# NZXT Tempest EVO



## Darksaber (Nov 27, 2009)

NZXT has taken the Tempest chassis and updated it with numerous small and large improvements. Now called the Tempest EVO it does not only feature design updates but new additions in fuctionality as well. All this, while keeping the same introductory MSRP as the original.

*Show full review*


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## MilkyWay (Nov 30, 2009)

As an owner of the original Tempest i liked it but it has a few flaws, cable management, front panel and top mesh covers.

The top mesh covers on the original Tempest where horrible, far to easy to bend out of shape and where dust magnets.
The cable managment was not sufficient simpy stuff everything in under the bottom HDD rack and or into a 5 1/4 bay.
The front panel was to flimsy it felt like the pegs where loose or rather slack.
Additional gripes are the front panel LEDs seem to break for some people and the accustics are not very good.

I want to know if this EVO version fixed any of those problems.
To me if it didnt the Lancool K-62 is a much better alternative.

Thats a good review but i still dont know if it really did much to improve.


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## WarEagleAU (Dec 1, 2009)

looks like a nice improvement over the old one.


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## TheLaughingMan (Dec 1, 2009)

Review said they did not fix the acoustic issue.  6 fans is still 6 fans.


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## Mac Daddy (Dec 1, 2009)

Nice review I Dugg this and also posted it on the front page of TNHW.

This is in thanks to you guys posting up Chao's Silverstone Raven RV02 review up on yours over the weekend. One good turn deserves another I say and I will be getting your articles and reviews up on TNHW as they are posted 

On the Tempest I reviewed the original for TechARP as my first NZXT case review. I always felt this was a solid case and I have reviewed quite a few NZXT products. The changes noted were needed and improve the product overall.

I am currently modding the original Tempest for Johnny Hou @ NZXT who I have been working with for a while now. The first thing I did, and noted it in the EVO, is paint the interior including the drive bays black


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## Kantastic (Dec 1, 2009)

Ho...ly... sh!t! I've never wanted a case more than I do now..  this thing is gorgeous.

Edit: I wanted to ask, the Tempest EVO has 2 140mm fans on top but the review says it supports 240mm rads, is that a mistake or is that actually how it is?


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## mav2000 (Dec 1, 2009)

This is very nicely done case...how good are the plastic bits?


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## t77snapshot (Dec 1, 2009)

I am a proud owener of the Tempest This new version makes me so jealouse. I have no problems with this case, I made cable management work well and before I replaced to fans it was a very quite case. My only con is that the hdd cages are a pain to remove. I never had any issues witht he plastic clips either. 10/10 awesome!


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## Easo (Dec 1, 2009)

around 99.90 € or $99 ... That is not the same ammount... xD


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## Kantastic (Dec 1, 2009)

Easo said:


> around 99.90 € or $99 ... That is not the same ammount... xD



I just checked Newegg and the Evo and original are the same price for us.


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## Inioch (Dec 1, 2009)

Kantastic said:


> Edit: I wanted to ask, the Tempest EVO has 2 140mm fans on top but the review says it supports 240mm rads, is that a mistake or is that actually how it is?



I would assume it's the same as the original. So yes, it has mounting holes for 240 rads in the top. Couple of pics by Buck Nasty here.


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## Delta6326 (Dec 1, 2009)

im a proud owner of a tempest they are great i dont think its load, i only had my side fan break on me NZXT sent me one no ? asked and didnt even want the old one to make sure i was telling the truth only if it hadn't broken. any one want to take my tempest so i can get the EVO


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## Zubasa (Dec 1, 2009)

May be next time assemble the case with a HD 5970 inside to see if it fits?


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## MilkyWay (Dec 2, 2009)

By bad acoustics i mean you can clearly hear the cpu and graphics card if you have a loud system the tempest only makes it louder

i love those purple fans


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## DaveK (Dec 2, 2009)

The purple is pretty cool, though it looks like any other case to me


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## t77snapshot (Dec 2, 2009)

I put some work into my Tempest (old version), check it out- http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/2162.html

My favorite feature about the new version is the bottom vent for the psu! I'm going to have to cut it myself.


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## MilkyWay (Dec 2, 2009)

t77snapshot said:


> I put some work into my Tempest (old version), check it out- http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/2162.html
> 
> My favorite feature about the new version is the bottom vent for the psu! I'm going to have to cut it myself.



From what i can tell the case is what the Tempest should have been, at the time it was a great case but the competition has improved.

I like it otherwise i wouldnt have gotten it back then.


