SilverStone Raven RV02 Full-Tower

The original Raven RV01 was not the most well-received chassis on the market. The price was high and there were a lot of flaws in the design that were too hard to overlook. Cable management issues were rampant and caused many would-be purchasers to look elsewhere. The revolutionary design was just not enough to convince people to make sacrifices. Problems like these usually spell disaster for any new design.

Lucky for us, SilverStone was up for the challenge and in my eyes not only saved this unique design, they improved it in every area they were criticized on. Many companies do listen to consumers and it shows in their products. There is no doubt the RV02 is one of these products. This is a fact that just cannot be overlooked. Coming in at a retail price of ~$199 there is also alot of value here. Sure, that is a lot of money for a chassis, but you do get what you pay for here.

Cable management is one of the top considerations in people’s minds while shopping for a chassis. No one wants to be forced to use extensions or even new peripherals such as power supplies because of poor design. The RV02 passes these requirements with flying colors. The only real stretch was the power connector for the DVD drive, yet there was enough length to keep the wires neatly tucked behind the motherboard tray.

The next requirement is ample space. Between monster CPU heatsinks and the ever-growing graphics card, space is always at a premium. Again, there are just no worries here since there is enough room for the largest heatsink and longest video card. Add to that the spacious cavern for which to build in, and you have a solid recipe for success.

Finally, and probably most importantly, airflow is possibly the single most important factor in choosing a chassis. All the bling in the world will not help preventing your expensive hardware from melting down. Adding lots of fans also does not guarantee the ability to move the cold air in and the hot air out. The RV02 not only gets the job done, it gets the job done extremely well. Heat naturally rises so taking advantage of this was a very smart move. You just will not be disappointed in this area.

I give the Raven RV02 the Editor’s Choice 9 out or 10 rating. This case does its job so well that there was simply no way I could give it a lower score. If not for the annoying screws in the front panel, I could have seen myself almost giving it that magical elusive 10 out of 10. SilverStone deserves two thumbs up here and you simply must give this chassis a strong hard look if you are in the market for a new chassis. If you liked the concept of the original, but were turned off by the less than stellar reviews, be sure to check it out.

Pros
• Excellent layout.
• Efficient airflow scheme.
• Innovative design.
• Quiet operation.
• Excellent fit and finish.

Cons
• Removing front panel is a chore.

SilverStone Raven RV02

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