Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The Raven has landed at my house again. Here's a quick pic I took of it the minute it arrived just now.





This is fresh off the factory floor straight to me for an exclusive unveiling for you guys here in Lowyat.Net. I'm so excited by it, I have to share this picture with you guys 1st. I will be unboxing it and doing a lightning review of it tonight. It's a pretty big rush coz Silverstone HQ want's me to prepare it for the upcoming KL PC Fair. I will do my best to get it up for you guys ASAP.

This post has been edited by ianho: Aug 9 2009, 09:46 AM

Wooot...nice....update us on the interior.

This post has been edited by liangtucky: Jul 24 2009, 08:37 PM

i also wan c interior.
uncle,do u surgery on it later ??

This post has been edited by lun1986: Jul 24 2009, 09:05 PM

1st question 1st...
is this made out of plastic or aluminium?


if plastic i will wait for the FT02 which is better

i should be saying FT02


This post has been edited by tjay_tj: Jul 25 2009, 02:03 PM

Ok here comes the lightning review. It's gonna be a quick and simple review.

Here's the box. I've been told that the retail version will look the same.








The box removed. Silverstone has finally reduced the size of the packaging with more efficient use of space. Just look at how they've recessed the accessories box into the styrofoam. The case is wrapped in a nice cloth bag now. No more cheap plastic bags.











Window side view of the case.











Front 3/4 view.












Side view.












Front view.












Back view. There's a mesh filter on the back to keep the intake clean for the PSU.











The rear filter is easily removed for cleaning.












Bottom view. This is where the 3x 180mm fans sit.



This post has been edited by ianho: Aug 16 2009, 10:36 PM

Top view.












Top cover removed. The top cover pops off easily now. No more twist n turn locks like the RV01. Just lift it straight up and it pops off.










A closer look at the top. These 3 switches control the 3x 180mm fans. Low-700rpm and High-1000rpm. They are specified to flow 100cfm at 700rpm.











The I/O port area has been improved by making it much deeper. As you can see in this picture, I've put in a USB thumb drive to show that it can be used with no problems. The RV01 was really shallow and USB thumb drives couldn't be used. Big thumbs up to Silverstone for sorting out a major complaint on the RV01.











I'll slowly move downwards from the top now after looking at the top panel. Let's take a look at the middle section of the case. This is a really cool feature of the RV02. It's an SSD holder. As far as I know, it's the only case with an SSD holder. Here's the included SSD bracket.












I don't have an SSD with me so I'll use a 2.5" HDD to show how it fits on the case. Here's the 2.5" HDD installed into the SSD bracket.














Here's the SSD bracket installed into the case. How cool is that? I think this is such a superb feature.















There's something I really miss from the RV01 though, the hot swap HDD cages in the RV01 were superb. RV02 now uses a conventional HDD cage with rubber grommets for suspension. The cage is held to the lower front section with 4 thumb screws.



This post has been edited by ianho: Aug 16 2009, 10:32 PM

Let's take a look at the internals now. There's a really useful hole behind the HSF area now. This will be very useful for people who change HSFs often as we can now access the backplate without having to remove the motherboard. There's are a lot of wire management holes all over the motherboard tray too. This should come in handy.













A closer look at the 3x 180mm fans at the bottom of the case. They're covered with a grill on top to prevent the fans from chewing up the wires inside the case.











The fans have filters which slide out easily for cleaning. Just pull the tabs and they come straight out.










The fan grills can be removed. This will be good for people who can keep the wire management nice and clean as the air flow should be a lot better without those grills on. There's also another reason for removing the grills. Silverstone has designed the RV02 for a fully internal water cooling set up. Here's how it looks like with the grills removed.










This is the bracket for attaching a radiator to the 180mm fans. There are 2 brackets included. Install 1 at the front, 1 at the back and we will be able to install a 3x120mm radiator on top of the fans. I personally use a simple 120mm radiator so I will be using just 1 bracket at the back like this.












I'm using a 120mm fan here to show how my 120mm will be mounted to the bracket.












While we're looking at the fans. I put a 120mm fan on top of the 180mm fan to show just how big those big momma fans are.










I nearly forgot to mention this feature as it's hidden up at the top. Look carefully and you'll see 8 slots. This will be good for those of you planning on running 4 dual slot graphics cards.



