SilverStone Raven RVZ01-E Review

SilverStone Raven RVZ01-E Review

Manufacturer: SilverStone
UK price (as reviewed): £69.98 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $89.99 (ex Tax)

We first saw the original Raven RVZ01 chassis back in 2014, and it's fair to say that we rather loved it. A smart design enabled you to get plenty of hardware, easily enough for an envy-inducing high-end build, into a chassis that was barely larger than your average HTPC case. Back now with the newest revision, the RVZ01-E, SilverStone has maintained these general principles while having made a few tweaks.


From the outside, the RVZ01-E is practically indistinguishable from its predecessor. The dimensions and design are the same, in fact. The core chassis is hewn from steel but it has an outer plastic section on the front and sides. Build quality is okay but not premium – it strikes us more as a case to be tucked away discreetly rather than one to take centre stage in your living room.


Carried over is the ability to stand the RVZ01-E both horizontally and vertically depending on your requirements. A set of rubber feet is provided for each orientation, and you also get a replacement logo so you can make sure the front logo matches whichever way up you go with. To stand the case vertically, the four feet slot into the grooves of the side vents, while if you want to go horizontal you simply stick on the supplied feet to the chassis' underside.


Looking at the case in its horizontal position, we see that the roof is sealed except for a single vent, which gives the slimline 120mm intake fan installed here its air. As before, this is installed directly above where the CPU cooler goes for maximum effectiveness. Flipping the case over, there's a pair of side-by-side 120mm mounts, with the furthest back one again filled with a slimline 120mm fan. With dual intakes, the chassis has a positive pressure design, which will force air to exhaust out of the numerous vents around the sides and at the back, also helping to keep dust out. Furthermore, all three 120mm mounts have external magnetic dust filters – they're a bit unsightly but do the job and are as easy as possible to remove and clean. Unfortunately, no dust filter is provided for the ventilation holes that serve the PSU, so that's likely to build up a bit of dust over time.


The front I/O panel has also remained unchanged, with power and reset buttons blended into the plastic fascia and a pair of USB 3.0 ports alongside the usual audio minijacks.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 382 x 105 x 350 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic
  
• Available colours Black
  
• Weight 3.7kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3.0, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 4 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) Mini-DTX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 1 x 120mm roof fan mount (1 x 120mm slimline fan included), 2 x 120mm bottom fan mounts (1 x 120mm slimline fan included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 83mm (68mm with roof fan)
  
• Maximum graphics card length 330mm
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, PCI-E riser card set, spare front logo, rubber feet for vertical and horizontal positions, fan splitter cable, GPU support bracket