SilverStone Raven RV01 Case Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

Raven from SilverStone (also known as RV01) is a full-tower case with a unique design, where the motherboard is rotated 90°, making the rear connectors to be available on the top part of the case. This was done to improve thermal dissipation, especially from the video card, as hot air tends to go up and high-end video cards usually blow hot air from the inside to the outside of the case – usually to the rear of the case, but with Raven hot air is blown to the top.

We were impressed by the size of the cardboard box this case comes in, definitely the biggest we’ve seen to date, measuring 30” x 16 ½” x 30 ½” (76 cm x 42 cm x 77 cm) (H x W x D).

Figure 1: SilverStone Raven box.

On Figures 2 and 3 you have an overall look at Raven RV01. The case is made of steel with all parts painted black.

Figure 2: SilverStone Raven.

Figure 3: SilverStone Raven.

The front door is opened by pushing it down, and it has an interesting spring mechanism that needs just a light push down when it is opened to automatically close it, through a slow-motion robotic movement. This case has five 5.25” bays.

Figure 4: Front panel.

[nextpage title=”The Rear Panel”]

Since the motherboard is installed 90° rotated compared to traditional cases, there are no connectors on the rear side of the case. The only thing available on the rear panel is the place for installing the power supply, which goes on the bottom of the case.

Figure 5: Rear panel.

Figure 6: Power supply compartment.

Below the power supply compartment there is a washable dust filter that can be easily removed from the rear side of the case.

Figure 7: Washable dust filter.

[nextpage title=”The Top Panel”]

In Figure 8, you can see the top part of Raven RV01.

Figure 8: Top panel.

This case comes with two USB ports – which are too close to each other, preventing the installation of two “fat” USB devices at the same time – and one FireWire port. We think that a high-end case like this should have come with an eSATA port here.

Figure 9: Connectors.

In Figure 10, you can see the top panel with its cover removed. This cover is used only during transportation, since when you are using the computer you need to have access to the connectors present on the rear side of the motherboard, which are now available on the top part of the case. This case comes with a 120 mm fan on the top, a place for installing SilverStone’s SST-CLEARCMOS product and the slot covers are meshed, which is great to improve the PC internal airflow. We think, however, that a high-end case like this should have come with black slot covers instead of silver. There is also a mesh above the place where the daughterboards are installed, which is also great to improve the airflow. Each side panel is removed by sliding a latch available here.

Figure 10: Top panel.

On Figures 11 and 12 you can see the top panel after we built a PC using this case.

Figure 11: Top panel with the PC assembled.

Figure 12: Appearance after the PC is built.

[nextpage title=”Inside Raven RV01″]

Before showing you the inside of Raven, take a look at the side panels in Figure 13. They both have dust filters on their air intakes. Unfortunately these filters can’t be easily removed: you need to unscrew them. SilverStone could have added a better system here.

Figure 13: Side panels. See the dust filters.

In Figure 14, you can see inside Raven. See how all parts are black, giving a nice look to this case.

Figure 14: Inside Raven.

As mentioned, this case has a 120 mm fan on the top, rotating at 950 rpm. Daughter boards are fastened to the case using regular screws, and we think for a better appearance SilverStone should have used black thumbscrews.

Raven features two 180 mm fans rotating at 700 rpm, one between the motherboard compartment and the power supply compartment (Figure 15) and another
between the hard disk drive cage and the power supply compartment (Figure 16). All fans use a three-pin connector, allowing you to install them directly on the motherboard and thus monitor their speed. No fan speed control is available.

Figure 15: Motherboard fan.

Figure 16: Hard disk drives fan.

All fans blow air from the bottom part of the case to the top. Since there is more air being pushed inside the motherboard compartment than being pulled out of it, this case is said to be based on a positive air pressure design. In fact SilverStone posted a very interesting video on YouTube showing how the airflow works on Raven RV01. Another air intake is present on the bottom of the case, featuring a removable washable dust filter.

Figure 17: Dust filter.

