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Review: SilverStone Raven RV03

by Parm Mann on 26 September 2011, 09:00 4.0

Tags: SilverstoneTek

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Inside the Raven RV03

When working with the RV03, most tasks are started by pulling away the chassis' top panel. Using no screws, the plastic panel is suitably light and easily removed with a gentle tug, revealing the rear of your motherboard and the thumb screws that hold the side panels in place.

It's easy enough, but if you spend more time inside your chassis than out, keep in mind that the Raven RV03 isn't as easily accessible as some of its rivals. Removing the top panel and a couple of thumb screws is hardly a burden, but isn't as swift as, say, the Corsair Obsidian 650D's quick-release side panels.

What is useful is that the RV03's integrated fan controller is neatly situated between the plastic top shroud and the flip-up I/O panel, allowing the user to toggle between low and high speeds quickly and easily.

It's on the inside that the Raven has traditionally proved interesting, and the RV03 is no exception. SilverStone's all-black interior is easy on the eye, and enough thought has been given to cable management and installation.

There's a sizeable cutout in the motherboard tray to help with CPU cooler installation, and ample room behind the motherboard tray for excess cabling. A solid start, but SilverStone could pay closer attention to some of the finer details. None of the expansion slots use thumb screws, there's no option for the top-mounted USB 3.0 ports to be a routed to an internal USB 3.0 header, and all the bundled screws are silver as opposed to black.

It's a surprise to see these niggling issues appear in a third-generation chassis, but perhaps it's a result of SilverStone's desire to innovate rather than refine. Take for example the storage bays. Unlike the RV02, which simply converted the optical bays from 5.25in to 3.5in where necessary, the RV03 features five dedicated storage bays mounted to the rear of the motherboard tray.

Four of these bays each accommodate a 3.5in hard disk, and the fifth is able to house two 2.5in SSDs. It's an approach to storage we've already seen in SilverStone's Fortress FT03, and it's an interesting use of space.

However, while the rear-sided storage bays work well, the same can't be said for the seven optical drive bays. Six of the seven are split into two three-bay hard-disk cages, but gaining access to either of the cages requires a lot of patience. Ours ran out, but from what we can tell you'd need to remove any adjoining drive bays from behind the motherboard tray, half a dozen screws, a couple of drive bay covers and a fan mount or two.

There's a good chance the optical bays won't be used to store 3.5in hard disks, but nonetheless, all the bays should be easier to access.

We had no need to use the optical drive bays for storage, so installing our high-end X58 test platform proved to be relatively easy, and there are enough cable-routing facilities to maintain a clean-looking build. CPU and GPU clearance shouldn't be a problem, either, as the RV03 supports CPU coolers measuring up to 169mm in height, and graphics cards measuring up to 344mm in length.

There are a couple of clearance quirks elsewhere, though. The side-facing power supply bay supports PSUs measuring up to 180mm in length, and that unfortunately isn't enough for our test platform's Corsair HX1000. We had to swap our PSU for a 1,000W unit provided by SilverStone. And, if you're planning on using all of your expansion slots, you may struggle to fit a 120mm fan to the rear mount.

A few points to be wary of, but nothing that's going to prevent the RV03 from happily housing an ultra-high-end rig. Our X58 platform looks relatively small in the chassis' internal cavern, and the available space makes it particularly easy to work with.

What's handy is that the PSU is connected to a pre-routed cable that leads to the underside of the chassis - where the user then attaches the mains lead - and two, large filters are magnetically held in place to help prevent the build up of dust.

We reckon there's still room for improvement, but the RV03 feels friendlier and more spacious than the RV02, and it's comfortably cheaper, too. Question is, how does this Ā£95 solution compare to the many other options available in the marketplace?