Packaging:
The Tempest ships in a slightly different type of packaging; instead of a cardboard box or a blister pack, it is packaged in a plastic box. Obviously this does not matter when it come to the performance of the cooler, and as always will not be taken into consideration as long as it is able to protect the cooler, which it does.
 
While the top and front do not provide you with much information, the three other sides provide a large amount of information. The back is where you will find the specifications for the cooler, which will probably be more information than the average consumer may ever want. However for us, it provides ample information to know exactly what this cooler is capable of.
In the images below you can see the two sides. One side displays the features of the Tempest, while the second side lists the compatible processors. The compatible processors include all AMD socket 939, 940 and AM2, as well as Intel 478 and 775.
 
External Examination:
With the cooler removed from the box it is time to take a closer look. As the fan was the first item out of the box, we'll take a look at that. As you can see here, it is not the standard square fan, but instead it has a circular design which allows the use of 80mm fan holes, while still providing you a 92mm fan. The published specifications on this fan rated it at 2500RPM and 33dBA. This is the first place I could recommend an improvement for OCZ, and that would be to wrap the fan power cable.
 
Now it's time to take a look at the main portion of the cooler. In the first picture you can see what I consider to be the front of the cooler. It has the OCZ logo on it, as well as the ends of the heat pipes. On the other side you can see the rest of the heat pipes. OCZ has done a nice job securing the heat pipes to the rest of the cooler with a clean soldering job.
 
Moving to the base of the cooler I found it was protected by a heavy duty piece of plastic. Removing the plastic, the base of the cooler was flawless. OCZ says this is a solid copper base which is coated with a titanium finish. Being coated with titanium, it should be more resistant to scratches, chips, and tarnish than a copper finish.
 
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