Final thoughts and rating
SilverStone had a rather difficult job to do when designing the new Raven chassis, because the original Raven was, well, rather original. Putting minor gripes aside, the company has done a pretty good job with the Raven RV-02That's not to say it doesn't have its bad points, of course. Minor annoyances include the lack of a removable motherboard tray, or the fact that the top 5.25in drive doesn't utilise a tool-less retention mechanism. Others, though, are more annoying.
For instance, the expansion cards have to be retained using screws, compounded by the lack of thumbscrews, and the power and reset switches can be pressed rather too easily - a design 'flaw' not present on the original model.
The good outweighs the bad, though. For example, the pretty decent thermal performance, anti-vibration mounts on the hard-drive cage, and the cut-out in the back of the motherboard tray are all useful and appreciated.
In addition there are several smaller details about the chassis which serve to endear you to it during use, such as the easily removable intake fan filters, the easily accessible fan-speed switches, as well as the many cut-outs in the motherboard tray to allow for tidy cabling.
On balance then, if you can live with its faults and limitations and are looking for a midi-tower chassis around the £100 mark, we reckon you should seriously consider the SilverStone Raven RV02B-W
HEXUS Rating
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the SilverStone Raven RV02B-W is evaluated with respect to our 'mid-range components' criteria.
SilverStone Raven RV02B-W
HEXUS Awards
SilverStone Raven RV02B-W
HEXUS Where2Buy
The SilverStone Raven RV02B-W chassis is currently on sale from Scan.co.uk* for £103.44.
*As always, UK-based HEXUS.community discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
