NZXT Tempest “AirFlow King” Case Evaluation

We have only recently started checking out products from NZXT, prior to this month (August) we have not really dealt with them as a company. However our first impression of them after testing out the NZXT Sentry LX is a good one and we are looking forward to trying out their bread and butter, PC enclosures. Thankfully we did not have to wait long, as our second NZXT offering for this month we have the NZXT Tempest up on the table. The enclosure which is self-labeled as the “Airflow King” will the Tempest blow you over or will it not even ruffle your hair? As always, read on to find out.

Product: NZXT Tempst     
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed on: August 8th 2008
Product cost: $109.99 (at Newegg.com)
Manufacturer: NZXT
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Construction}
Packaging and Construction:
Packaging can speak volumes about a product. It is the first chance for a manufacturer to catch the consumer’s eye. The box the Tempest ships in is not pretty, it comes off as cheesy and cheap. The images do not suggest high-performance but low budget.  If you were to take a closer look then you might see that the Tempest does have some features that are interesting.

If you happened to look, stop and read, then take the Tempest home; upon opening the box you would be greeted with a large and sturdy case (after you opened and disposed of the ugly box).
 
Construction:
As I mentioned above the Tempest is a heavy and fairly large case. It has support for E-ATX mainboards and full length peripheral cards in addition to a large number of drive bays. The weight comes from having an all steel chassis, as well as side and top panels. The front of the Tempest is molded plastic and sports 5-1/4” openings its full length. Also at the front are two angular protrusions that have long clear plastic insets on them. These are two long blue power lights for the system. Also along the lower left hand protrusion is a single clear plastic “stripe” this is covering a green LED for HDD activity. The letters NZXT are embossed above the top 5-1/4” bay. The front is further enhanced by the presence of two 120mm Blue LED fans.
On the top of the case there is a shelf of sorts that extend back for four or five inches and then slopes up to the front panel. Here are usual suspects for front panel connections and controls.
Interestingly enough the Power and Reset switches are not labeled. The power switch is slightly larger than the reset button but otherwise they are identical.  Behind these controls are another two fans, these are 140mm and work well for top exhaust. These fans can be removed and a dual fan radiator installed for internal water cooling. The top of the Tempest is not completely flat but has similar angular protrusions along each side like the front does.
The back of the Tempest is nothing exciting with the standard bottom PSU mount layout. NZXT does include small openings for external water cooling rigs, although I wonder about their usefulness due to their size.

Moving on to the sides we find the usual blank and dull right side. The left side is a little more interesting. NZXT have added a window, unfortunately this window was not well thought out. In what I can only assume was an attempt at giving the Tempest a “cool” 3-D look NZXT chose to bevel the side window and to make it very angular. They have also places a fan in the center and covered it with a standard grill instead of just venting the plastic. This deters from the appearance and gives the window a cheesy look.
Taking the cover off and looking inside we find that look are only skin deep. NZXT has done a nice job on the interior setup of the tempest.
There are two cages for HDDs each holding up to four drives. These drives are mounted perpendicular and are well ventilated by the 120mm fans at the front. Above these two cages are three 5-1/4” bays.

The cabling for the front panel is more than long enough to reach even the longest mainboard.
There are multiple fan connectors and NZXT has thoughtfully provided both three-pin headers as well as 4-pin Molex adapters for all of the case fans. For drive installation NZXT has made everything completely tool-less.  With rails for the HDDs that simply sit on each side and hold the drive in place with  short pegs that fit into the normal screw holes. The down side of these is that they do not clip to the drive. You have to hold them in place while you slide the drive in.
This tool-less design did not extend back to the expansion ports though, here you still have to break out your favorite Phillips head screw driver.
Now, I am sure by now many of you are thinking the Tempest is nothing more than a cheap knock off of the Case Nine Hundred from Antec. Well in terms of general design and layout you might be correct but in terms of features, true airflow and ease of use you would be dead wrong.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
This is a tough one.  My first thoughts on seeing the Tempest (both in and out of the box) were that it was cheap, cheesy, and something I might pick up in Wal-Mart. It did not strike me as a top of the line product. The angular design of the front and top make it look awkward instead of exciting. The beveled window is a detractor as well. The whole package just screams cheap knock-off.  But as with all subjective items I will not subject you to just my opinion but will show the results of a limited number of other people I showed the case to. This time I broke them into two groups. Five saw the Tempest in person and five only through pictures. I found the two perspectives interesting.

It would seem that from pictures people were more inclined to have a good impression of the Tempest. But when people were up close their opinions dropped.

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{mospagebreak title=Installation and Performance}
Installation and Performance:
As mentioned above, NZXT did put some thought into the interior design of the Tempest and this translated into an easy build process. I pulled a system that was in an older case and rebuilt it into the Tempest.  With the extra room inside the Tempest along with the tool-less installation of the drives this rebuild was quite simple and quick. Cable management was a fairly simple, although all the extra fan power cables did get in the way. One down side to the build was the need to remove the front panel when installing the DVD-ROM. There was no other way to remove the plate covering the slot.
Unfortunately NZXT did not provide simple clips that you can use to “pop” off the face plate. It was a pain to get it off as you really have to force it off. I was concerned that I might break the face plate.

Performance wise the Tempest does have very good airflow. Temperatures on the system I built into it dropped by 2c during operation.  This is not a bad reduction in temps considering this system runs 24/7.
I was also impressed that the Tempest is very quiet. Even with 6 case fans running full time it is barely noticeable.

{mospagebreak title=Price}
Price:
The Tempest has a price of $109.99 right now this puts it just above most entry level cases but that is expected as it has some high-end features.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
The Tempest is a hit and miss for looks, but for functionality, ease of build and price point the tempest has quite a bit going for it. It is easily superior to the Case Nine Hundred having more room, better cooling, the ability to install a dual fan radiator (without modification), and much easier to build your system into. I think that NZXT is on the right track with the way they have designed the Tempest but might want to do a little more work on the appearance.  While the Tempest might not win any beauty contests it certainly has it where it counts on the inside. If you can overcome the appearance and want a very good low-cost air cooled case the Tempest may have what you are looking for.