SilverStone Raven RV03

Examination:

The Raven RV03 resembles the previous generation RV02, but has updated AP181 fans, a lower price, and is more flexible. The RV03 has a greater number of fan slots, more drive expansion capabilities, support for larger motherboards (SSI EEB Extended ATX), and is not as deep as the RV02. The RV02 was deeper due to the position of the power supply next to the rotated motherboard area, but with the RV03 the power supply has been relocated to the front of the chassis below the drive bays.

At the top of the chassis is a flip-up cover to conceal the two USB2/USB3 ports and audio jacks. Like the Raven RV02, the motherboard tray is rotated 90 degrees so the motherboard I/O ports are on the top of the chassis with the expansion slots. For those interested in water-cooling, there are two pre-drilled holes available for tubing to enter the chassis. Unlike the RV02, the fan speed switches on the RV03 can be accessed without needing to remove the top plastic panel. The power and reset switches are located right on the front of the chassis.

On the left side of the chassis is a side panel window. There is also an extra ventilation area in the lower right hand corner of the side panel. This happens to be the area where the power supply mount is with the RV03, which also provides a bit extra room for accommodating the case's built-in power supply cable. At the rear of the chassis is one of the optional fan mounts, but besides that, it is a rather simple backside due to the motherboard tray being rotated. On the right hand side panel is another fan mount to align with the rear of the motherboard and the drive mounts that are located behind the panel. There is also another ventilation area to match up with the power supply's opposite end.

The inside of the case is simple to figure out. A majority of the drive bays are positioned towards the front of the chassis and below that is the power supply mount. Due to the positioning of the power supply mount, PSUs must be 180mm or less in depth for installation into the RV03. There is a built-in power supply cable due to the design of the chassis and the AC power connector is then positioned at the bottom of the chassis. This is unfortunate if you happen to be moving around your PC a lot, as we do in our labs, since it's more of a nuisance to connect the stationary AC power cables laying around the floor in the labs since it then requires titling the chassis over in order to fit the cable.

The Raven RV03 uses SilverStone's updated AP181 fans. Fan filters protect the fan intake areas for removing much of the dust. The motherboard tray, expansion slots, and everything else inside the chassis are painted black to match the facade near the side panel window. Thanks to the rotated motherboard design, the RV03 should have no issues accommodating extended-length graphics cards. Behind the motherboard tray are more of the 2.5/3.5-inch drive bays with plenty of room for routing cables.