[nextpage title=”Inside Raven RV01 (Cont’d)”]

The reviewed case also features supports for daughterboards, in order to prevent them from getting out of the motherboard slots.

Figure 18: Supports for the daughterboards.

In Figure 19, you can see the case with a full-length ATX motherboard installed (EVGA nForce 790i with a Thermaltake TMG i1 CPU cooler). See how there is still space available behind the motherboard, meaning that it supports bigger Extended ATX model. There is plenty of room between the motherboard and the wall from the power supply compartment, allowing you to install very long (12” or 30 cm) video cards. In Figure 20, you can see Raven RV01 after we built a PC with it (the video card used was a GeForce GTX 285, see how there is still a lot of room between the video card and the power supply compartment wall).

Figure 19: Motherboard installed inside Raven.

Figure 20: Full PC built.

The other side of the case is also interesting and you can see it on Figures 21 and 22. See how Raven comes with several holes and cable holders so you can route cables behind the motherboard, leaving the motherboard compartment with less cables and thus improving the PC internal ventilation.

Figure 21: Right side of the case.

Figure 21: Full PC built.

[nextpage title=”The Disk Drive Bays”]

This case has five external 5.25” bays and six internal 3.5” bays for hard disk drives, using the same mechanisms available on other SilverStone products, especially Fortress FT01. The screwless mechanisms for 5.25” devices use a big black button that works exceptionally well. The hard disk drives are installed using individual drawers. The hard disks enter very tight inside the drawers, so screws are optional. Each drawer has four rubber shock absorbers where the screws can be installed in order to reduce the noise produced by the hard disk drives due to their natural vibration. No external 3.5” bay or adapter is available.

Figure 22: Disk drive bays.

Figure 23: Hard disk drive drawer.

Like several other cases from SilverStone, the first hard disk drive bay features a hot-swap connector, allowing you to install a hard disk drive without needing to attach cables to it. If you want the other bays to have this connector you will need to buy them from SilverStone (they are called CP05).

Figure 24: Hot-swap connector.

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

SilverStone Raven RV01 case main specs include:

• Style: Full-tower
• Application: Extended ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one.
• Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC), painted black.
• Power supply required: Doesn’t come with the product.
• Available colors: black.
• Side panel: Transparent or solid.
• Dimensions: 24 1/4” x 11 1/32” x 26” (61.6 cm x 28 cm x 66 cm) (H x W x D).
• Net Weight: 33 lbs (15 kg)
• Gross Weight: 42 lbs (19 kg)
• Bays: Five external 5.25” bays and six internal 3.5” bays (one with a hot-swap connector).
• Expansion slots: Seven.
• Fans: One 120 mm fan (950 rpm) on the top, one 180 mm fan (700 rpm) between the motherboard compartment and the power supply compartment and one 180 mm fan (700 rpm) between the hard disk drive cage and the power supply compartment.
• More Information: https://www.silverstonetek.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 250.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

SilverStone Raven RV01 is a full-tower case targeted to the enthusiast that wants a high-quality high-end full-tower case and liked the concept of the motherboard being 90° rotated. Here is a summary of what we found about this product.

Strong Points

• Innovative design where the motherboard is rotated 90° so the rear part of the motherboard is available on the top of the case, improving thermal management and also making it easier to install and remove cables from the PC.
• Top-notch quality.
• Excellent number of hard disk drive bays that will please even very high-end users (six).
• Hot-swap connector for the first hard disk drive.
• Anti-vibration mechanisms for the hard disk drives.
• Lots of dust filters.

Weak Points

• Comes with only one hot swap connector, so you will need to buy more if you want to use this feature on more than one hard drive.
• The two USB ports are too close to each other, preventing the installation of two “fat” USB devices at the same time.
• Could have four USB ports.
• Could have one eSATA port.
• Could have come with black thumbscrews for fastening daughterboards.
• Could have come with black slot covers for a better aesthetics.
• No speed control for the fans.
• Price.

In summary, if money is not an issue, we think this is a terrific product for the enthusiast. However, because of its price we cannot recommend it for the average user, which will be better off picking a more affordable product.