After careful consideration I have decided to transfer all hardware review activities to a new domain. I purchased Hardwareasylum.com in 2012 and have been working hard to build a new and improved Ninjalane on that domain. If you are reading this you have reached one of the archived articles, news, projects and/or reviews that were left behind during the site migration.
Please update your bookmarks and be sure to visit the new and improved Ninjalane at Hardwareasylum.com
SilverStone RV01 Raven Case Review
Author: William West
Published: Thursday, March 12, 2009
Conclusion
The SilverStone RV01 Raven Case is one of the most over engineered case that we can think of and is really a marvel of a case to look at and is an industry first on several levels. For instance this is the first case that SilverStone has built using materials other than aluminum. The outer plastic panels borrow much of their styling from the stealth bomber and completely encase the chassis giving it a sleek mean look.
The Stacked Effect Cooling is just really an overall cool idea that amazes us that no other case maker has thought of it before. Turning the motherboard tray 90-degrees so that the heatsinks and cooling fans work more efficiently is just genius. The process does make the case considerably larger than most but the benefits speak for themselves.
The SilverStone RV01 Raven is just really an incredible case to look at and use but still it is not without faults, one of the joys of being a first in the industry. There is one ugly issue that it cannot hide from anyone, guests and owners alike and this horrible problem is fingerprints that just do not wipe off. This is usually not a big deal, but this case very difficult to clean without making some serious work. Of course this issue is more cosmetic than anything and most people will just deal with it.
Another sore spot is the hard drive area. The placement of the fan shroud in relation to the drive cage makes it a real pain to run cables and in some cases requires two people to properly close up the case. You see the door get real close to the drives and makes it feel like the cable are going to be bent and snap off the SATA connectors. At the end of the day the drive area is an ugly spot, but once it is done you just hope you never have to open the back side of your case again.
The SilverStone RV01 Raven is one of the coolest looking cases around and is just full of incredible ideas and don’t let the hard drive issue hold you back from buying one especially if you only use a single drive. Simply use the hot swap bay and move on.
Now for the ever popular list of Good things and Bad things.
The Stacked Effect Cooling is just really an overall cool idea that amazes us that no other case maker has thought of it before. Turning the motherboard tray 90-degrees so that the heatsinks and cooling fans work more efficiently is just genius. The process does make the case considerably larger than most but the benefits speak for themselves.
The SilverStone RV01 Raven is just really an incredible case to look at and use but still it is not without faults, one of the joys of being a first in the industry. There is one ugly issue that it cannot hide from anyone, guests and owners alike and this horrible problem is fingerprints that just do not wipe off. This is usually not a big deal, but this case very difficult to clean without making some serious work. Of course this issue is more cosmetic than anything and most people will just deal with it.
Another sore spot is the hard drive area. The placement of the fan shroud in relation to the drive cage makes it a real pain to run cables and in some cases requires two people to properly close up the case. You see the door get real close to the drives and makes it feel like the cable are going to be bent and snap off the SATA connectors. At the end of the day the drive area is an ugly spot, but once it is done you just hope you never have to open the back side of your case again.
The SilverStone RV01 Raven is one of the coolest looking cases around and is just full of incredible ideas and don’t let the hard drive issue hold you back from buying one especially if you only use a single drive. Simply use the hot swap bay and move on.
Now for the ever popular list of Good things and Bad things.
Good Things
Very strong steel and plastic construction.
Very sleek and unique case form
Incredible Stacked Effect Cooling system
Very well thought out interior design
More efficient air cooling design
The automated sliding front door
Very sleek and unique case form
Incredible Stacked Effect Cooling system
Very well thought out interior design
More efficient air cooling design
The automated sliding front door
Bad Things
The automated grinding gear sound from the front door
Finger print removal is horrible
The hard drive area for running cables and closing the door is just ridiculous
Finger print removal is horrible
The hard drive area for running cables and closing the door is just ridiculous
Ninjalane Rating
We would like to thank SilverStone for helping make this review possible.