HEC Compucase Cougar 1000CM Modular PSU
Conclusion
Published: 23rd October 2009 | Source: HEC | Price: £147.08 |
Conclusion
If I were to base this review on looks alone, then the HEC Cougar 1000CM would easily be in my top 5. The orange paint job is really is striking and has an almost colour-shift effect to it that changes under different lighting angles. The black fan grill and screws contrast really well. And the snake-like black/white/orange striped sleeving is totally unique and completes the look.
Unfortunately what lets this PSU down is the performance. Never before have I seen such large ripple spikes across all rails on a PSU. 140mV on the +12v rail at idle is simply unacceptable and I can only hope that this is the result of a faulty sample rather than anything to do with the sparing use of unidentifiable capacitors on the secondary side of the unit. Things only got worse throughout the testing with ripple consistently breaking 200mV and sometimes even briefly coming close to 300mV although this happened to infrequently to catch in a screenshot.
The voltage stability on the other hand was slightly more acceptable with the worst results being seen in tests 4 and 7 where the +12v rail dropped down to 11.70v. Of course this is well inside ATX specifications and only represents a 3.3% fluctuation from the idle voltage of 12.10v. Similarly the +3.3v and +5v rails only dropped as low as 3.21v and 4.81v respectively representing less than 5% fluctuation on each rail. Never less, enthusiasts will undoubtedly frown on these results knowing that there are plenty of other PSU's out there than can achieve much tighter regulation.
Efficiency however, regularly exceeded expectations with the Cougar achieving around 89% at 500-750w loads. Only in tests 5 where the unit was subjected to a heavy crossload did the efficiency drop to 79%, but this is pretty much expected as a 170w load on only the +3.3v and +5v rails is not going to be something easily replicated in any ordinary PC system.
At the end of the day, it's hard to recommend the Cougar 1000CM due to the ripple issues. If HEC can get this fixed or prove that this was simply a faulty batch then the outcome would certainly be different. The Cougar is one very smartly dressed PSU that would go down a treat inside any PC with an orange theme, but unfortunately looks count for very little when it comes to powering high-end PC systems.
The Good
- Orange paintwork looks great.
- High quality, unique sleeving.
- Great efficiency at medium load levels.
- Silent operation.
The Mediocre
- Appearance of PSU is only likely to appeal to small market segment.
- Voltage regulation is fairly average.
- Little white lie about the 14cm fan which is actually 13.5cm.
The Bad
- Awful ripple results from all rails at all loads.
Thanks to HEC Compucase for sending the Cougar 1000CM in for review. Discuss in our forums.
Further to the publishing of this review, HEC Compucase have responded with the following statement:
Dear James,
Firstly I would like to thank you and Overclock3d for reviewing our Cougar power supply posted 23rd October 2009. Admittedly it was not the kind of review that we were hoping for nor expecting.
Action had to be taken by Compucase HEC, this industry relies heavily on reviews and word of mouth, for us to not do anything was unthinkable, therefore the review went directly to our R&D department and the product manager in Taiwan where they took the review apart paragraph by paragraph.
The good news is a revised version will be going into production next week of the 1000w, that will address the ripple issue that you highlighted as well as some other smaller points you brought to our attention.
I firmly believe this has been a worthwhile exercise that has allowed us to revisit, review and correct the issues you highlighted, we wanted to demonstrate the level of support you could expect from Compucase HEC, being the “new kid on the block” (excuse the pun) we have to work that little bit harder to prove ourselves.
Mark Szachno
Compucase UK Ltd.
Firstly I would like to thank you and Overclock3d for reviewing our Cougar power supply posted 23rd October 2009. Admittedly it was not the kind of review that we were hoping for nor expecting.
Action had to be taken by Compucase HEC, this industry relies heavily on reviews and word of mouth, for us to not do anything was unthinkable, therefore the review went directly to our R&D department and the product manager in Taiwan where they took the review apart paragraph by paragraph.
The good news is a revised version will be going into production next week of the 1000w, that will address the ripple issue that you highlighted as well as some other smaller points you brought to our attention.
I firmly believe this has been a worthwhile exercise that has allowed us to revisit, review and correct the issues you highlighted, we wanted to demonstrate the level of support you could expect from Compucase HEC, being the “new kid on the block” (excuse the pun) we have to work that little bit harder to prove ourselves.
Mark Szachno
Compucase UK Ltd.
Most Recent Comments
shame he didnt destroy it... Horrible results for such a costly piece of hardware...Quote
It's a shame that peformance wasn't better. I would definately have bought one of these units for my rig otherwise. Maybe if they sort out some issues I might get one when I get around to painting my case orange.Quote
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Socks'
shame he didnt destroy it... Horrible results for such a costly piece of hardware...
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Luckily the OCP/OPP kicked in before anything went "POP" every time. So at least the safety is there.Quote
still... no match for corsair or cm psus.. especially for the money...its like buying thermal take watercooling kit cos it "looks nice"....
looks over performance = FAIL!Quote
looks over performance = FAIL!Quote
Compucase have responded to the review with the following statement:
Furthermore, Compucase have also agreed to send us a revised unit when they are available.Quote
Dear James,
Firstly I would like to thank you and Overclock3d for reviewing our Cougar power supply posted 23rd October 2009. Admittedly it was not the kind of review that we were hoping for nor expecting.
Action had to be taken by Compucase HEC, this industry relies heavily on reviews and word of mouth, for us to not do anything was unthinkable, therefore the review went directly to our R&D department and the product manager in Taiwan where they took the review apart paragraph by paragraph.
The good news is a revised version will be going into production next week of the 1000w, that will address the ripple issue that you highlighted as well as some other smaller points you brought to our attention.
I firmly believe this has been a worthwhile exercise that has allowed us to revisit, review and correct the issues you highlighted, we wanted to demonstrate the level of support you could expect from Compucase HEC, being the ânew kid on the blockâ (excuse the pun) we have to work that little bit harder to prove ourselves.
Mark Szachno
Compucase UK Ltd.
Furthermore, Compucase have also agreed to send us a revised unit when they are available.Quote
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