SilverStone RVX01 Chassis Review

Introduction

The SilverStone RAVEN signature series is perhaps the most popular chassis series from SilverStone. Given that it is SilverStone's signature cases, they do come with a heftier price tag being an enthusiast-grade chassis after all. Fortunately, SilverStone made a more budget-friendly entry-level RAVEN chassis, the RVX01. SilverStone gladly gave us a sample to review so follow us today and see what the RVX01 offers.

SilverStone's Take on the RVX01

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. From the factory, the case will come fully equipped with three of SilverStone’s famed Air Penetrator fans for class-leading thermal performance and easy to reach filter for easy maintenance. If you are looking to build an attractive, relatively compact and powerful PC on a budget, the RVX01’s combination of high affordability, top-level cooling ability, and flexible layout will fulfill the task beautifully.

Move on to the next page for the features and specifications.

Features and Specifications

• 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

Model No.

• SST-RVX01BR (black with red trim)
• SST-RVX01BR-W (black with red trim + window)
• SST-RVX01BA-W (black with blue trim + window)
• SST-RVX01BV-W (black with green trim + window)

Material

• Plastic outer shell, steel body

Motherboard

• ATX (up to 12” x 11”), Micro-ATX

Drive Bay

• External: None
• Internal: 2.5”x 4 or 3.5”x 4

Cooling System

• Front: 120mm fan slot x 1
• Top: 120mm fan slot x 1
• Bottom: 120mm Air Penetrator x 3, 1200±10% rpm, 19.7dBA

Expansion Slot

• 7

Front I/O Port

• USB 3.0 x 2
• audio x 1
• MIC x 1

Power Supply

• Optional PS2(ATX)

Expansion Card

• Compatible up to 13.7”, width restriction * - 4.92”~5.91”

Limitation of CPU Cooler

• 162mm or 159mm (window)

Dimension

• 215mm (W) x 485mm (H) x 500mm (D) , 52.1 liters

Let's move on to the next page for the unboxing and closer look.

Unboxing and Closer Look

The RVX01 comes in a typical packaging, not colored unlike the other RAVEN cases.

Upon opening the packaging, the RVX01 is wrapped in plastic and protected by foam cushions. You will also be greeted by the top panel with its gorgeous design.

The accessories included are two drive mounting plates, a pack of screws and a user's guide.

Here's the SilverStone RVX01 chassis. The front panel is plain and without cutouts for front bay drives.

On the front of the RVX01, there's a SilverStone RAVEN logo etched on it.

Here's the LED lighted portion of the front panel.

Note that the RVX01's window is on the right side of the chassis. Like the other RAVEN cases, the RVX01 also follow a horizontal motherboard layout wherein the rear I/O ports of the motherboard would be located on the top of the chassis.

Here's a look at the front panel of the RVX01. There are no front bay slots, just a plain panel with its RAVEN styling with two LED lights in red for this model.

The rear is unlike typical tower cases. There's a plain sheet of aluminum as the rear with ventilation holes for the power supply on the top area.

The top opening does look like a handle for this isn't really made for such purpose. Although you can grab the chassis there when it is still empty but when loaded with hardware, I do not recommend lifting the RVX01 holding on to that since that 'handle' is made of plastic and is only held with two screws.

The top panel of the RVX01 is certainly a focal point of the chassis with its red mesh and the signature RAVEN outline shows.

On the right side of the top panel is a SilverStone branding which is common to RAVEN cases I believe.

On the front of the top panel is where the switches and the front I/O ports are located. You can find two USB 3.0 ports and the set of audio ports.

At the bottom of the RVX01 is a red base with four rubber feet.

There's a removable fan filter at the bottom.

Once the fan filter is removed, the three 120mm SilverStone Penetrator fans can be accessed.

Now let's move on to having a closer look at the interior.

Closer Look - Interior

Removing the top panel, you'll find what seems to be the rear of a typical tower chassis. Given that the RVX01 uses a horizontal motherboard layout, the rear I/O ports of the motherboard and graphics card will be found at the top of the chassis along with the plug for the power supply.

The window side of the RVX01 is on the right side to the motherboard would be mounted on the left side of the chassis. Here's a view of the chassis on the right. The bottom portion of the chassis is hidden from view once the side panel is on and this is where a the drives can be mounted either on the 2-slot 3.5" drive bays on the rear of on the drive mounting slots on the panel itself.

This is the rear of the motherboard area. Although there's a cutout at the bottom area, it's nearly impossible to route any cable behind the chassis with less than a centimeter of space to spare. With that, all the cables will have to be routed in the front and will just have to be hidden with the help of the drive panel at the bottom of the chassis. Plus, the window doesn't go all the way down either so it will still be hidden from plain sight.

Installation

Installing hardware on the SilverStone RVX01 chassis is quite tricky. As I've found out, following the typical sequence of installing hardware would not be recommended particularly if you are maximizing the length limits of the power supply, motherboard and cooler which will be discussed further as we go on with this review. Also, I would like to feature a typical air-cooling setup and a custom watercooling setup to see what this case has to offer. Here's our setup below.