This post has been edited by ianho: Aug 16 2009, 10:28 PM

One last picture of the top where the power and reset buttons are located. The USB and audio ports are there too. They really should have covered it behind a door like the RV01. I think this exposed USB panel is very ugly compared the stealthy look of the RV01.







My thoughts on the case so far-

The things I like:-
1. The hole behind the CPU socket on the motherboard tray for easy HSF installation.

2. Wire management holes are nice and big now as compared to the puny little holes on the RV01

3. The rather nifty SSD bracket.

4. A much deeper I/O port area on the top of the case which allows the usage of DVI-VGA adapter plugs and also fat DVI wires.

5. Cooling performance should be a lot better than RV01.

6. Rubber grommet mounting for the HDDs.

7. 3x speed controllers for the intake fans.

8. Easy maintenance with filters on all intake fans.


The things I don't like:-
1. Top USB and audio ports.

2. No more Hot Swap HDD cages like the RV01.

3. No door on front panel. The look will be ruined when a DVD drive is installed. Modders will have to use the stock slot cover for making a stealth DVD drive. Or you can do away with the DVD drive completely by using an external USB DVD drive.

4. Internal mounting for water cooling system. I don't like the radiator blowing hot air up into the other components. I would much prefer an external mounting to isolate the heat from the other components.


Well, that's all I can think of for now. I will only find out about the thermal performance in a few days time when I install the hardware inside. I will be sure to update the results later on if time permits. I'm on an extremely tight schedule as the PC Fair starts next weekend. Either way, you guys can come over to the PC Fair next weekend to check out the RV02 and be the priviliged few to see and touch it first besides those who attended Computex in Taiwan.

This post has been edited by ianho: Jul 26 2009, 04:44 AM

Raven 01 nicer

mane review?

Cool! Just in time when I want to change my casing.

Preparing for the PC Fair. Does that mean that it will be available for purchase by then?

Coming coming. I'm playing around with it now. Then need to do a photo session afterwards, then do the wrtie up of what I think about the case, then only post the review. Hang on for the review guys. I'm working furiously on it n hope to get it up by tonight.





No it wont be available at this PC Fair. I will be taking my personal unit of RV02 to the PC Fair to share with all you Silverstone fans though. RV02's worldwide availability for sale is in mid August, best case scenario. It may even be later in some places due to high demand and not enough units to go around to all countries.

So come on over to the coming KL PC Fair to see, touch n feel the Raven 2 since Silverstone has graced us with the privilege of seeing it so early. I don't think the Raven 2 has been shown anywhere else except the recent Computex.

Gonna have Silverstone booth?

i think this is the first time

Second

Read about the 1st Silverstone booth here ---> April KL PC Fair, 2009

i am waiting

i'm waiting for your picture

Picture plz...

waiting ur review here

is smaller or bigger that big bro (raven01)???

Comparing my own Raven RV01 with the available pictures from Computex09, it looks like the Raven 2 is shorter in height, but longer in length.


It's the free-flowing bottom intake fans that intrigue me, making sure the Raven 2 will have significantly better airflow compared to the original RV01.

From the looks of it, the 3 intake fans are completely unobstructed (with a bigger opening as well), compared to the tightly choked intake of the RV01 (blocked by the bottom mounted PSU).

Love the big window too. The smaller window on the Raven 1 blocks the view of my second graphics card, since it's plugged in into my motherboard's third PCIe slot.

I'm really looking forward to this casing. With good reviews, I'll definitely consider changing my current RV01 to this new baby.
Bring on the review, Mr. Ianho.

This post has been edited by igor87: Jul 26 2009, 03:16 AM

OK guys, review is up. Phewwwwwww it's been a really long day. I was so tempted to go to sleep and finish up the review 2moro.
Buuuuuuuuuut I promised to try n finish this by 2nite so here it is.

Great stuff mate.

Good to know that the top cover doesn't have the troublesome twisty locks anymore. I've never bothered to lock mine anyway.
And removing the intake fan grating is pure genius.

Regarding the 8 expansion slots though, surely the first one will be used for a soundcard, then you wouldn't be able to fit 4 dual slot cards anymore would you?

Will you be testing the cooling performance with multi gpu setup? I would like to know if it's any good.
But from the pictures I can tell it's waay better than the RV01. With my second card installed on the far left slot in the RV01, there's barely a half a centimeter of space between the card and the casing's rear wall, which is downright ridiculous. And the fact that the intake fan can't blow air into this tight gap doesn't help either.

