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Today we are going to look at the latest model to feature in Silverstone’s critically acclaimed Raven series of cases, the RV04. It promises to build on the success of the previous model, the RV03, offering higher levels of performance. We are interested to see what Silverstone have implemented to improve various aspects of their case design.
Silverstone are a long-established player in the market and are renowned for producing innovative cases which excel in terms of cooling and acoustic performance. Over the past couple of years, there has been an explosion of new case manufacturers and models, forcing the more established chassis designers to come up with radical new designs.
Is the Silverstone Raven RV04 good enough to merit a shortlist for a new system?
Silverstone say “Inspiration was drawn from the highly successful Temjin TJ08-E, a Micro-ATX case with compact dimensions and best in class cooling performance, so the motherboard and the fans in the RV04 are mounted in similar fashion to obtain equally impressive performance in ATX form factor while allowing for excellent cable management.”
Specification
| Model No. | SST-RV04B (black)SST-RV04B-W (black window) | ||||
| Material | Reinforced plastic outer shell, steel body | ||||
| Motherboard | SSI-EEB, SSI-CEB, Extended ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX | ||||
| Drive Bay | External | 5.25″ x 2 | Internal | 3.5″ x 7 (vibration dampening, 2 hot-swap capable)2.5” x 4 | |
| Cooling System | Front | 2 x 180mm Air Penetrator 600/900/1200rpm, 18/25/34dBA | Rear | 1 x 120mm option | |
| Expansion Slot | 8 | ||||
| Front I/O Port | USB 3.0 x 2 Audio x 1 MIC x 1 | ||||
| Power Supply | 1 x Optional standard PS2 (ATX) | ||||
| Expansion Card | 6.69” x 13.3” Full length | ||||
| Limitation of CPU cooler | 165mm | ||||
| Limitation of PSU | Unlimited | ||||
| Dimension | 219 mm (W) x 581mm (H) x497mm (D), 63.2 liters | ||||
The Silverstone Raven RV04 is supplied in an attractively designed box which features a striking black livery. The front of the box features a large image of the case alongside a list of key features.
Turning the box around reveals a large image of the case with a more detailed breakdown of the key features and specifications. The box feels pretty good quality and should do a good job of protecting the case during transit.
The included accessory bundle is fairly limited. It features a detailed installation guide, the necessary screws for installation and some plastic brackets which let you install three 120 mm fans in the front of the system to replace the two 180mm units. This would theoretically let us install a radiator in the front of the case, however we expect that most users will purchase this case for it's air cooling credentials.
Despite being finished exclusively in black, the RV04 is quite an exciting design. It's clear that Silverstone have derived some inspiration from previous Raven models when it comes to the aesthetic design. We love the way that Silverstone have infused life into the design by including a series of ridges and lines which extend all the way up the front panel of the case and along the top.
The front of the case is a large door which even makes up a small part of the top panel of the case. We were quite shocked at how poorly designed this part of the case is however. The door itself feels like it's made out of poor quality plastic and doesn't open and shut very smoothly.
The situation is made even worse when the case is placed on carpet, where it becomes impossible to close the door without physically lifting the whole case up.
On each side of the door, there is a large open area which feed the two 180 mm front intake fans with air. These are hidden behind a dust filter which is designed to optimise airflow. There are also two 5.25″ drive bays hidden behind the door, alongside independent fan controllers for both front fans.
There is a large fan vent on the top of the case at the back which continues the lines of the case, while adding some design flare. This feeds the top-mounted power supply with cool air from outside the case.
We find the front panel connections located on the right hand side of the case. These consist of two USB 3.0 connectors and headphone and microphone jacks.
Like a number of other Silverstone models, the main access panel is on the right hand side of the case, rather than the left. This case features a large window in the side panel which lets us see all the components within. This window can be removed from the side panel, presumably so you could fit a custom one in it's place.
While this is a nice feature, it has the unwanted side effect of making the window rattle around a little.
Moving round to the rear of the system, we can see the power supply bracket at the top, above the eight expansion slots and I/O backplate hole.
There isn't actually a rear fan installed in the case, which is a deliberate move by Silverstone. They claim that it disrupts graphics card cooling performance, and that the CPU cooler fans alone are enough to expel hot air from the system.
Removing the side panels of the RV04 is simple thanks to the use of thumbscrews. The roof can also be removed in a similar fashion, allowing access to the top of the case where the power supply can be mounted.
