Silverstone Raven RV05-BW Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

At around £80 from Overclockers.co.uk the Silverstone RV05-BW is obviously still an expensive product, but compared to the launch prices of previous Raven series chassis it’s actually pretty cheap, and it’s also very competitive against rival offerings, especially since it comes pre-fitted with 2 x 180mm fans, a fan controller and a very unique style.

Overview

I have yet to find a Silverstone Raven series chassis that I didn’t absolutely love. While one could argue that rotating the motherboard isn’t massively innovative, it does offer some advantages and unique style points. Airflow running from the bottom to the top of the chassis can have big benefits, not forgetting that the two large fans cover the entire base of the chassis, pushing a massive wall of air right through the chassis and all your components; especially the GPU, the back of which is right on top of the fans. Having the motherboard IO at the top of the chassis also makes your life a lot easier, as you can easily find those pesky USB ports without having to crawl under your desk with the torch on your smartphone.

There are a few minor issues with this chassis and I really am clutching at straws here. The internal fan cables are brightly coloured, otherwise breaking the stealthy design of the chassis; it stands out like putting an Angry Birds decal on a B-2 bomber. Finally the front panel USB ports top cover isn’t tethered to the chassis, I know for a fact my daughter would pull that off and I’d never see it again, or I would leave it on my desk and lose it.

Build quality is typical Silverstone, it’s robust, chunky, incredibly well finish and everything fits together with absolute precision. This has always been a strong point for Silverstone and its good to see their high standards haven’t slipped.

“Powerful built-in cooling, a unique overall design and incredible build quality put the RV05-BW ahead of many of its rivals, but manages to keep within reasonably affordable price range; easily one of the coolest gaming chassis on the market.”

Pros

• Great build quality
• Room for large graphics cards
• High-quality fans pre-installed
• Extensive dust filters pre-installed
• Slot-loading drive bay is a welcome solution to the removal of 5.25″ drive bays (removed to make chassis smaller)
• Competitive price tag

Cons

• Internal cables should be more discreet
• Rubber USB port cover isn’t tethered to chassis

Thank you Silverstone for providing us with this sample.