And is it true that the PSU will be held up by a strip of velcro? Doesn't sound like a very good idea to me.

Well anyhow, thanks for the review. Keep it coming.

This post has been edited by igor87: Jul 26 2009, 05:37 AM

Ya, I never lock my top cover on the RV01 too. About the 4x dual slot cards, that's what the fellas did at Computex. They put in 4x GTX295! Soundcard will b using USB I guess. Yes I will be using SLI in my RV02.

The PSU is screwed solidly to the top panel. The velcro is tied to an additional bracket and then to the PSU for additional security.

This post has been edited by ianho: Jul 26 2009, 05:41 AM

Excellent. Keep us posted

Wokehhhhhhh, it's time for me to go pass out now. Been going at it all day n night. Next time I answer any queries regarding the RV02 will probably be late afternoon when I wake up.

i wonder whats the total airflow direction of Raven02
tot they gona do tool less management for the 8slot

Nice one!!!thanks uncle ianho

is this a mid tower or full tower type?

from side view its look like server case(loooooooooong)

This thing doesn't looks like it could support e-ATX graphic card which is ridicoulously long.

This casing airflow will be much better if compare with the rv01, will you do the review for the FT02 Uncle Ianho?

All airflow is upwards. Tool less for the PCIE slots? Nowadays high end cards so big n heavy u dare to use tool less slots or not? Even if it's tool less, I will remove it n use good ol screws for solid mounting. I dont want rm7000 worth of gfx cards falling out in my case.





It supports gfx cards up to 10.5in.





Review of FT02? I dunno........ now oso dying from stress oredi so much to do in so little time.

Halo uncle...gud morning
wow~ nice 2 see tis new born baby from u
it's an awesome casing wif 8 slots PCIE
ohya, would u show up at Silverstone booth during pc fair tis time?

Uncle Ianho's RV02 look really long and the cables will be easily managed @_@" kekeke, thxs for the quick review, fast fast masuk those hardware keke... tempted @_@


This post has been edited by rsangel: Jul 27 2009, 09:25 AM

hope u can compare the hardware temps between RV01 & RV02

thanks uncle!

wow 3x180mm fan ...this casing freaking huge man ...

wah i like the interior but the exterior at the front a little bit ugly lah xD looking foward to see this at pc fair =D mind putting rv01 side by side the rv02? =D then show us

This post has been edited by LilRazor: Jul 28 2009, 03:15 PM

waaaa, nice nice review bro,

anyone know how much will cost in malaysia??

Kumpul duit dulu. haha

RV02 fan grills.






Here's some additional information I just received from Silverstone HQ. I mentioned in the review that I would most likely remove the fan grills on the 3x 180mm fans for better air flow. However, Silverstone has since informed me that there is a reason they put the honeycomb grills there. It's there to straighten the airflow of the fan for better cooling performance. The honeycomb matrix guides the air into a straight beam of air without causing noise or turbulence.

There is a company called Nexus selling these honeycomb fan grills and it has a very good explanation on why the honeycomb grill makes the fan perform better. It has plenty of pictures with smoke testing to show the airflow pattern with and without the grill. It's pretty interesting stuff. Head on over to the Nexus site at- http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-nexus-beamair-airguider.htm

I guess I'll be trying out the RV02 with the grills in place then. Hehe. I will also try it without the grills just to see if the Silverstone version of the grills really do improve the cooling of the case in actual daily usage.

uncle, how abt cm690's top panel honey comb?
got performance as this silverstone's honey comb??

I dunno about the CM690 but Silverstone designed it like that purposely for straighter n better airflow. If u look at my macro close up pic, u can see it's actually a very thick honeycomb. If it's a flat honeycomb then I dont think it will work.

That's an exhaust not intake so no point even is honey comb. BTW cm690 honeycomb is too tiny~~

uncle,
goona mod it?

a reason to come back to pc fair

gonna compare SS rather than looking at internet and looking at computer store shelf

Ya man. Silverstone HQ has granted us such a big privilege. It has only been shown in Computex so far. If you google "Silverstone RV02 Review", u will see most of them copy paste the press release. All other pics oso taken at Computex only.

