Silverstone Raven 2 Evolution (RV02-E) ATX Case Review

[dividebyzero]

So its sucking up the cold air and dirt from the bottom of the case... awesome!!

That's probably why it has removeable and cleanable dust filters...for those of you who's moms aren't to fastidious with vacuuming your rooms.

 

[Guest]

This is the case I've been searching for! Good thing I can't afford it now, because hopefully in a couple months or so, they will fit USB 3.0 into the front I/O panel. What's the price of this, and when will it be on sale?

 

[Guest]

This is a review of the RV02-E, and i see on Silverstone's website that they have the RV02 and the RV02-E. Newegg only lists the RV02-BW, which I assume is the RV02 model. So what's the difference between the RV02 and RV02-E? Silverstone's website says "For enthusiasts not looking to use more than two or three graphics cards, the RV02-E should be a great alternative to the fantastic original RV02. "

So the -E is slightly smaller? Anyone know?

Awesome case, and great review, i'm only nitpicking because I want to buy one!

 

[Guest]

Ahh.. i found the answer on their website. The RV02 only has room for a 12 inch video card and has 8 expansion slots with no hot-swappable HD bays. The RV02 has room for a 12.2 inch card, 7 slots and 1 hot-swappable HD bay.

Otherwise it appears to be the same case. Just a little re-arranging on the inside.

 

[Guest]

Unless I read it incorrectly...the RV02 has room for only three hard drives....where the RV02-E has room for five. I'm new to the game about to do my first build and thinking of a RAID configuration with 4 hard drives. This made the RV02 an "no go". I'm a bit confused as to why this isn't a major point of the review. Isn't this significant? When reading reviews of the RV02 there is usually a mention of the fact that it only accepts three hard drives max. Am I wrong?

 

[Steve]

Unless I read it incorrectly...the RV02 has room for only three hard drives....where the RV02-E has room for five. I'm new to the game about to do my first build and thinking of a RAID configuration with 4 hard drives. This made the RV02 an "no go". I'm a bit confused as to why this isn't a major point of the review. Isn't this significant? When reading reviews of the RV02 there is usually a mention of the fact that it only accepts three hard drives max. Am I wrong?

There are two reasons I can think of right off the top of my head. One would be we have never actually seen the RV02 so knew only what we could work out on the Silverstone website. The other would be and I really cannot stress this enough, we were actually reviewing the RV02-E.

 

[red1776]

There are two reasons I can think of right off the top of my head. One would be we have never actually seen the RV02 so knew only what we could work out on the Silverstone website. The other would be and I really cannot stress this enough, we were actually reviewing the RV02-E.

I was disappointed in this review as well because you didn't mention that the Coolermaster HAF-X only has room for 5 HDD's .....

 

[Guest]

"Hey Julio. Thanks for the reply. That makes sense now. @Steve - you can't be serious? Xonar Xense/ Create Audigy etc. Not to mention decent headphones, both for music/video and gaming (3d positional audio or true surround).
I myself use a Creative Audigy Platinum and Sennheiser HD402. The creative hardware is great but software is rather rubbish and buggy. The Sennheisers are amazing but they certainly not the cheapest brand. Specially considering is straight forward 2 channel headphones. That said, I LOVE my sound. So maybe just a headphone/speaker sets and modern sound card round up SOMETIME this year? "

If you want qualtiy sound from a PC with headphones, forget about consumer grade internal cards and get one of these:

http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-total-bithead.php

 

[Guest]

Orgasm....

 

[CHISEL954]

I have the 1st version be it huge it is a great case, build quality and mechanics. This is improved and i could highly recommend this case or the newer 3rd vers.

 

[Guest]

The case is made of pretty thin steel and light, hard plastics. Hot-swap hard drive mounting has barely any damping at all, so most of the vibrations, seeks etc. transfer to the case at full power.

That meant I had to do a few modifications. I bought 4mm thick self-adhesive Nikesound bitumen mats (they add mass), 40x50cm each. Two of those to the side doors and part of the third to front and back and around the hd case added some mass and reduced vibrations.

I also added some sound dampening foam to front and back of the case. I had to turn the PSU around to take air from inside the case because of unbearable coil whine escaping from back.

7200rpm Samsung got elastic suspension.

With these mods the case is reasonably quiet when the 18cm fans are @ 600rpm. I removed the 12cm fan from top.

Top plastic cable cover still rattles, so I need to dampen it too. Meanwhile I put a cast iron mini anvil on top of the case to stop that rattling.

I really hope Silverstone comes up with better hard drive damping systems in future... Antec did that right back in 2005 already, SS should really get on with the times. If they can't figure out it by themselves just copy the transparent silicone grommets from Antec and be done with it..