A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior of the chassis, simply remove the pair of thumb screws holding each side panel in place. Taking a quick look at the insides one may think of the NZXT H2 at first. It is clear that NZXT has taken that case as a basis for the Tempest 410. This also means, that the chassis frame is of excellent construction quality. There are plenty of openings around the motherboard area, allowing you to route cables through to ensure a clean interior. With almost 30 mm of space the Tempest 410 offers an excellent amount of space behind the mainboard tray to hide unwanted ones.


The NZXT Tempest 410 utilizes the same hard drive tray system of the H2. You may install up to eight hard drives into this mid-tower using the included plastic trays. There is a line of screws in this area as well, which is pretty cool. There are twice as many in the H2, but a single one for each 3.5" bay should suffice. Above that are the three external drive bays, which use the same "swing out" locking mechanism we have seen in the Phantom, but lack the pair of thumb screws found in the H2.


Turning our focus to the rear of the chassis, the bottom PSU bay is nothing out of the ordinary by today's standards. A few foam pads act as an anti-vibration barrier between the PSU and chassis. Above that are the seven mainboard expansion bays, each secured by thumb screws as well. It is great to see that NZXT has not chosen to use cheap plastic locks for these, so even big graphics cards can be secured without any worries. Then there is the 120 mm fan, which - like all the other cooling units within the Tempest 410 utilizes white blades in a black frame. This brings the final number of fans to two within this enclosure.


You may install an additional 120 mm unit in the floor of the chassis. I would strongly advice against it, as there is no dust filter in here. Users who install a unit in here may as well just shovel dust into the chassis and save the 10 dollars for a large pepperoni pizza. In the ceiling, the frame allows for installation of 120 or 140 mm units. You should also be able to place a 240 mm radiator here.


All cables within the Tempest 410 are black, which is a great little touch. Considering that NZXT is using a 20-pin plug to connect the USB 3.0 port to the motherboard, I would have liked to see a pair of such plugs in the front I/O instead of a single one.