Installing the power supply is pretty simple, as it slots snugly into the top and can be secured into place using four screws through the back of the system.
There is plenty of room behind the motherboard tray for cable routing, and plenty of holes cut into it for cable routing. These don't feature rubber grommets, though, which is a little disappointing.
The motherboard tray itself is actually removable from the case. This makes it easy to install the motherboard into the system, especially when you want to install a motherboard with a CPU cooler pre-attached. There is a large cut-out for attaching a CPU cooler backplate, in case you want to attach it after installing the motherboard.
On the left hand side of the case there are seven hard drive bays which support 3.5″ units only. These benefit from the airflow generated by the two 180mm fans in the front of the case. There are also four 2.5″ drive mounting points in the base of the case.
Installing a graphics card is fairly simple as Silverstone have cut holes into the case to let you access the expansion card screws with a screwdriver. Once the graphics card is installed, you can also install a GPU support bracket which holds the card in place and should help prevent damage when you move it around.
In a similar fashion, there is a CPU cooler support bracket in the bottom of the case which can be adjusted for CPU coolers of different sizes. We were a little disappointed by the CPU cooler headroom as we found the fan of our Noctua NH-D14 actually came into contact with the side panel when installed. Anything bigger may not fit at all.
For our tests we will be using a Noctua NH-D14 to cool the Intel Core i7-3930K CPU in the Silverstone Raven RV04. Our test system also features an AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card.
We manually overclocked the i7-3930K to 4.7 GHz by increasing the multiplier to 47x, leaving the baseclock set at 100 MHz. We set Load Line Calibration to ‘High’, and increased the CPU Current Capability to 120% with a minor voltage increase. Speed stepping was disabled for both stock and overclocked tests.
Test System:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K
- Motherboard: Asus P9X79
- Cooler: Phanteks Noctua NH-D14
- Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2.
- Memory: 16GB (4x 4GB) Mushkin Blackline 1600 MHz
- Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7950.
- Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W
- System Drive: Intel SSD 330 Series 120 GB
- Monitor: Viewsonic VX2260WM.
Software:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit).
- CPUID Hardware Monitor.
- Prime95 64-bit.
- Furmark V1.10.6
To test the thermal performance of the Silverstone Raven RV04 we loaded our test system for 15 minutes using Prime95 and Furmark and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor. We then restarted the system and left it for 15 minutes before recording idle temperatures.
Room temperature was maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of our tests.
As expected, the performance of the RV04 is impressive thanks to the quality Air Penetrator fans.
To conduct our noise level tests, we replaced the graphics card in our system with a AMD Radeon HD 5550 Silence which was passively cooled. We also momentarily disconnected the fans on the CPU cooler so we were only taking into account the noise generated by the fans in the case.
We are also impressed with the acoustic performance of the case, which is excellent considering the lack of sound proofing. Again, this is thanks to the quiet Air Penetrator fans and the lack of a rear exhaust fan.
Overall we have mixed feelings about the Silverstone Raven RV04. We love the design of the case as it is unique, and while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it certainly could not be classed as ugly. The all-black finish is likely to appeal to a wide audience, although we would like to see Silversotne releasing more colour options in the future. The enthusiast audience do love being able to select from a variety of case colours and it is unusual this has been ignored.
We were impressed by the stellar thermal and acoustic performance of the RV04. We can't think of a competitor case in the same price zone which will beat it when it comes to cooling capability and low noise emissions. Those users who want a completely silent system should probably consider aftermarket noise supression kits.
Our main issue with the RV04 is the front panel door which feels like something normally incorporated on a £30 case, not one costing £130. Even if we were to forgive the flimsy-feeling plastic used to make it, it still has a number of design flaws. It cannot be used with the case sat on a carpet as the door catches on the floor and cannot be shut without physically lifting up the system. Even when the case is placed on a hard surface, it can still be difficult to shut the door as the magnet doesn't line up very well at the top.
At a price of £130, we think that the Silverstone Raven RV04 is a good option for those looking for a case with a great balance between cooling performance and quietness. For us, the poor quality front panel is a bit of a deal breaker, though, as most other cases at this price point offer fantastic build quality.
Pros
- Air penetrator fans.
- Quiet operation.
- Good thermal performance.
- Exciting design.
Cons
- Front door design is terrible.
- Other cases at the price point offer the whole package.
KitGuru says: A decent case from Silverstone, let down only by a poorly designed front panel door.
