SilverStone Raven RV04 Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on June 20, 2013 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- ATX
Noise and Thermal Testing
Since the SilverStone Raven RV04 includes fan control for both intake fans, I tested it at each of the three settings. What I found interesting, and I'm sure you will, too, is the way this $159 case performs compared to others in its class. Most other cases have more fans (some, like the Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra, have a lot more fans); the Raven RV04 is getting by with just two 180mm intakes and no exhaust fans.
Ambient temperature during testing hovered between 23C and 24C.
I consistently found throughout testing that the "medium" fan setting was the best choice for the RV04. Graphics card thermals are competitive at stock speeds, but the CPU runs cooler than every other case I've tested, and often by a substantial margin.
Noise levels aren't going to set the world on fire, but they're not awful either. Users who want to have more fine-grained control over fan speeds will want to switch to an analog fan control; swapping out the 180mm fans is likely possible but not worthwhile.
When we overclock the system, the RV04 starts to show its true colors.
The processor continues to run incredibly frosty, with only the powerful Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra even competing with the Raven's performance here. Graphics card performance, on the other hand, is very middle of the road.
The Blackhawk Ultra has to run 2dB louder to compete with the Raven RV04's thermal performance, and it's the second best case at cooling the CPU. Noise levels once again aren't excellent, and the ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti generates a tremendous amount of noise when heavily overvolted and overclocked, but we're still competitive. What's clear is that for serious workloads, the "low" fan setting is out of the question.
I saved the best for last, though. I had a hunch the full fat testbed would really show off the Raven RV04, and it turns out I was right.
At this point, what's abundantly clear to me is that the Raven RV04 is going to be one of the best cases you can purchase if you plan on air cooling your processor. In a traditional ATX enclosure design, an exhaust fan is needed to help direct airflow from the CPU cooler, but the RV04 genuinely does not need one. Graphics card temperatures are also quite good; the two GTX 580s we use for the full fat testbed have blower style coolers instead of open air coolers like the one on our GTX 560 Ti, and blower coolers seem to benefit tremendously from the RV04's design.
The full fat testbed tends to be a monster when it comes to noise levels as well, but the medium fan setting of the Raven RV04 is able to provide the best balance of noise and thermal performance. While the Raven was providing stellar CPU performance and merely competitive GPU performance in our stock and overclocked testbeds, it outright sweeps the full fat testbed.
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Chaitanya - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
This case is a disappointment as water cooling support is missing from case of its price range.iceveiled - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
The case is designed solely for air cooling. As for my take on the case.the cooling is impressive for just having two fans, but man that front door....JDG1980 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
It has just two fans, but remember, these are giant 180mm fans with high static pressure.cjs150 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
ditch the hard drive cage and it looks as though it could accomodate a 2x180 radiator at the front (that is the equivalent of 4.5x120 radiator so enough for most rigs!!) although you might lose a 5.25 bay as well.But with that front, why bother, the thing will break quickly
JDG1980 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
The FT04 doesn't look quite as nice in photos as the FT02, but that's forgivable if it has good fit and finish and performs well. It looks like the performance is definitely there (the RV04 has basically the same case body and same ventilation), but I hope that SilverStone hasn't let their fit and finish slip too much on the premium Fortress line.I'm not sure I would put as much emphasis on ease of assembly as you generally do in your reviews. Remember that even though you as a reviewer have to assemble these things every week, most users (even enthusiasts) will often be leaving the case closed for months on end. You probably won't spend even 1 hour of assembly time for every 100 hours of actual use. I'd prefer a case with excellent thermals, acoustics, and fit+finish, even if it was a nightmare to put together. Of course, all else being equal, easier assembly is preferable. I just wouldn't sacrifice too much to get it.
SilverStone's literature mentions support brackets for the CPU and video card on the RV04. Did you get a chance to test these? I know I often feel nervous about giant-size CPU heatsinks, so some mechanical support would be much appreciated. Same for the extra-long video cards which tend to sag in their normal tower orientation.
I think the reason you saw less-than-optimal temperatures with your ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP video card wasn't because it is an open-air design, but because of the heatsink's fin orientation. The fins closest to the front on that card are perpendicular to the slot, so they block the path of the airflow. Many newer DirectCU cards and most MSI Twin Frozr cards have fins parallel to the slot. I suspect these would work far better since the air from the front fans could flow through. This would probably also be a great case for using the Powercolor HD7850 SCS3 with the fanless heatsink, since the fins are in the right orientation on that as well.
zaccun - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
I think the FT02 is going to remain a staple for a long while for me. It's got superlative looks, and still performs like a champ.Subyman - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
I really liked the previous Raven cases, but this one a disappointment for me. The front door is enough to entirely kill it for me. I steer clear of flimsy front doors. I find it hard to spend $150+ for something that has that poor of build quality, even if the design is great.maximumGPU - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
interesting results, but as pointed out in the article this looks like the appetizer before the real dish.looking forward to a review of the FT04, but also a comparison to the recently released Corsair Air.
The Air employs a similar philosophy of unobstructed airflow, and corsair are even claiming it to be the best air cooled case you can buy. So don't make us wait too long:)
Bojamijams - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
I don't see why this is praised as the best air cooling. The RV03 had the same two 180mm, but at the bottom and a 120mm at the top. And the orientation was such that the 180 was below the CPU cooler and the 120mm was above it. Perfect thermodynamic flow. Math wise, that is a much better setup then a 180mm a long way away, possible going through a HDDs shooting towards a CPU without anything on the other end.RV03 >>>>>> RV04
lever_age - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
Well, I'd rather have specialization than every single case out there trying to hit every bullet point possible and cover all the bases, if it means better performance or lower price. Nothing wrong with a good air cooling case without water cooling aspirations and vice versa.Though, I'm kind of wondering if Corsair's approach with the upcoming Carbide Air 540 (which was done in the past with boutiques, smaller vendors, arguably in some rotated sense with say BitFenix Prodigy and Cooler Master HAF XB and so on) will become more popular. Do people really like having that drive cage like that and also on the TJ08-E / PS07? Direct airflow to components is great, and with the move to solid-state primary storage (so less heavy access on mechanical disks) and cooler mechanical drives, it makes sense to chuck drives and other secondary components in a different section where they're not blocking airflow.