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NZXT TEMPEST - Enthusiast Steel Mid-Tower
| Author: | Matthew Homan |
| Date: | 2008.12.03 |
| Topic: | Cases |
| Provider: | NZXT |
| Manufacturer: | NZXT |
| Author: | Matthew Homan |
| Date: | 2008.12.03 |
| Topic: | Cases |
| Provider: | NZXT |
| Manufacturer: | NZXT |
So your looking to build a new rig or maybe you just want a new case to hold the guts of your rig. Maybe, the case you presently have is just a little too crowded and you would like to get a slightly larger case maybe a full tower. So with all the options on the market today which range from mild to wild from the economy case, which looks like a case from 10 years ago, to a case that is made out of all lexane and glows as if it were a something out of a science fiction movie. So as with most of us, we only have a couple of bucks to burn and want something that is a full tower, light in weight, and gets good to great air flow, isn't too crazy to look at and doesn't cost a lot. NZXT has developed the Tempest case which I believe meets all prior requirements. Now I have reviewed a lot of cases in past reviews and besides one short coming with the Tempest, I feel for the value, I would be hard press to find a comparitive case for the money. Lets take a look at NZXT's Tempest to see what it has to offer.
| Dual radiator ready: The NZXT Tempest is pre-drilled for mounting a dual 120mm radiator at the top of the chassis, currently compatible and tested with Swiftech MCR220, Asetek Dual radiator solution, and Thermaltake TMG2. | |
| Airflow King: Dual 120mm intake, Dual 140mm Exhaust with an additional side 120mm fan and rear 120mm fan all included. | |
| Maximize Expandability: E-ATX support allows more compatibility with high end components including large graphics cards | |
| Easier accessibility & cable management: Cable routing is pre-drilled on the motherboard so users can hide cables behind the motherboard tray, allowing more a cleaning look and better airflow. Power, E-SATA, USB and Reset buttons are mounted at the top to give better accessibility. | |
| Bottom mounted PSU: PSU mounting at the bottom allows for more security and separation of heat from the CPU | |
| Server-like HDD space: Dual 120mm fans cool cages that hold up to 8 HDDs allowing for large capacity systems while maintaining cool temperatures |
| Model | Tempest SERIES |
| Case Type | MID TOWER Steel |
| Front Panel Material | Plastic |
| Dimensions | 211.5 X 521.5 X 562 mm |
| Cooling System | FRONT, 2 X 120 mm Blue LED (included) REAR, 1 X 120 mm (included) SIDE PANEL, 1 X 120mm Blue LED (included) TOP, 2 X 140mm Fan (included) |
| Drive Bays | 9 DRIVE BAYS 3 EXTERNAL 5.25" DRIVE BAYS ( up to six 5.25" ) 1 3.5" External bracket 8 INTERNAL 3.5" DRIVE BAYS Screwless Rail Design |
| Material(s) | Steel Construction |
| Expansion Slots | 7 |
| Power Supply | 500 WATT PS2 ATX 12V 2.0 ( OPTIONAL ) |
| Weight | 11.2 KGS (W/O Power) |
| Motherboard Support | MOTHERBOARDS: E-ATX ATX, MICRO-ATX, BABY AT |
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The Tempest looks pretty tame with no wild colors or designs |
The face plate are metal and perforated for air flow. They are also backed with a plastic foam to assist the filtering out dust. In the bottom 5.25" drive bay behind the face plate there is an adapter which can be pulled forward into position for those of you who still need a 3.5" bay to be accessible from the front of the case. |
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Another look at the front of the case shows the mesh front of the case. There are two 120mm fans which when the PC is powered on, light up a cool blue. |
The top of the case has a panel area for the power, reset eSATA, and two USB ports. This is my favorite feature as I don't have to open a door to get to the power button on the time or having to get to the back of the case in order to use the eSATA or USB ports. |
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The top of the case is also setup with two 120mm fans which are very quite. These fans do not light up. |
The side panel window is a good size and also has a 120mm fan which glows blue. |
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The back of the tempest is setup very nicely with another 120mm fan which does not light up. The power supply is arranged at the bottom of the case and will need to be mounted upside down since there is no exhaust port out the bottom. The Tempest is also setup with two ports to run a water lines for water cooling. |
The Tempest is fully populated and powered on. The cool blue LED lit 120mm fans provide enough lighting to get ones attention, and not to extreme. |
The exterior of the NZXT Tempest is very bussiness like, kinda like a black suite and tie appearance, then once the tempest is powered on, the ominous blue glow and very silent fans will leave your friends guessing.
