SilverStone Raven RVZ 01 Case Review
The SilverStone Raven RVZ01 is a compact and stylish case that is perfect for building a powerful and space-saving gaming PC. The case has a sleek, minimalist design and measures just 380mm x 105mm x 330mm, making it one of the smallest gaming cases available. Despite its small size, the RVZ01 can accommodate a full-sized graphics card and ATX power supply, which makes it a great choice for building a powerful system.
Unboxing and Closer Look
I love the graphics theme they used to showcase the front fascia of the SilverStone Raven RVZ 01 Case; it is very well done. There is also plenty of information about the Raven RVZ01 in nine additional languages. This should help the consumer in making an informed decision.
Upon opening the carton I was very impressed; not only was the Silverstone Raven RVZ 01 nicely packaged and protected in a black cloth bag. But it came with a comprehensive and easy-to-understand installation manual accompanied by their catalog. The Parts box comes with all the necessary hardware for your installation, filters for the intake areas, and support brackets for the larger video cards.
In addition, several supports for horizontal or vertical placement of the case, a right-angle video card extension, and two SilverStone logos to match both case orientations. It was very nice of SilverStone to send me an entirely modular 450W SFX form factor 80 plus gold series power supply with this case.
I will happily be installing it for our HTPC build. All cables on the Silverstone SFX series PSU are well-sleeved. Plus, a mounting plate is included, so it can also be installed in a standard PSU slot. Click on the arrows below for a closer look.
Closer Look Exterior
I simply love the design of the SilverStone Raven RVZ 01 Case and the way the fascia wraps around the sides to the back. To me, it screams gaming case! In the top left we have a spot for a front-loading, slim-line, slot-load optical drive which we will look at when we move to the inside. Underneath it is one of the two Raven logos that come with the case for positioning for vertical or horizontal placement of the case.
Up top is your removable door which houses a 120mm, wide and 15mm thick slim intake fan. It sits right over the motherboard area on the inside. The front of the Raven RVZ01 sports two USB 3.0, Mic, and headphone connections. Sitting below them at the bottom are your start and reset buttons, and in between are the power and data lights which light up in blue.
Both the left and right sides of the SilverStone Raven RVZ 01 Case are very well-ventilated for optimal air intake and heat dissipation. Moving on to the back of the SilverStone Raven RVZ01, left to right we have our opening for the motherboard’s I/O dust cover.
We also see ventilation for your motherboard above it, and a glimpse of the parts box inside. Off to the right are dual expansion bay slots for your video card, and additional ventilation below it.
To the right of that is the plug for your PSU, whose cable runs around the inside to the front of the case and connects to the PSU, which we will have a look at when we move to the inside.
Turning the Raven RVZ01 over to the bottom, we have three intake areas, one of which has a slim 120mm fan preinstalled, with the option to add another. Off to the right is a ventilated area for your power supply. Let’s move on to the inside for an up close and personal look at what looks to be a very well-laid-out interior.
Raven Z Interior
Two screws at the back hold the top in place, and when removed, lets you slide off the top to reveal the special slim 15mm in height 120mm intake, which I believe I mentioned earlier sits right over the MB area to keep air moving around the board and CPU. It’s a 3-pin plug and not PWM. The cable is attractive in black, and its length is plentiful for connecting to your motherboard.
Here’s a quick thing to take note of: If you’re going to install an aftermarket CPU cooler that is taller than the stock CPU cooler, you will want to check its height as you may have to relocate this fan to the bottom of the case under the graphics card bracket for an additional room up top.
020Moving on to the inside, starting at the upper left, is your I/O connection cables for your motherboard. This includes the 20-pin USB 3.0 connection. Right below these is a PSU shroud that houses not just your power supply inside but also has a spot for a standard HDD up top.
The open section below it is where the cables are currently curled. This will house either a Mini-DTX or Mini-ITX motherboard.
Moving to the right side, we have the graphics card support bracket. When removed, will not only accommodate some of the largest graphics cards available, but also a front, slot-load slimline optical drive, and three SSDs: two up top and one on the support bracket adjacent to the PSU area.
Click on the thumbnails below for a closer look at the three mounting areas for the SSDs which include the two up top, plus the one on the support wall adjacent to the PSU shroud. After the removal of six screws that hold the GPU bracket, it lifts right out.
This gives you a good look at the spacious interior on that side for our graphics card and optical drive. We also see one preinstalled 120mm x 15mm intake fan. You can switch the fan position to the rear, which will place it almost center of your video card, and open a spot up front for an additional 120mm intake fan or a slim AIO water cooling system under the optical drive area.
You may have nothing we never mentioned an exhaust fan. Silverstone designed the RVZ 01 to have all fans as intake to maintain positive air pressure and keep dust out.
If you plan to install a low-profile “top-down” airflow-type cooler, it should also be set in an intake position. The 120mm intake on the door works better with these types of coolers.
Below are slides of the video card bracket with the riser, showing the installation of the optical drive, video card, and the power supply’s open area with the shroud removed. This reveals the extension cable routed around from the back to the front of the case for your PSU. With the removal of the bracket, the video card mounts like any other card would.
The exception is the supports provided for you to add for the very long and heavier cards. A right-angle extension is provided from the card to the riser that plugs into the MB. Below is my XFX 6870 installed, showing the riser with the right angle that plugs into the MB. Let’s move on to the final installation.
Installation
I would be lying if I said the installation was quick, although easy. It just took a bit more time due to some constraints, like working in tight spaces, and the fact that if you don’t take the time to read and follow the steps in the manual provided, it may take you a bit longer. I learned that the hard way.
The key here is to follow the steps outlined in the very well-written installation manual. It made it clear to connect all SATA and PSU cables while the graphics card support is out of the case.
Also, I needed to find a shielded mini SATA/Power connection to standard SATA for my slimline optical drive, which was long enough to reach the other side of the case. This was a problem because newer motherboards have everything inverted now. This places the SATA and all other cable connections up top and further away.
A big thank you goes out to SilverStone for providing me with the Silverstone-Tek-Sleeved-mini-SATA and power-CP10 18’’ inch cable for the optical drive. They also provided the SFX 450W 80 plus gold-certified PSU. Both of these items are necessary and definitely made my installation a whole lot easier.
The bottom line is that although there is no room for great cable management, I am still very happy with the final outcome with pictures below of the finished build.
Summary
The SilverStone Raven RVZ01 is beautiful in my equipment rack, and it is running cool and very quiet as well. My case temps never went higher than 4 to 5 degrees Celsius over my ambient temps, during many hours of use. I really love the clean look and style of the new Raven RVZ01 as a gaming case or HTPC.
It fits right in with all my other equipment on my rack. The slot load optical drive is the perfect accompaniment that looks great and works great. When it comes to cases, it sometimes takes an awful lot to get me excited. I have reviewed many different types and styles over the past several years, and Silverstone’s new Raven RVZ01 did not disappoint.
Conclusion
The build quality and layout are pretty impressive. The ability to house some of the largest video cards and the well-thought-out orientation was much appreciated. Its great ventilation and water-cooling options just left me in awe.
I actually loved working in it, and if I had to change anything at all, it would be something simple like adding a couple of thumb screws to the door at the back for easy access.
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