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Accessories

Model No. SST-RV02B (black)
SST-RV02B-W (black + window)
Material Reinforced plastic outer shell. 0.8mm Steel Body
Color Matte Black
Motherboard SSI CEB, ATX (Maximum 12" x 11"), Micro ATX
Drive Bays External - 5.25" x 5 (8 without hard drive)
Internal - 3.5" x 3 ( w/ suspension system), 2.5" x 1 for SSD
Cooling System Top - 1 x 120mm exhaust fan, 950rpm, 18dBa
Bottom - 3 x 180mm intake fans, 700rpm (Low) 1000rpm (High) 18 dBa (Low), 27dBa (High)
Expansion Slots 8
Front I/O Port USB x 2

Audio x 1

MIC x 1
Power Supply 1x optional standard PS2 (ATX)
Expansion Card Compatible with cards up to 10.5 inches
Net Weight 12.5kg
Dimension 212mm (W) x 503mm (H) x 643mm (D)
Liquid Cooling Support for radiator mounting
The Raven 2 (RV02) is SilverStone's follow up to the original Raven case (RV01). The Raven 2 takes the popular features from the original, and adds some new design elements as well. The case's exterior design is a drastic departure from the original , the sleek look will blend in better to any setting as it is not as overwhelming as the RV01. The case is constructed out of steel, with a plastic bezel and top. The plastic is sturdy and is well put together. The 90 degree rotated motherboard is back as well as the stack effect cooling design.

The bottom fans pull cool air from beneath the case and force it past all parts before being exhausted through the top of the case (where it is heading towards anyway). This revolutionary design makes a big difference towards keeping today's hot parts running at their best. Of the new features, the black interior paint job and the CPU backplate opening are the most welcome. Hopefully other case manufacturers take note. Let's check it out in more detail.

Features

Packaging

The packaging that the case was shipped in is probably the best I have seen. Silverstone did an excellent job protecting the case and proves that their attention to detail goes way beyond the design aspect.

The case was also covered by a cloth-like bag instead of the plastic, which was a nice touch. The windowed side panel is protected by plastic on both sides to prevent scratches. No detail has been ignored here, tape across the drive bay covers protects the case from rough handling during shipping. Needless to say, the case arrived in perfect condition.

The accessory box includes all the necessary case screws, a set of brackets for securing a radiator to the included bottom fans, a PSU bracket, a 5.25" to 3.5" drive bay bracket, a floppy drive bay cover, a power supply velcro mounting strap, a 2.5" hard drive/ SSD mounting plate, some wire ties to tidy up your cable routing job, and a molex fan adapter to plug in the three bottom fans. The big news here is the SSD mounting plate. Silverstone recognizes the fact that SSD's are gaining momentum and are forward-looking in their utilization.
In the picture below, I have mounted the SSD mounting plate to show where it would go. I won't be using this right now, but it's nice to know that the case will be ready for it when I am. This bracket can alo be used to mount a standard 2.5" laptop hard drive.

Interior

The Raven 2 uses a rocker latch drive locking mechanism like the original Raven chassis. The drives can also be secured using screws if necessary, but the drives felt sturdy using just the rocker latch. The rocker style latches take some getting used to as opposed to the usual button style, but they do a good job. The three bottom 180mm fans are speed adjustable and have removable filters for easy cleaning, but the side panel will have to be removed to access these. The high setting was used to for testing and the fans were barely audible. The airflow in this case is impressive .
Here you can see the fan speed switches and the PSU orientation. The PSU is mounted vertically and secured with a strap and mounting bracket to help support the weight. There is also a PSU vent on the rear of the case, but my test PSU has no bottom fan to take advantage of this feature. The PSU can mount facing either direction, so ones that have a fan on the top or bottom can pull cool air from outside the case.

The Build

The hard drives are mounted using a drive cage. This might be a bit of a hassle for those that swap parts out often. The cage only supports installation of three hard drives, although a fourth can be added using the included 5.25" drive bay brackets. The cage is secured using eight thumb screws and the drives are screwed in to the cage using four screws each. The cage uses rubber grommets to reduce noise. Once the motherboard is mounted, the cage mut be removed from the front of the case due to clearance issues with the motherboard. This requires removing the bottom three drive bay covers.
The system was built using my control parts to compare temperatures and noise levels. I used an Asus Rampage Formula board and a Core2 E8400 CPU. Video chores were left to my BFG GTS250 card. PSU is a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W. I had no issue installing any of the parts in this build. The motherboard orientation helps keep the parts chilly during operation. The vertical video card also helps to cool temps, especially if you have one that exhausts through the PCI slot like mine. Be aware that some cards that are powered on the end of the card instead of the side may come close to hitting the bottom case fan. My card is powered on the side and had no issue at all. Another thing to check is clearance for extra large CPU fans. My Zalman CNPS9500 had plenty of room.
I had little trouble routing cables behind the motherboard tray, but there is no room for unused cables. Those cables were bundled together and stuffed between the bottom fan and the back of the case. A modular PSU would solve this issue. Also note my test board has perfect access to the CPU backing plate through the motherboard tray.
Cables are plugged in to the top of the case and routed out the back. This is definitely a design that works, just don't rest your frosty beverage on top of the case!
Here we have a look at the rear PSU vent and the front of the completed build. The front ports consist of two USB, an audio and a Mic. No Firewire or E-SATA ports on this one.

Conclusion

Overall quality of this case is excellent. There are a few drawbacks like the hard drive cage and some minor cable routing issues, but they were not enough to really detract from this fine piece of hardware. The fit and finish alone rank this high on my list. Testing showed this case to perform equal to or better than my control system that uses a Cooler Master HAF922 enclosure.

The Raven 2 dropped temps a few degrees across the board and was much quieter than the HAF922 due to the solid front bezel design of the Raven. I would not hesitate to recommend this case for a high class system. This is a truly beautiful case that was a pleasure to work with.

10/4/08 -Keith Soreghen-

Thermal tests were run using Speedfan 4.39. Two instances of Prime 95 were used to max out each CPU core for max load. 3DMark06 was used to stress the GPU for testing. EVGA precision was used to manually set the GPU fan at 50% fan speed. Ambient room temperature is 80 Degrees Fahrenheit. The Raven 2 manages to cool better than the HAF922 by a small margin, and does so at a lower noise level. The orientation of the components in the case seem to really make a difference for system cooling, so SilverStone is really on to something here.

Exterior

Even though the top and front panel are made mostly from plastic, the case is very sturdy. The materials are all of high quality and the entire case is well put together. SilverStone has taped the front bay covers to prevent them from coming loose during shipping. The RV02 also comes with plastic to protect the side panel window. These little touches go a long way to inform customers that the enclosure is quality.

Thermal Tests

The interior of the case seemed cramped at first, but I soon got used to working with it. The narrow design will not allow for sloppy cable routing as there is not much extra room between the motherboard tray and the side panel.

Now is a good time to perfect those cable routing skills. The end result is a joy to behold! I do recommend using a modular PSU for this case to present as clean a build as possible. There are very few spots to stuff extra cables, but my PSU was manageable using the included cable ties.