With the case opened and contents layed out, the Tempest setup doesn't look too different than any other mid tower case. |
The Tempest comes with the standard rails and screws. |
The hard drive bays are arranged just behind the two 120mm fans for the best cooling setup. With the 120mm fans pulling air from the front of the case and blowing it directly onto the hard drives. |
This photo shows the 5.25" drive bay setup. |
The top and back of the case is shown here with three 120mm fans and their mounting arrangements. This design is such to exhaust the tempest with a grand total of 360mm of air. |
Shown here are the 5.25" bays' quick releases which are favored in any case on the market today. The down side to the Tempest here is the back side of the 5.25" bays. There is no quick release setup and if you really want the device mounted at all, you must use the provided extra long screws which come with the Tempest case. These proved to be extremely frustrating to install. |
The Tempest was populated with a micro ATX motherboard, hard drive, DVD ROM, and power supply. With no hide-away cable management, the case looked pretty cluttered. |
Another angle of the case being populated shows the power supply having to be mounted upside down due to the PS fan needing to exhaust somewhere, since the tempest didn't have a vent out the bottom. |
The packaging segment of this review is usually near the beginning of case reviews, but due to a design flaw with this first release of the Tempest and what I had to say about it, I figured you wouldn't read the rest of the review. The Tempest came in the standard run-of-the-mill computer case box with the case in a plastic bag and two pieces of foam holding the case firmly in place for shipping. This packaging arrangement was nothing new, nor did I see a reason to take photos of the same packaging arrangement as 99% of all the other computer cases on the market today. I removed the tempest from the packaging and proceeded to take photos and then continuing to populate the case with computer components. About a week or so later, I noticed the top of the case near the front was loose, now I wasn't sure at this point if this happened during shipping or while I was carrying it from the build table to the desk, but after further investigation it turns out that the top-front of the case is held on by two little tabs of plastic which screw into the front of the tempest case metal. These two little tabs of plastic if pressured snapped which allows me to lift the front part of the top. Now NZXT had sent TWL two of the Tempest cases for our review, so we opened the box to the second case and removed it carefully and examined these tabs to confirm they were not broken and they weren't. Next I moved the computer components from the first case to the second. Some weeks later TWL had a LAN party which I took the Tempest rig to. I had a friend carry the case from the car to the party and during which time the two tabs broke on the second case. Maybe a design flaw, but these two little tabs seem a little too weak..
Shown here the top is lifted by the corner. |
Here is a close up of the weak plastic tab which was once part of the top. |
The installation of the motherboard and the rest of the components into the NZXT Tempest was not bad at all. There was plenty of space to install the components and run cables. Though the lack of cable runs which would assist with hiding the cables was a little disappointing. The mounting screws which are required to mount the right side of any 5.25" drive bay component was also disappointing and above all else frustrating as each time the screw missed the mounting screw threads, the screw would drop between the motherboard panel and the 5.25" wall which resulted in leaning the case one direction or another to get the screw to drop. Finally the Tempest as stated above needs some re-engineering on the front two tabs which hold the top. Since both cases had broken within the first few times they were handled, and not roughly at all seemed to be a real downfall to its design. Despite this design flaw, the case is still a nice chassis. If you would like to pick up this case, you can find it on Newegg for $119.99.
