Silverstone Raven RV04 Revealed

On Saturday, June 7, 2014 — by Jester

After many months of anticipation, Silverstone has finally shown their upcoming Raven RV04 chassis. It’s a full tower ATX case aimed at gamers. The Raven series is known for being very innovative, being the first to utilize their unique 90-degree rotated motherboard tray design. Although this feature isn’t present in the RV04, Silverstone claims the RV04 will perform at least as good as the RV02, while providing more storage and functionality.

Details

Since its debut in 2008, the RAVEN series has been synonymous with excellent cooling and unconventional designs. For the RAVEN RV04, the engineers were tasked with the goal of producing a design that utilizes a more traditional layout to match the performance of its 90 degree motherboard mounted predecessors. 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.

Although smaller in volume compared to the benchmark RAVEN RV02 and with one less intake fan, the RV04 can actually accommodate more drives and still achieve the same level of cooling performance. This feat is the result of years of R&D on chassis thermal performance, fan design, and filters which contributed to RV04’s unrestricted airflow design and the development of HiFlow fan filters. Other nifty features such as CPU and graphic card supporter, removable motherboard tray, and externally accessible fan filter assembly are also included to facilitate assembly and maintenance. The exterior of RV04 utilizes the latest SilverStone design language with a one-piece like outer shell that creates a powerful presence on any desktop setting. Small details also adorn the exterior such as feather-like top elements that act as independent airflow channel for the PSU. For a chassis that started out with a front-to-back airflow design, the RAVEN RV04 has truly redefined tradition.

The RV04 is available only in black, though two models are announced: one with a wide panel window, and one without. Dimensions are listed as 219mm (W) x 581mm (H) x 497mm (D). while the weight is 10.9kg or about 24 pounds. Like previous Raven cases, it’s made with a steel body and plastic outer shell. The styling is a bit more toned down, but still fits in with the Raven lineup.

The patterned front houses a Raven logo. Underneath are two optical drive bays, and two of their highly effective Air Penetrator 181 fans.

The front panel opens to reveal the drive bays and fan filters.

Here are said fans.

They intake air from the sides of the front panel, like many other cases. The vents here are designed to have minimal air restriction.

A fan controller is also present.

This right side panel houses the two USB 3.0 ports and audio ports.

The left side panel is more bare.

On the back you’ll find a PSU mount, which allows the PSU to be mounted in either direction. They also include 8 ventilated expansion slots and an optional 120mm fan slot.

The PSU vent is on top of the case, and is equipped with a dust filter.

As you see, this case does not include the 90 degree rotated motherboard tray, seen in previous Raven cases. Instead it’s rotated 180 degrees; it’s inverted ATX. On the inside you’ll find seven 3.5″ drive bays, two of which are hot swap, as well as a large CPU backplate cut-out, lots of cable management holes, and a bracket to secure GPUs. The case is designed to minimize airflow restriction. You might also notice the 8 holes on the case that are aligned with the expansion slots, allowing the user to easily use a screw driver to secure/remove video cards. Also keep in mind that the motherboard tray is removable.

The back of the motherboard tray appears to have a vast amount of cable management space. Silverstone has become known for this since the RV03 and TJ11.