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## athenaesword (Dec 3, 2009)

MilkyWay said:


> As an owner of the original Tempest i liked it but it has a few flaws, cable management, front panel and top mesh covers.
> 
> The top mesh covers on the original Tempest where horrible, far to easy to bend out of shape and where dust magnets.
> The cable managment was not sufficient simpy stuff everything in under the bottom HDD rack and or into a 5 1/4 bay.
> ...



at this point in time though dya think it'd be more worthwhile to go with the lancool k7 or the tempest evo? i've got both in my sights and am wondering which to go for. i was at first pretty psyched about the tempest evo, but after some of the local guys received their sets there were quite a few complaints about the less than stellar build quality and the flimsy plastic parts that kept breaking... what dya think?


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## t77snapshot (Dec 3, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> some of the local guys received their sets there were quite a few complaints about the less than stellar build quality and the flimsy plastic parts that kept breaking... what dya think?



I have heard this before in some reviews too, but that didn't stop me. I think the plactics are very sturdy and I never had any problems with the plastic clips. Lots of Newegg reviews claim the front bezel clips break easily, but I think that's bs! As long as you treat this case right you wont have any problems. This is definitely not a flimsy case as well because it's made from steel, but that also means it is on the heavy side. I have owned this case for almost 2 years with no issues wahts so ever.


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## pantherx12 (Dec 3, 2009)

Nice case


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## athenaesword (Dec 3, 2009)

t77snapshot said:


> I have heard this before in some reviews too, but that didn't stop me. I think the plactics are very sturdy and I never had any problems with the plastic clips. Lots of Newegg reviews claim the front bezel clips break easily, but I think that's bs! As long as you treat this case right you wont have any problems. This is definitely not a flimsy case as well because it's made from steel, but that also means it is on the heavy side. I have owned this case for almost 2 years with no issues wahts so ever.



might be that they started skimping only recently? because i don't think plastics vary in quality from piece to piece, but batch to batch, across the years, it might change.  in any case, the complaints i've heard mainly claim that the pieces were broken when they arrived, or broke very soon after.

there's also an issue with the acrylic scratching easily. do you have trouble with that? anyway, i like the dark interior, and overall design too much over the lancool pieces so i'll probably still go with this. just wanna know what to expect when it arrives.


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## t77snapshot (Dec 3, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> there's also an issue with the acrylic scratching easily. do you have trouble with that? anyway, i like the dark interior, and overall design too much over the lancool pieces so i'll probably still go with this. just wanna know what to expect when it arrives.



I haven't had any issues with the acrylic scratching. It's funny that you meantion that, my cat jumps up on my case sometimes and I was always afraid of her scratching but she never did. Also about a week ago I dropped a dropped a screw driver on it and their was nothing. I was really surprised about that one, maybe just lucky.. 

This new EVO version looks a lot better then the original. It's nice to see the black on the inside. I had ti paint mine, but even doing that wasn't so hard. Remove all the plastic was easy to get to.


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## athenaesword (Dec 3, 2009)

t77snapshot said:


> I haven't had any issues with the acrylic scratching. It's funny that you meantion that, my cat jumps up on my case sometimes and I was always afraid of her scratching but she never did. Also about a week ago I dropped a dropped a screw driver on it and their was nothing. I was really surprised about that one, maybe just lucky..
> 
> This new EVO version looks a lot better then the original. It's nice to see the black on the inside. I had ti paint mine, but even doing that wasn't so hard. Remove all the plastic was easy to get to.



hey yeah i saw your halflife rig and damn it looks good. i'm not looking to do any painting though.. just don't have the time for it. the most i'll go is replacing the leds. btw the front strips, are those replaceable or custom sized led strips? 

and i've heard some complaints about the loudness of the case, esp with the 140mm fans. how'd you find it?


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## t77snapshot (Dec 3, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> hey yeah i saw your halflife rig and damn it looks good. i'm not looking to do any painting though.. just don't have the time for it. the most i'll go is replacing the leds. btw the front strips, are those replaceable or custom sized led strips?
> 
> and i've heard some complaints about the loudness of the case, esp with the 140mm fans. how'd you find it?



Changing the LED strips is easy, its just an led capsule shinning into a long plastic strip. When you remove the front bezel you will see the (blue/white) wires going to the left and right side side on the back. There is a little plastic plate holding the LED in place, remove it and cut off the stock led. Then simply solder on the led of your choice, if you don't have a soldering gun you just tie the wire to the led prongs. It takes a 3mm size with a view angle of 15 degrees.

This is quiete when using the stock low rpm fans. I didn't understand the question about the 14mm fans?sorry.