The rest of the world oso havent seen an actual unit yet, but you guys get to see it live at KL PC Fair!

Oic...no wonder sum forumers want to cut off the honeycomb of CM690
they say it decrease the performance of airflow
unfortunately, i came back to my hometown ady
cant touch n see the real RV02!!!

bro ianho.. plz do show us the pic of the rv02 at the pcfair...

YEAH!!! thats TRUE!!


btw this RV02 cooling more nice lo

ianho, plz post more pics of it. penangnites won't have a chance to see it in KL pc fair

so... can we buy thick honey comb fan filter from outside?

U can buy from that link I posted mar.

---

Added on August 3, 2009, 3:01 amWokeh. Will do so once I upload everything into my PC.

This post has been edited by ianho: Aug 3 2009, 03:01 AM

i like RavenZeroTwo instead of the previous 1, suitable for me, become smaller abit, longer, better airflow & Big transparent window~~ gonna buy this casing once it on the market~

the raven is bigger than i thought ^^ nice raven ianho at pc fair ^^

opps wrong thread

This post has been edited by Mooneyes: Aug 5 2009, 09:04 AM

You make jealous persons all around the world (I'm french) .

It's a good review but nothing about the capacity of cooling. (for the RV01 it's a problem with the GPU...).

You can say to us a little more about it?

thx

thanks for the unboxing review. arhhh you made me want to buy this case. Anyway is this case got room for W/C and crossfire or sli ?

should i wait for rv02 or go straight and buy rv01? after seeing ianho's raven at pc fair i instantly fall in love with the casing ... but i dont seem to like the rv02 that much ... ianho hows the performance in rv01 and rv02?

This post has been edited by LilRazor: Aug 5 2009, 10:26 PM

Still waiting for the multi gpu temperatures mate..

I prefer the looks of the RV01 over the Raven 2 actually. Both 'love it or hate it' designs, but I like them both.

Looks like it the Raven2 has the better airflow. Just need a confirmation here.

Uncle Ian's Raven 01

This post has been edited by Edifier: Aug 6 2009, 02:05 AM


Attached thumbnail(s)

nice!!!! rv02??

seems like no one took a picture of rv02 haha not so popular eh ? xD

It's not that it's not popular.... It's just that ianho's PC has attracted a lot of mysteries....

Went there and c and was amazed on how the RV01 doesn't need much modding to look attractive..... Thumbs to ianho....

I haven't installed my hardware into the RV02 yet. Just came back from the Kuala Lumpur PC Fair and I'm really really tired. It was a really hectic weekend. Need some rest b4 I start on the RV02.



Sure can WC, xfire n SLI. It takes a 3x120 rad at the bottom n can take up to 4 dual slot gfx cards.





I havent installed the hardware into Raven 2 yet. Very tired after the PC Fair. Need some rest 1st.

brada ian. how much would it be selling here? i like the concept of hanging GCs. LOL...

1. hot air travels up.
2. heavy GCs won't bent in this way.

the con is this type of casing needs looooong base area. might need to put on floor for some.

Silverstone tells me it's gonna be slightly cheaper than Raven 1. I guess it'll b about rm600+. Ya I especially love the vertical gfx cards coz I've always used hi end cards which are big, long n heavy. No more PCB bending problems with this design. Also good for those who use water cooling coz no more danger of water dripping onto the cards in case of a leak.

haha...yeah. hopefully it is cheap. but the front looks a bit plain...lol...

I finally got the new cooling system for my Raven 2 build. Will start on the hardware install this weekend. I will be testing the temp difference between RV01 n RV02 with TR IFX14. Then I will compare temps between IFX14, AC Freezer 7 Pro and the Corsair H50 in the RV02.



Then it's time to customize n mod mod mod.

cool.. just knew new RV02 already release in july ..

but for the outlook.. little plain..

await next RV03

thx

don't forget to test the temp of the graphic card

RV02 is NOT released yet.

lol...hope to see more pics soon! with hardwares in! hehe...

btw, the honeycomb thingy looks interesting. where can i find those nexus beam. LOL...

I need to go buy a new 120x38mm fan for the IFX14 b4 proceeding. silly fan died so I can't do any testing.
About the honeycomb grills, just buy the Raven 2 when it's released n u will get 3 honeycomb grills for free. kekekeke.

missed the PC Fair loh .... i got scared by the traffic and block so just stopped at lowyat to settle my mobo RMA only ...

