Silverstone Raven RVX01 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Introduction

The Silverstone Raven series has long been established as one of the most-unique chassis ranges on the market, offering a range of products that suit slim Mini-ITX system builds, right up to high-end full-tower systems. One thing is for certainly, all of the Raven series chassis to date have been mighty impressive, both in terms of design and functionality and that’s a trend I hope to see continued today.

“After completing the evolutionary RAVEN RV05 with 5.25” drive bay design completely removed, the RAVEN team created another forward thinking line of cases with the introduction of the “RAVEN X” subcategory. This line will not only retain the essence of what made the original RAVEN series great with features such as signature aggressive styling and 90 degree rotated layout, but also cater to enthusiasts looking for more exciting designs in an entry-level price point. With the smallest ever footprint for a ATX RAVEN tower case, the RVX01 has remarkably accommodating interior that can easily fit large ATX motherboards up to 12” x 11”, full size graphics card, four 2.5”/3.5” drives, and spaces for up to three radiators.” – Silverstone

The RVX01 is not only the latest gaming chassis from their Raven series, but it’s also one of the most interesting. Not only is it designed to be more affordable, it’s also the smallest, but with that in mind, it still promises are premium chassis experience and support for some serious high-end hardware. Affordable, well made, good looks and great compatibility… sounds pretty perfect to me!

• Signature RAVEN styling touches
• 90 degree motherboard mounting from legendary RAVEN RV01
• Three 120mm Air Penetrator fans included for sublime vertical air cooling
• Positive pressure design for excellent cooling/quietness and dust-prevention
• Quick access filter for convenient maintenance
• Support up to three sets of liquid cooling radiators

There are three colour options available, red, blue and green. You’ll also find enclosed and windowed panel variants of each also, giving you plenty of variety to choose from overall. There’s room for up to an ATX motherboard, ATX PSU, monster sized 13.7-Inch expansion cards, tall CPU coolers and while there is room for fans, there’s a very impressive trilogy of Silverstones 120mm Air Penetrator fans pre-installed!

The chassis certainly make a visual impact when you first set eyes on it. The panels are coated with a stealthy black, which blends in perfectly with the matte finish black plastics. A mixture of extreme angles give it an aggressive appearance, but it still manages to look fairly refined at the same time.

We obviously have the black and red variant at our disposal today and while we don’t have the window panel (which is a real shame), it would be located here on the right side panel, as this chassis employs a rotated motherboard design.

The front panel keeps that aggressive at full power, with more strong angles and two LED lights mounted in an angular and almost evil eyes fashion.

Tucked into the top of the front panel, a pair of control switches for the power and reset. They’re just made from a cut-away in the plastics, which is a little bit of a cheap way of doing it, but they work and if it saves costs to the consumer, it’s not so bad. There’s an I/O panel with dual USB 3.0 ports and HD audio jacks.

Around the back, you’ll notice a distinct lack of a standard I/O port for the motherboard, as that is located on the top of the chassis. Instead, you’ll find a ventilated section for the PSU air intake.

On the base of the chassis, there’s a lot going on, as we’ve got that lovely bright red trim and four large and durable rubber grips on the feet.

Those big feet provide ample ground clearance for a full-length slide-out dust filter, behind which you’ll find a wall of superb quality Air Penetrator fans. These fans can push a mighty amount of air with minimal noise, which is obviously what you want for a chassis fan!