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## Kantastic (Dec 3, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> might be that they started skimping only recently? because i don't think plastics vary in quality from piece to piece, but batch to batch, across the years, it might change.  in any case, the complaints i've heard mainly claim that the pieces were broken when they arrived, or broke very soon after.
> 
> there's also an issue with the acrylic scratching easily. do you have trouble with that? anyway, i like the dark interior, and overall design too much over the lancool pieces so i'll probably still go with this. just wanna know what to expect when it arrives.



The PC-K62 is notorious for coming with cracked side windows, TPU's review came like that and I'm sure you can find more on Newegg. If you want to risk having to RMA once or twice to get a good one go for the K62.


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## athenaesword (Dec 4, 2009)

Kantastic said:


> The PC-K62 is notorious for coming with cracked side windows, TPU's review came like that and I'm sure you can find more on Newegg. If you want to risk having to RMA once or twice to get a good one go for the K62.



hey there, i was refering to the tempest evo and not the k62.  where i'm at, i can get the tempest at 20% cheaper than the k62 so i might go with that. in any case, the distributor here is quite reliable. i've seen a few locals have problems and he just sent them parts no questions asked.


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## MilkyWay (Dec 4, 2009)

the K62 is fine mine came with no problems, a few of them have come with cracked side windows due to the screws but its a small percentage

the tempest evo is cheaper get that if you want to save a bit of cash

the new tempest look much better than the old! its not a bad case at all i really starting to dig the new improvements

i can tell you the build quality of lancool is superior the steel is thicker and feels great and the plastic isnt flimsy!


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## athenaesword (Dec 4, 2009)

MilkyWay said:


> the K62 is fine mine came with no problems, a few of them have come with cracked side windows due to the screws but its a small percentage
> 
> the tempest evo is cheaper get that if you want to save a bit of cash
> 
> ...



which parts of the case are plastic exactly. the entire front panel? the middle looks like mesh right?



t77snapshot said:


> Changing the LED strips is easy, its just an led capsule shinning into a long plastic strip. When you remove the front bezel you will see the (blue/white) wires going to the left and right side side on the back. There is a little plastic plate holding the LED in place, remove it and cut off the stock led. Then simply solder on the led of your choice, if you don't have a soldering gun you just tie the wire to the led prongs. It takes a 3mm size with a view angle of 15 degrees.
> 
> This is quiete when using the stock low rpm fans. I didn't understand the question about the 14mm fans?sorry.




oh i was asking if the 140mm were fans loud at full rpm, because i'm considering a change all the 120mm fans to 1450rpm gentle typhoons, but don't intend to change the 140mm ones.  

do all the fans come with led right from the start? 

i'm going to have to look at the casing and try to implement your directions regarding the change of leds, since it's hard for me to visualize like that. but i'll take your word that it shouldn't be too hard to change it.


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## t77snapshot (Dec 4, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> which parts of the case are plastic exactly. the entire front panel? the middle looks like mesh right?
> 
> 
> oh i was asking if the 140mm were fans loud at full rpm, because i'm considering a change all the 120mm fans to 1450rpm gentle typhoons, but don't intend to change the 140mm ones.
> ...



Here is my case stripped down (should be the same as the EVO). as you can see there are only 2 major plastic pieces, the top and front. Yes, 3 of 4 120mm fans come with led's (2 front and 1 side fans). My fans were blue but in picture kinda looks a little purplish. Same as the pics in the review.  My 140mm fans differ from the evo's so I cant speak for their acoustics. The top stock 140mm fans ran at about 1100 rpms and were very quiet. I never pushed them farther then that.


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## athenaesword (Dec 4, 2009)

t77snapshot said:


> Here is my case stripped down (should be the same as the EVO). as you can see there are only 2 major plastic pieces, the top and front. Yes, 3 of 4 120mm fans come with led's (2 front and 1 side fans). My fans were blue but in picture kinda looks a little purplish. Same as the pics in the review.  My 140mm fans differ from the evo's so I cant speak for their acoustics. The top stock 140mm fans ran at about 1100 rpms and were very quiet. I never pushed them farther then that.
> 
> http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/T77snapshot/nakedtempest.jpg



thanks for the pics snapshot. will look to you for more help when i'm actually modding the case


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## t77snapshot (Dec 4, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> thanks for the pics snapshot. will look to you for more help when i'm actually modding the case



No problem, glad I could help.


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## Kantastic (Dec 4, 2009)

I'm pretty sure the Evo is quieter, 9 blades means more airflow at lower RPM's. I'm looking to get myself the Tempest Evo or a tech station.


