NZXT Tempest
Posted 07/02/08 at 02:30:39 PM | by David Murphy
The Tempest supports two front-panel connection options with its two USB slots and included eSATA input.
Look familiar? That’s the first thing we said when pulling NZXT’s Tempest out of the box. Save for a few minor modifications to the chassis, this case is a carbon copy of Antec’s Nine Hundred chassis. It’s built like the Nine Hundred, performs like the Nine Hundred, and even glows like the Nine Hundred, thanks to its front- and side-panel blue LED fans.
Rather than scorn it for its uncanny similarities, we see a certain wisdom in knocking off a popular design, shaving $50 off the price, and relaunching it as your very own. For what it’s worth, we experienced no difficulties whatsoever installing a modern-day system into this no-nonsense chassis. There was plenty of room to manage cables around our huge 8800 GTX card, and the case’s eight hard drive bays come with screwless rails preinstalled—you pop them off, attach them to a drive, and slide the whole deal into place. The two 12cm front-panel fans take care of the cooling efforts.
Unlike Antec’s Nine Hundred case, the two 14cm top fans and one 12cm rear fan around the Tempest’s motherboard area run at a constant speed. They chug along at a low rpm to preserve your hearing, but we’ve grown quite fond of the Nine Hundred’s customizable fan speeds. It’s a simple solution that this clone sorely lacks. But honestly, it’s one of the very few ways this sweet case falters.
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NZXT Tempest
Bee's Knees
Plenty of room; eight screwless hard drive bays, lots of cooling; pretty lights.
Killer Bees
Fan speeds not customizeable. Not exactly the most innovative case we've ever seen.
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I built my last PC using
Submitted by popstop785 on Thu, 2008-07-10 16:35
I built my last PC using that case. I love every bit of it exceopt the lack of fan control.
Submitted by da_samman on Thu, 2008-07-10 04:29
At Newegg, in the specifications page, it says there is 1 3.5" external bay. Where? I didn't see one of them as such or a bay converter faceplate. I'll go to NZXT home page to see.
Sincerely yours, from FOB Striker, Iraq,
SGT Samuel E. McClard II
Life's a journey, enjoy the ride!!
Submitted by rexcawley on Sun, 2008-07-06 14:54
The front panel input array does not include a Firewire port as described in the review. A look at the manufactureres site confirms this. Too bad, that's a killer omit for me.
That's correct, rexcawley.
Submitted by TheMurph on Sun, 2008-07-06 23:59
That's correct, rexcawley. My mistake -- I'm unsure how that got into the review.
Timely review
Submitted by RGCook on Fri, 2008-07-04 12:30
Thanks for the timely review. I am on my way to newegg for the Tempest. Time to move the old out of the P180 and rebuild. The old machine is still a great system for a student or moderate gamer so I will rebuild it in a new case and donate.That's the beauty of being an enthusiast. Our definition of old and tired is still quite good for most others.
Bob Cook
Montgomery, TX
case reviews
Submitted by darkmatter08 on Thu, 2008-07-03 16:06
Hey Dave:
I liked the review, since it was helpful in deciding my recent case, but I have a suggestion/request. Could you take a photo with a 8800GTX inside of the case so we can get a good idea of how are own video cards would fit in? And if possible, could you also take one with the ATI equivilant cards, either the 4850/4870? This would be really appreciated by me and many others who are seriously looking to buy these cases that you have reviewed.
Thanks
darkmatter08
Submitted by TheMurph on Fri, 2008-07-04 04:16
Do me a favor: shoot me an e-mail reminder (david at maximumpc dot com) and i'll slap an 8800GTX in the Tempest come Monday morning. A picture will soon be yours.
And you raise a good point -- perhaps it's time we start documenting the testing process of our rigs, just to give more context when we say "fits," "barely fits," or "room for a video card and a large cat."
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