The SilverStone Raven RV02 uses snazzy drive retention clips that look like the door handles on one of our staffer’s first car, a 1987 Toyota Tercel. If you push on the top edge of the drive clips, you can slide the 5.25″ drive in easily. Pushing on the lower edge of the clip secures the drive to the case. It’s very simple and seems relatively secure once clipped in. As an alternative, screws can be used to mount the 5.25″ drives the traditional way, albeit from the opposite side of the case.
The drive cage.
Regular hard drives are held in a cage that mounts low in the front of the case. They sit perpendicularly to the 5.25″ drives, and are held in place by special screws inserted through shock-absorbing rubber grommets. All together, three drives fit in the cage. Once they’re in place, the cage mounts beneath the optical bays.
Due to tight clearances, some motherboards cannot be installed until the drives have been mounted. And with that being the case, the drives may not be removable from the system with the motherboard in place–thankfully our board wasn’t one of them.
Also, the Raven RV02 is the first case we’ve come across with a separate SSD mounting bracket. The plastic device allows users to mount one SSD between the 5.25″ drive area and the back side panel of the case, completely out of the way.
Cable origami behind the motherboard.
Our board did not fare so well when it came time to connect the headers, however. No matter what cable origami we tried, the wires to attach the power and reset buttons were about one inch too short!
The board in question, an Intel DP55KG, has its pins on what would traditionally be the middle of the right side of the motherboard. Because of the non-standard motherboard placement in the Raven RV02, this put them out of reach. On any standard motherboard, where the front panel’s pins are located on what would typically be the bottom edge of the board, the Raven RV02 will have no problems. We just happened to be overly deviant with both a non-standard case and board.
Ready to go.
A little more wiring origami, a heatsink and video card, and the creative use of a paperclip to jump-start the motherboard, and we were in business.
The inside of the case stays nice and clean thanks to a design that lends itself to good cable management practices. Even the wires for the three 180mm intake fans at the bottom of the case are routed nicely behind the motherboard. The only prominent wires across the main area of the case were the ones providing power to the hard drives. Also, it was nice to see the case accept a tall cooler like the Thermalright MUX-120 without interfering with the side panel.
All buttoned up, the Raven RV02 is an attractive package. A small accent on the upper front edge of the case glows a soft blue when the case is turned on, but the light stayed soft and wasn’t blinding even in low light conditions.
Glowing more than TRON ever did.
Before snapping the top grill down to cover ports and cables, we nudged the three 180mm fans from their Low to High setting using the RV02 keeps so well-hidden up there. Even cranked up, the Raven RV02 is a quiet case. The Antec 900 is louder by all means. SilverStone says it’s 18dB on Low and 27dB on the High setting.
The Raven RV02 in its natural habitat.
With a design this different, it’s hard to talk about cooling; what’s not hard to discuss is physics. The Raven RV02 doesn’t let anything stand in the way of letting heat rise. But let’s, just for a minute, say that the difference in design doesn’t do anything meaningful in fan-cooled systems since fans move more air than natural convection would. In that case, the Raven RV02 still is kicking butt with the best of today’s air-cooling leaders. Three 180mm and one 120mm fans give this baby some incredible airflow; combine that with an interior that doesn’t hinder airflow and you’ve got a winner.
Final thoughts
We’d be lying to ourselves if we said there wasn’t a market for premium cases. And just because this one isn’t made of flimsy aluminum doesn’t make it any less of a case. Still, the SilverStone Raven RV02 isn’t a case for budget system builders, as the MSRP puts it dangerously close to $200. But for that $200, you get a heck of a deal. The case is well made with a great fit and finish, an incredible design, and it’s a joy to work in and be around.
We see a lot of cases come through Icrontic’s labs and, honestly, it’s pretty hard to get excited about most of them. On the other hand, when something like the SilverStone Raven RV02 shows up, it’s easy to be skeptical since it’s so different. But those differences are what piqued our interest, too. After all the testing, once the novelty factor passed and we saw the design for what it is, we realized there’s a whole lot more going on with the Raven RV02 than just a flipped, reversed motherboard tray.
The Raven RV02 is whole system that works incredibly well together and is truly innovative. We respect that. And that’s why we’re awarding it our highest award, the Icrontic Golden Fedora. It’s not that the Raven RV02 is without flaws. It isn’t. But even while flawed, it still exceeds everything else we’ve come across.
Pros:
Solid build
Excellent cable management
Unique design
Exceptional airflow
Cons:
Price
Weight
Depth
Pages: 1 2
Articles RSS