Cougar CMX 700 W Power Supply Review

Posted By Gabriel Torres on Jun 21, 2011 in Power

Introduction

Cougar is a brand that belongs to HEC/Compucase, originally targeted to the European market. Recently, they started expanding to the North American market as well. The CMX is comprised of 80 Plus Bronze units with a modular cabling system, in 550 W, 700 W, 1,000 W, and 1,200 W versions. Let’s see if the 700 W version is a good pick.

The 1,000 W and 1,200 W versions use a DC-DC design in their secondary, feature not available in the 550 W and 700 W models.

Figure 1: Cougar CMX 700 W power supply

Figure 2: Cougar CMX 700 W power supply

The Cougar CMX 700 W is 6.3” (160 mm) deep, using a 140 mm fan on its bottom (Power Logic PLA14025S12M). The fan sticker says that it has a hydro-dynamic bearing, however, the part number decodes to a sleeve bearing model. (See the letter “S.” Hydro-dynamic bearing fans would have the letter “H” there.) 

This unit has a modular cabling system with six connectors (two red for video card power cables and four black for SATA and peripheral power cables), and four cables are permanently attached to the power supply. This power supply comes with the following cables:

• Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector, 23.6” (60 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
• One cable with one EPS12V connector and two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, 23.6” (60 cm) to the first connector, 11.8” (30 cm) between connectors, permanently attached to the power supply
• One cable with one six-pin connector for video cards, 19.7” (50 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
• One cable with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 19.7” (50 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
• One cable with one six-pin connector for video cards, 20.1” (51 cm) long, modular cabling system
• One cable with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 20.1” (51 cm) long, modular cabling system
• One cable with three SATA power connectors, 19.7” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• One cable with three SATA power connectors and one standard peripheral power connector, 19.7” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• One cable with two SATA power connectors and two standard peripheral power connectors, 19.7” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• One cable with three standard peripheral power connectors, 19.7” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• One adapter to convert any standard peripheral power connector into a floppy disk drive power connector, 5.9” (15 cm) long

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the correct gauge to be used.

The cable configuration is excellent for a 700 W product.

Figure 3: Cables

Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.

• Contents
• 1. Introduction
• 2. A Look Inside the Cougar CMX 700 W
• 3. Transient Filtering Stage
• 4. Primary Analysis
• 5. Secondary Analysis
• 6. Power Distribution
• 7. Load Tests
• 8. Overload Tests
• 9. Main Specifications
• 10. Conclusions