NZXT Crafted Series Tempest 410 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: I bought the Temptest 410 Elite, which is basicallly the same case but comes with an extra quality nzxt fan and has a clear side panel.

Love this case. I like that it is somewhat edgy and looks very cool. But isn't to over-the-top and gamey that it is polarizing to only the gamer niche. Basically it still looks classy enough to have in an business or home office. Its somewhat large which I like, its easy to work on/install parts and has plenty of room for long graphics cards. But not to large that it looks ridiculous on your desk. Its made of very thick aluminum for a case. Tons and tons of room for cable management in the back; as well as the built in top Rad support makes for very clean insides and out. By far my favorite part is the easy, cable free front mounted fans.

Cons: My only problem was the copper contacts that the front mounted are somewhat delicate. One of them was slightly bent but still worked just fine. I contacted nzxt and they sent me replacement contact boards for both fans at no charge so Im happy with it.

Other Thoughts: This is the third nzxt case ive owned and very happy with it.

Pros: - Well-built case, especially for the price point
- Good cooling options (see other thoughts)
- Good cable management behind motherboard
- Plenty of space & room to work
- Easy 5.25" and 3.5" drive mounting

Cons: - 20-pin USB 3.0 header, but only one USB 3.0 port up front
- No external 3.5" bay for card reader (not a big deal though)
- Mine did not come with rubber "filler" grommets/plugs for the water cooling pass-through holes. I'm not doing external water cooling and without grommets, the holes provide big entry points for dust and reduce airflow efficiency.

Other Thoughts: First, look this case up on NZXT's website for an extensive photo gallery. Newegg - why do you only have one photo for this product?

I've never bought a case that cost more than $45. For this particular product... what a difference $15 makes! This is my first case with behind-the-motherboard cable management. I always wondered how people achieved such clean-looking installs with neatly-routed cables. Now I understand!

I also enjoy the method of front-mounting cooling fans. You un-clip each fan section on the front without tools, and plug the fan into a connector on the bracket itself. The bracket has metal contacts that touch contacts on the case chassis, meaning that once the fan is mounted on the bracket, you don't have to plug/unplug the cable to remove it from the case. Pretty sweet! The white NZXT fan included in one of the front slots is decent, too. A step up from the super cheap fans many cases include. Same model fan is also included for rear exhaust. The front fan brackets also include removable dust filters that seem to make a good compromise between filtering dust while still allowing airflow.

Then, behind these front fans are the HDD trays. While you still have to open up the side to plug/unplug power and SATA cables, you can easily insert or remove the drive itself from the front with these trays. I wish they had included sata/power mating connectors behind these trays to make the drive bays truly "hot-swappable."

The top of the case allows mounting of fans and cooling radiator... although with my particular motherboard, the RAM sticks and 8-pin CPU power connector are so close to the top that I only have room for a push OR pull fan configuration. I don't have enough vertical clearance for push-pull fans stacked on either side of the radiator. I blame my motherboard, though, not the case. My only gripe with the top fan/radiator mounting area is the lack of filters (I know, typically the top is for exhaust, but I am pulling in cool air through my radiator so a filter would be nice instead of the radiator acting as a filter!)

Overall, great case for the money, and a big improvement over cases with only a $15-20 price difference.

Pros: Cable management is easier. Makes presenting to a customer that much nicer not having a case full of wires. Plenty of room if you don't fill it full of 3.5" HD's.

Cons: Second Tempest 410 case and a Tempest 210 I have used have had problems with the power supply holes lining up. This last on I had to use clamps to squeeze the power supply in and get it to align. It is not off by much but way to hard to do by hand. I only used Seasonic power supplies so I suppose it could be a combination of the two. Newegg pictures show the Tempest's with grommets for the wires and the water cooling. It does not have them.

Other Thoughts: If you use full size mechanical drives and stack them next to each other, there is not a lot of room for air flow. If you stagger them, you will be fine or if you use smaller SSD's you will be fine. Back thumb screws were installed by the incredible hulk. Had to use a screwdriver and some torque to get them back out. After screwing them in and out a few times the threads were good. Wish it came with a second front fan installed and the rubber grommets.

Pros: Good solid case with room for most add on cards and good cable storage behind motherboard tray. Easy to install drives in removable plastic trays and easy acess to front of case.

Cons: The side panel screws were threaded in crooked due to the rear of the case and panel being bent. Had to straighten the bent portion and retap the threads. Also had to retap all of the threads for the motherboard stand offs. Manufacture needs to spend more time finishing the case. The front usb ports were extremely tight requiring too much force to plug in usb devices.

Other Thoughts: With a little more attention to detail by the manufacturer, it would have made the experience much better!

Pros: I bought this case based on the reviews and price and I'm very happy with the purchase. Lots of options for cooling, plenty of drive bays, tons of room for cable management and plenty of little features that don't catch your eye immediately but together are impressive for a budget case. The top storage area for example is very neat if you mainly use your computer to charge your phone or something like a wearable camera. Lots of tool-less features, only the fans and expansion slots need a phillips screwdriver and of course an SSD if you use one.

Cons: I knocked an egg off for a combination of reason.

- The biggest is the removable front fans. I thought the feature was really cool for maintenance and for extra room when working in the case. Unfortunately one of the "cages" does not fully engage the contacts inside the case and does not work unless pressure is applied to the front of it. I tried shimming the contacts on the cage with no luck. I will try slimmer fans next.
- One of the expansion slot screws seems to have stripped. It turns but does not back out. If I paint the case at some point I will Dremel the rest of the threads off and try pushing it out before I do. For now I just have 1 screw holding my video card and it's sitting over the stuck one.
- The PSU 'tabs' or screwholes were a bit off and it took some coercing to get them to line up with the threads in the PSU.
- The pictures show water cooling hole grommets and the case did not ship with any. Very, very minor issue but something I noticed.

