Review: NZXT Tempest Case

Established in 2004, El Monte, Calif.-based NZXT has been striving to become the premier chassis manufacturer for the gaming community.

The Test Center recently built a system designed around the new NZXT Tempest case and found it to be a capable, relatively low-cost solution for builders outside of the gaming world as well.

Billed as "The Airflow King," the Tempest is a black, steel, mid-tower case with a total of six included fans. There are two 120mm intake fans in the front, two 140mm exhaust fans on the top, and additional 120mm fans on the side and rear. Like most gamer-focused cases, the left panel has a window. Continuing with the airflow theme, there are holes next to the motherboard tray that allow for the routing of excess cabling under the board. This makes for a neater looking, and cooler system. Other cooling-based features are a bottom-mounted power supply (not included) and eight server-like hard drive bays situated behind the front fans. Additionally, for liquid cooling solutions, there are grommet-filled holes in the back and the Tempest is pre-drilled to mount a dual radiator at the top.

From the moment we took the case out of its shipping box, reviewers were impressed by the sharp lines of the Tempest. Inside we found a box of assorted screws in individually labeled plastic bags. The standoff holes drilled into the motherboard tray were numbered and there was a sticker listing the supported board sizes (the chassis can accommodate full ATX and smaller), with the respective hole numbers that needed to be used. The working area of the case gave us plenty of room to assemble the system without cramming our hands into tight spaces. We were most impressed with drive installation on the case. Both hard drives and optical drives are installed with screw-less brackets. (Up to eight) hard drives are mounted with rails that attach to the screw holes on either side, then slide into the HDD cage vertically. Optical drives simply slide into the appropriate slot and are secured with a bracket that attaches where screws would normally go, and then locked into place with a twist of a handle.

Unfortunately, to install the optical drives (or any other drive into the 5.25 inch bays); the front panel must be removed. Although this is not difficult, it does take a little extra time and runs the risk of a broken tab or two if not done carefully. Out of five, 5.25 inch bays, three are external, one of which houses a removable tray that functions as an adapter to mount a 3.5 inch drive. This tray was just as easy to use as all the other mounts.

Considering the amount of fans, reviewers were amazed at how quiet this case is. We had to place our ears close to the box before any sound could be heard. Of course, no chassis would interest the gaming community if there weren't any lights, and the Tempest doesn't disappoint here either. The window-mounted fan on the left panel, as well as the two fans between the front of the case and the hard drive cages, all emit a blue glow from internal LEDs. There are also two blue LEDs running straight down the edge of both sides of the front panel. While this may sound like a lot of light, it is actually very subtle and adds a level of refinement to the system.

At the top of the case are the Power and Reset buttons, as well as E-SATA and USB ports. They are all easily accessible, and their silver finish makes for a classy look against the case's flat black color.

Although the Tempest was planned with gamers in mind, its high airflow design, screw-less drive bays, and $99 MSRP make it a nice alternative for servers too. In addition, with different partner programs for resellers and system builders, NZXT is aggressively trying to make a name for themselves in the channel.