where the perforated side panel. The I/O is a bit stingy with one of each of the following; USB 3.0 Type-A, USB 3.1 Gen-2 Type-C, headset combo jack, reset, and power button.
Cougar says that the Dust 2 affords “top-notch performance” with the capacity for a full-sized vertical GPU (up to 330mm, PCIe riser provided), and PSU (160mm PS2 ATX). Complementing such hardware is the capacity for beefy cooling solutions, such as an up to 280mm liquid cooling setup (top panel mounting). Cooling is further enhanced by the Dust 2’s independent ventilation zones – for GPU, CPU, and PSU, Moreover, the unfussy and functional mesh ventilation panels to left and right sides help hot air flow away naturally.
Sadly, I don’t have Cougar Dust 2 availability info to share as yet. As for pricing, I have nothing official but have spotted multiple Chinese retail listings advertising this at the equivalent of £110.