Other Thoughts: Although I gave it a 4 egg rating I am definitely an NZXT fan after this. The price compared to the features makes it a no brainer, unfortunately not all of them have worked perfectly.

Manufacturer Response:

First of all, We want to thank you for being a customer of NZXT.

We want to apologize for the issue you have with your purchase. Please contact us directly at 626.228.1150 so we could help you with a few replacement parts. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to strive to make our products better.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel. We appreciate your business and truly want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

Pros: Nice and wide for good cable management. Holds plenty of fans. Not too gaudy with the design. Large case for a mid tower. Roomy interior. I like the forward direction mounting of the hard drives as most sideways mounting hard drive cages block airflow from the front (they don't allow good cooling to pass over/under the hard drives).

Cons: I did not like that the hard drives are crammed together too tight. This may cause thermal issues regardless of the 120mm fans in the front. The hard drives are so tight, i cant imagine any air will move between them. Most cases at least give a small amount of space in between. I would rather the case hold one less 3.5" drive and provide some breathing room. Now, I leave every other bay open maxing me out on just 4 3.5" drives. Also, no black fan screws! Why? If you were to need a black screw, that would be the screw most needed! Now my side fans have ugly silver screws exposed on the outside of the case. DUMB! Hard drive brackets are clumsy. The screw-less optical drive bays are worthless. Plan on using screws as the brackets don't fit the 5.25 drives in place tightly at all. The DVD drive will move about as you push the eject button. Why a non-led fan on the front? And only one?

Other Thoughts: I never would have purchased this case had I realized the case sandwiches the hard drives so closely together. If you don't have many hard drives, or you don't care they may get too hot piled on top of one another (practically touching), this could be the case for you. If this is a concern, go with the Antec 300.

Manufacturer Response:

We want to thank you for being a customer of NZXT.

We also want to apologize for these issue you have. Please contact us directly at 626.228.1150 to better serve you. our tech support specialist would like to help you with your issue. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to strive to make our products better.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel. We appreciate your business and truly want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

Pros: Large 140mm is a good thing. Good amount of cable management holes, a great improvement over my previous case. By far the best power button switch I've ever pressed; it has a very solid feel. The hot swappable case fan cages are a really cool idea and its why I bought the case.

Cons: Power and hard drive activity lights are way, way too bright. I had to disconnect them entirely. The small compartment at the top feels flimsy. The hot-swappable case fan cages are cool, but its really difficult to remove a fan from the 3-pin header, so hard I need needle nose pliers. That kind of makes the extra convenience pointless.

Manufacturer Response:

First of all, We want to thank you for being a customer of NZXT.
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel and We appreciate your feedback and will continue to strive to make our products better.

Pros: The case is about the best bang for the buck I have encountered. Has options for 7 120mm fans, cable routing is very neatly packaged, and it has 270 mm clearance with HD for a video card, 310mm without a HD installed in the area. Front fan instalation is a breeze. Its a very nice package.

Cons: The upper fan mount assembly had come loose during shipping and damaged the 3 pin fan connector. Its nothing NewEgg could have forseen and it was fixed in about 30 seconds. Otherwise the case has a fully exposed upper to the mobo so be careful with any liquids near the case.

Other Thoughts: The case has about 1" of clearance on the back side of the motheboard for cabling and mounts. The USB and audio cables can be unclipped and moved for better acces to your motherboard. Has tons of screws and attatchments. The front fan mount assemblies actually detach from the case entirely for installation or maintinance. The upper grill detatches for the installation of 2 120mm or 140mm fans. The included fans all have 3 pin and molex connectors which is nice. The right side plate has the option for 2 fans as well with easy installation. The upper front of the case also has a hidden door storage area about 1" deep for whatever fits your needs.

Pros: Genius design, top compartment is really useful, intake fans are so fun to pop on and off, and come with filters. Cable management is great. Very sturdy, the hex-mesh is actually metal, looks sweet and protects the front. USB 3.0 on front panel, tons of cooling options placed in the perfect spots.

This case is going to make it hard for me to ever want to buy a different case again, I mean if I can get this case for this amount of money, why would I ever spend more?

Cons: Mine didn't ship with fan screws to install additional fans, or extra filters. No big deal, as they are cheap.

Pros: Large and roomy,
Plenty of fan mounts,
4 usb ports on the front 1 of which is a 3.0,
so many hard drive bays,
compatibility with a lot of motherboards

Cons: Not many. The looks aren't too great, but I'm not about to complain, it's a computer, not a fashion statement.

Other Thoughts: This thing lets me work with whatever I'd like without having to fret over whether I'll have enough space to buy the parts. A big video card, and large cpu cooler fit in harmony, and that's not mentioning the rest of the system, power supply, hard drives, etc. This thing leaves me tons of space to work with, and I can stuff it full, and still have space to run cords, and have airflow. The cord design is great by the way. As well as the top availability for liquid cooling, which is a great option to have.I love the little storage space on the top front, it is beyond perfect. Although I wish it had another 5.25 drive bay, or even a 3.5 instead of some of the hard drive spaces, beggars can't be choosers at this price point. It's a great case, and if it's what you're looking for, go for it. It's very thick and well built.