Interior, Exterior and System Build:
The next 2 images below show the windowed side panel as well as the opposite side panel that is plain sheet metal. The build of the windowed panel appears to be top notch but then again the entire case design is very well thought out and extremely well assembled so we shouldn’t really be surprised.
The next group of 4 images look at the top panel area of the Raven 02. The first images show the PSU holding area, the 120mm exhaust fan and the expansion slots. As we move on the next image shows the 3 fan speed switches that control the 3 x 180mm intake fans. The fans can operate at either 700rpm or 1000rpm. While spinning at 700rpm they output 18 dBA and when turned to full speed of 1000rpm the noise level increases to 27 dBA. Both of these sound levels can be considered very quiet when compared to many other smaller higher rpm fans used in other cases. Moving along the next shot shows a close-up view of the expansion slots followed by a look at the 2 top USB ports, the Audio port and the MIC input. On either side of the 2 USB ports we find the Power and Reset buttons.
As we move along and start to add components to our build we get our first chance to examine the rotated motherboard layout. As you can see the PSU mounts vertically to exhaust all the hot air outside the top of the chassis as compared to a typical rear exhaust setup. On the opposite side of the motherboard tray we can examine how we will route our cables. We should also mention that there is a large cut out area to assist with CPU heatsink installations. Having to remove a motherboard to install a heatsink has long been a personal pet peeve; points scored for Silverstone in that regard.
As we look closer at the interior of the Raven 02 it’s quite obvious that there is ample space for even the most complicated system builds. We will be adding in Dual ATI Radeon 5850 graphics cards to power the graphics portion of our new test system. The 5850 cards are only 9.5” long so they won’t present any installation problems.
Next up we have the inside look at our drive bays. Here we ran into our first hiccup. The very top 5.25” drive bay may be difficult to attach power and drive cables to. Installing standard IDE cables were possible while a tight fit, but with SATA optical drives unless you have 90 degree SATA cables it would be very difficult due to the expansion bays position. Securing optical drives is as simple as it gets. The 4 moulded drive supports work like a button of sorts. Depressing the bottom releases the locking mechanism and reversing that action will secure the drive once it is in its desired place. Inside the lower section is a removable drive tray that is able to hold 3 hard drives. They have used rubber screw mounts in the drive bay to support the hard drives and help reduce noise. Install the drive rack is as easy as removing the plastic bay place holders and removing the metal plates found in pretty much any case.
Inside the lower section is a removable drive tray that is able to hold 3 hard drives. They have used rubber screw mounts in the drive bay to support the hard drives and help reduce noise. Install the drive rack is as easy as removing the plastic bay place holders and removing the metal plates found in pretty much any case.
After all our internal components are secured in their respective places and the side panels are back on we route all our power cables out through the rear so that we can replace the top cover to hide all the cables and finish off the build. This is another feature unique to the Raven 02 which adds a classy finish to an overall fantastic case.
That takes us to 2 pictures of the system assembled and ready to be powered on. These 2 images are followed by two more frontal views with power on and off. That will conclude our look at the Silverstone Raven 02 other than our test section.
Hybrid Mode
