Cougar GX 700 W Power Supply Review

Posted By Gabriel Torres on Jul 14, 2010 in Power

Introduction

The Cougar GX is another 80 Plus Gold power supply series to arrive on the market. Does the 700 W model deliver the efficiency promised by the manufacturer? Let’s check it out.

Cougar is based in Germany and belongs to HEC/Compucase, that manufactures all their power supplies.

Figure 1: Cougar GX 700 W power supply

Figure 2: Cougar GX 700 W power supply

The Cougar GX 700 W is 7.1” (180 mm) deep, using a fluid dynamic 140 mm fan on its bottom. The fan part number, PLA14025S12M, makes us believe that it is manufactured by Power Logic, even though the brand, “Cougar,” is printed on it.

This unit features active PFC, of course.

The GX 700 W comes with a modular cabling system with eight connectors, four red ones for video card power cables and four black ones for peripheral and SATA power connectors. Four cables are permanently attached to the power supply. The cables included are the following:

Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector, 25.2” (64 cm) long (permanently attached to the power supply)
One cable with one EPS12V connector, two ATX12V connectors that together form another EPS12V connector, and another ATX12V connector, 24.4” (62 cm) to the first connector and 11” (28 cm) between connectors (permanently attached to the power supply)
One cable with one six-pin connector for video cards, 20.9” (53 cm) long (permanently attached to the power supply)
One cable with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 20.9” (53 cm) long (permanently attached to the power supply)
Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 19.7” (50 cm) long (modular cabling system)
One cable with four SATA power connectors, 20.5” (52 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors (modular cabling system)
One cable with three SATA power connectors and two standard peripheral power connectors, 20.5” (52 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, 20.5” (52 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors (modular cabling system)
One cable with two standard peripheral power connectors, 20.5” (52 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors (modular cabling system)
One adapter to convert one standard peripheral power connector into a floppy disk drive power connector.

All wires are 18 AWG, except the ones in the main motherboard cable and in the cable with a six-pin connector that is permanently attach to the power supply, which are thicker (16 AWG).

The configurations and lengths of the cables are perfect. The power supply allows you to have up to two video cards that require two auxiliary power connectors each, and if you pay attention, the power supply comes with two connectors for video card power cables that are left unused on the modular cabling system, allowing you to install up to three video cards that require two power connectors each, if you buy the additional cables.

Figure 3: Cables