NZXT Tempest Mid Tower Gaming Case

Installing Parts and Conclusion

NZXT provides all the parts needed to mount your hardware, and even labels the baggies that the various parts are in. This is something I would like to see more. Experienced system builders may know what the parts are by looking at them, but a first-timer will appreciate every bit of help he/she can get.

Installing parts into the Tempest was not difficult. The interesting part was finding a way to route all the wires, and hide the un-used PSU wires. There is a nice space under the lower hard drive cage that came in handy to hide the extra wires. As you can see in the image I didnt do a super job, but I didnt spend a whole lot of time on it either. With a little time and some zip ties one can achieve the clean look.

All the case wiring was more than long enough to reach the mother board connections, unlike my PSU cabling. Even with the rather long cables the PC&C 750 quad has I could not get the 8 pin power connector to reach the top of the board by running it behind the board. Since I dont have an 8 pin extension I ran it through the gap between the motherboard and the video card. This works for the short term, but the cable covers many capacitors and few heat sinks on the motherboard. So for the long haul an extension and re-routing behind the board would be best.

Conclusion

The Tempest from NZXTs crafted series is a very nice looking computer case. With a current street price of $109 plus shipping it is in the same price bracket as the ever-so-popular $99.99 Antec Nine Hundred hardcore gaming case. The Antec Nine Hundred was reviewed here on Legit Reviews last year, so be sure to check out that review also. To compare these two cases one will find that they are similar in style, but the Tempest has a little more going for it; it can hold up to 8 hard drives and the top of the case is designed so that it can mount some of the most common dual 120mm water cooling radiators to it with out modifications. Buying a case is obviously a personal decision, but it would be hard to go wrong with the Tempest. With the MSRP of $99 the price and performance value is really good with the Tempest since it comes with all six case fans already installed. The claim by NZXT that the Tempest is the Airflow King with 6 massive fans seems to be true!

Like with almost all cases with a bottom mount PSU, there is the chance that you will need an extension for the motherboard power connectors. Its only a couple of more dollars for an extension set so you might want to pick one up just in case. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means, just something that should be pointed out.

If you are broke or just waiting on your tax returns why not try to win one of these cases? Legit Reviews will be giving one lucky forum member a brand new NZXT Tempest case in two weeks! In order to win this case you need to be an active member of the forums and membership is free!

Legit Bottom line: The NZXT Tempest is a nice case that is easy to install parts in and has enough airflow to ensure that your hardware stays nice and cool