When I fired up the rig, I really expected it to be loud. Well, it was, for about two seconds, from my video card. Once it quieted down, the rig was all but silent. Six fans chugging along at 12v, with very minimal noise.

For the acid test, I played Crysis for about 1.5 hours. With my last case, the 9800GTX would have heated up the entire rear of the case, but it was very cool, the only warmth was the air actually exiting the video card's rear vent. I may have to try some Crossfire action with my 3850 X2 and another regular HD 3850. I think that the Tempest could keep things comfortably cool.

The NZXT Tempest is a very nice case. I really like the looks of the fully vented bezel. The raised top gives it a look that is more than the plain ol' flat piece of steel. The small trapezoid-shaped window is a nice change from the huge lexan windows I've been accustomed to. Interior and exterior fit and finish are excellent, but I have come to expect no less from NZXT.

The size of the Tempest is just right. An extra couple of inches in length accommodate the longest video cards just perfectly. The extra height made it a close fit in the space I normally place my rig, but it wasn't enough to make a real difference.

And the cooling… besides the fully vented front, there are numerous fans… recapping them, a pair of 120mm in the front, 120mm fans in the window and rear, and two 140mm fans in the blowhole position. And even when all are running at 12v, the rig is quiet enough to place on a desktop.

I did find a few attention to detail issues that were annoying at the time but now don't seem that important, such as the size of the openings for running cables, and the wires run too close to the bezel locking posts. The missing power supply screw hole was another.

Bottom-mounted power supplies provide us with a new set of cable management challenges, but mainly just rethinking the way you attack it will make those challenges minimal. The ATX12v cable was plenty long enough to have run under the motherboard, I just didn't think about it until the build was completed.

The NZXT Tempest runs $109.99USD at a major online retailer. That's a good price for a quality steel midtower that includes six fans… my last case didn't include a third fan, much less a fourth, fifth, and sixth, and it cost about the same as the Tempest.

Pros:

Extra long case accommodates longer video cards
Massive amount of airflow from six large case fans
Surprisingly quiet
Reasonably priced

Cons:

I found a couple of minor attention to detail issues, but nothing I'd consider a con

The NZXT Tempest earns the OCIA.net Seal of Approval