Anyone got took the awesome photo to post here:hehe:

come come come...

yea cant wait for review between rv01 and rv02 !!!!

well take ur time hehehe

This post has been edited by LilRazor: Aug 8 2009, 06:24 PM

seems like d design is better compared to rv01 .
i prefer rv02 cause its very plain .
maybe its juz me .

PC Fair report is up at my site. Won't post here coz it's very, very, very picture intensive.






Hang on ya. I had planned to torture the IFX14 in Raven 1 today. BUT............... the 120x38mm fan on the IFX14 died and my house autogate oso died on me pulak. Then I got stuck in house coz car cannot go out. Had to wait for the auto gate mech to fix it n it took him all day long b4 I cud go out again. Just brought home a brand new 120x38mm fan n installed in the Raven 1. Will torture it 2nite n then strip everything out n put into the Raven 2. Should be able to torture the IFX14 in Raven 2 by 2moro nite.





I like the massive window on Raven 2. Can see my 3 way SLI nicely. The Raven 1 hides my 3rd n last gfx card coz window too small. I'm gonna go down to Singapore next month to try n locate some water blocks for my 3 gfx cards. Then that big huge window in the Raven 2 will be really nice to show off my dual loop water cooling set up.

This post has been edited by ianho: Aug 8 2009, 10:51 PM

@ianho
where are you going to start your mod on raven 02
saw your blog,
but today is already saturday

The blog posting is for Raven 1 mod. I haven't had time to sort out the pics yet. Raven 2 thermal comparison should be up in a few days. Will install the hardware n compare temps with Raven 1 2moro.

oh.. i tot already released..

by the way.. do have any example to see how to manage the wire and cable in RV01?

feel that very tight when put many wire n cable... ?

and what is the price for the RV01 hot swap?

I dont understand y every1 is complaining about RV1 wire management. U look at my RV1, u can hardly see any wires. The case is a wire management dream come true actually.

hmmm

maybe im not experience to mod that...

still learning

hehe maybe ppl no skill in managing the wires thats why they complain?
also ianho im still waiting for ur temps on rv01 and 02 ya ^^

haiyoo who r they eh? ...if u oredi bought that beast case u have to be "pandai-pandai" la to manage the cable... duh!
ya me too wanna know the temp ...

fast fast ^^ temp !!! xD hehe excited cause getting my raven 1 tomorrow =D

Phew, I've been so bz of late getting my workstation sorted out with another computer so I can start stripping out the Raven 1 to move everything into the Raven 2. I've finally set up n installed my new Mac at the workstation so I can start stripping my Raven 1 today n start giving u guys updates with the temp testing n so on while I'm still playing around with it.

I've done the full load testing with IFX14 in the Raven 1 already. Next step is to do a full load test with IFX14 in the Raven 2. Then I'll move on to testing the Corsair H50 in the Raven 2. Gonna b a busy few days.

Any1 wanna belanja me a few cups of coffee to take me tru the next few hectic days?

haha U ROCK ianho ^^ btw i wan belanja u but ⌐.⌐ no money already T.T i got RM0 sob sob

i go help u massage if u want.

Here's something really interesting. I just noticed this while installing my hardware into the Raven 2 a few minutes ago. Take a look at the different 180mm fans.

This 180mm fan is from the RV01







This 180mm fan is from the RV02





Any1 see the difference? I can't wait to boot up the rig to see the thermal performance.

LOL nice spot. Can't wait to see the temp results too =).

rv01 fan

0.15A?
3 wires
S1803212L-3M

Rv02

0.30A?
6 wires
S1803212M-3M

Sell Me The Raven RV02 Fans!!! jkjk

yea im waiting to see the temps!!

yup thats the diff as i can see too...btw izit true can produce 100CFM++...

starting confuse right now!...

Rv01

0.15A
3 wires
S1803212L-3M

Rv02

0.30A
6 wires
S1803212M-3M


the diff on ampere.. Rv02 should hv more CFM coz it spin more rpm

I've been having asplitting headache for few days now. must b the flu. no mood to finish up the hardware install. sry guys. BUT I really was too curious about the fans oredi. I tested them with a spare psu. I can tell u this, seeing a big mama 180mm fan spin that fast is actually scary. It does feel somewhere close to 100cfm.