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## athenaesword (Dec 4, 2009)

Kantastic said:


> I'm pretty sure the Evo is quieter, 9 blades means more airflow at lower RPM's. I'm looking to get myself the Tempest Evo or a tech station.



which fans are you refering to?


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## athenaesword (Dec 4, 2009)

t77snapshot said:


> No problem, glad I could help.



btw did you encounter any vibration problems with the fans? i just read someone on another forum talking about how his high rpm fans were causing annoying vibration sounds on the casing, esp the side panel.


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## Kantastic (Dec 4, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> which fans are you refering to?



The original Tempest fans had 7 blades per, the Evo's fans have 9.


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## Soylent Joe (Dec 4, 2009)

We famous!


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## Kantastic (Dec 4, 2009)

LMAO I had the Evo in my cart for a while but didn't notice that.

WE FAMOUS IS RIGHT!


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## athenaesword (Dec 5, 2009)

Kantastic said:


> The original Tempest fans had 7 blades per, the Evo's fans have 9.



oh... i was refering more to the overall acoustic nature of the case though apart from the fans. cus i do intend to change ta least 3 of the 120mm fans to 1450rpm gentle typhoons


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## athenaesword (Dec 6, 2009)

oh yeah btw what do you guys think of usb 3.0 when it becomes mainstream? the top of the casings currently have usb 2.0 ports so would it be easy to mod that to usb 3.0 if you mb supports it?


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## pantherx12 (Dec 6, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> oh yeah btw what do you guys think of usb 3.0 when it becomes mainstream? the top of the casings currently have usb 2.0 ports so would it be easy to mod that to usb 3.0 if you mb supports it?




If you can find a usb 3.0 front panel PCB


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## athenaesword (Dec 6, 2009)

pantherx12 said:


> If you can find a usb 3.0 front panel PCB



haha yeah thinking slightly long term, but then not that long term. methinks usb 3.0 would be pretty commonplace in a year's time. what do we do with all our usb 2.0 cases then?


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## L|NK|N (Dec 6, 2009)

You rock DS.


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## hooj (Dec 6, 2009)

My nzxt case !!

....see what i did there LOLith !!


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## t77snapshot (Dec 6, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> btw did you encounter any vibration problems with the fans? i just read someone on another forum talking about how his high rpm fans were causing annoying vibration sounds on the casing, esp the side panel.



No, I havn't had any issues with vibration of the side panel or case and my fans hit about 2200 rpms. If you do encounter vibration just use rubber washer in between and your set.


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## athenaesword (Dec 8, 2009)

how do u guys replace the side fan on the window?


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## pantherx12 (Dec 8, 2009)

They'd either be screwed in or have little plastic stoppers, screws are obvious the plastic things push the centre of them from the inside of the panel, then just pull them on the outside of the panel : ]


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## athenaesword (Dec 8, 2009)

pantherx12 said:


> They'd either be screwed in or have little plastic stoppers, screws are obvious the plastic things push the centre of them from the inside of the panel, then just pull them on the outside of the panel : ]



haha thanks. couldn't figure out how to put the plastic stoppers back ended up screwing the new fan in instead lol.


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## pantherx12 (Dec 8, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> haha thanks. couldn't figure out how to put the plastic stoppers back ended up screwing the new fan in instead lol.



You just have to completely remove the plastic stopper , then pull the stopper into its two components.

Then you push the first bit in, then the other bit to widen it and thus get a tight fit .


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## athenaesword (Dec 8, 2009)

pantherx12 said:


> You just have to completely remove the plastic stopper , then pull the stopper into its two components.
> 
> Then you push the first bit in, then the other bit to widen it and thus get a tight fit .



oh wow. you're right. i didn't knowit could be split into 2 pieces. anyhow, are there any disadvantages to using screws instead? 

also, the temps on this case's great. dropped nearly 10degrees on my gpu under load. it's abit noisy however, what with the 6 fans..


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## t77snapshot (Dec 8, 2009)

athenaesword said:


> are there any disadvantages to using screws instead? .



cons from using screws can be vibration and possible cracking of the plastic window. If you don't want to use either then you could try these rubber mounts>


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## athenaesword (Dec 9, 2009)

t77snapshot said:


> cons from using screws can be vibration and possible cracking of the plastic window. If you don't want to use either then you could try these rubber mounts> http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/T77snapshot/rubberpins.jpg



ah.. well i couldn't refit the plastic pins because my fans have stuff blocking my hands near the entrance to the holes. decided to stick with the screws... 

anyway, thanks a million to all ur help guys it's been fantastic


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