• Processor: AMD FX 8370
• Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming
• Graphics Cards: Palit GTX 660TI / Gigabyte GTX 770 OC
• Memory: Kingston HyperX T1 Dual Kit 2400mhz
• Boot Drive: Innodisk Satadom MV-3ME 64GB
• Storage Drive: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue
• Cooling:
  • Air-cooling: Cryorig H7 CPU Cooler / Noiseblocker
  • Custom Watercooling

This might sound odd but this is my recommended sequence of installation below:

1. Hard drives
2. Power supply
3. Motherboard with memory and CPU
4. CPU cooler or custom water cooling

Hard Drives

The hard drives go first particularly if you want to screw it secure in the drive cage. Not having it screwed on the drive cage will also work since the drive mount does offer good resistance for it not to move inside the cage.

First you need to mount the hard drive in the mounting plate which goes for both 3.5" and 2.5" drives. Next you can slip the hard drive and mounting module into one of the drive cage slots.

With the SATA cable and power cable on the hard drives, it would be best to route them inside the chassis and not through the panel even though there seems to be routing holes available. The rear has only 0.50 cm of space spare or else the cable would hit the side panel and produce a bulge.

Power Supply

As you can see from the image above, if you use a fairly large power supply you'd have some trouble with the cables particularly if you are using a modular power supply. With that in mind, it would be advisable to plug the cables first before installing the power supply into the chassis unless you plan to remove the hard drive cage which is riveted on the RVX01.

Motherboard

Typical mid-tower cases would allow you to pre-install the CPU cooler on the motherboard before installing the entire thing to the chassis. With the RVX01, that might be a little tricky as shown in the image above particularly if you are planning to use a fairly large CPU cooler like the Noctua NH-C14S I used on this review.

For this case, install the processor, memory modules and the CPU cooler's mounting brackets only then install it on the chassis. Once installed, you can install the CPU cooler.

Air-cooling Setup and Build Images

Setup

• Processor: AMD FX-8370
• Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming
• Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX 770 OC
• Memory: Kingston HyperX T1 Dual Kit 2400Mhz 8GB
• PSU: Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850w
• Boot Drive: Innodisk SATADOM MV-3ME
• Chassis: SilverStone RVX01
• Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S

Here's a look at the business side of the RVX01. There's actually a lot of power supply cables hidden beneath the cases with is unseen from plain view thanks to the panel that goes across at the bottom.

The rear is very clean considering that none of the cables are routed there because it isn't possible anyway given how thick the stock cables of the Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850w power supply are. Custom sleeved modular cables might fit in the tiny 0.50 cm space at the back but best not to route anything there.

Here's our air-cooling setup with the side panel and top panels on. I did try using a Noctua NH-D15S to copy another tech site's review using a NH-D15. Although the NH-D15S is slightly different from the D15, the height of the cooler are the same. On their review, the side panel fits with the NH-D15 and so with the NH-D15S. However, the edge of heat pipes does hit the acrylic window of the side panel. Although it fits by force, technically the NH-D15S is too tall for the case which other reviews also confirms. If you don't mind adding unnecessary force on the processor and motherboard, sure a Noctua NH-D15S or D15 can fit by force.

Water-cooling Setup and Build Images

Setup

• Processor: AMD FX-8370
• Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming
• Graphics Card: Palit GTX 660TI
• Memory: Kingston HyperX T1 Dual Kit 2400Mhz 8GB
• PSU: Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850w
• Boot Drive: Innodisk SATADOM MV-3ME
• Chassis: SilverStone RVX01
• Cooling: Custom Watercooling
  
  • Radiator: Thermaltake Pacific RL240 Radiator
  • Pump: EKWB DCP 2.2
  • Reservoir: Barrow 140mm Cylindrical Water Tank
  • Waterblock: IceCrown Universal AMD/Intel waterblock

While most novice builders would likely back off to the idea of installing custom watercooling on the SilverStone RVX01 due to the unusual orientation and limited space of this particular chassis, it is possible although I have to admit it is very tricky. To even make it more challenging, I will be using a thick radiator, the Thermaltake Pacific RL240 radiator which is 64mm thick!

The radiator does fit at the floor of the chassis with easy and given that the RVX01 already have three included fans, you can have a push configuration immediately. A push-pull fan configuration on this already-thick radiator is possible but it would really give you a harder cable management seeing that the 24-pin power cable socket is already close to the radiator and it would also shorten the graphics card length supported by the system.

I mounted the reservoir at the middle closest to the waterblock to keep the loop short. I could mount it in front of the case if I were to include the graphics card with the loop. A reservoir mount clamp holds the cylindrical water tank and pump module. Since the internal side panel of the RVX01 has screw holes for drive mounts, there's no need to bore new holes into the chassis. Note that the entire build is 100% modification free meaning there are no holes drilled or parts removed from the chassis which I have to say was something I thought is not possible at the beginning.

Here's a look at the finished custom watercooling build with and without the side panel on.

Adding a red LED lighting module at the bottom of the chassis along with the red LED lighted CPU waterblock, here's our entire watercooling setup with the system powered on.

Now let's wrap up this review on the last page.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Building with the SilverStone RVX01 is one great adventure I have to say. It has some thrills, challenges and things you really need to consider before getting one. Let us break it down to certain things most would be looking at when buying a case.

Aesthetics

The SilverStone RVX01 does have the signature design and layout of the RAVEN series but given that this is a budget RAVEN case, some of the fancy stuff were replaced with something else like the ventilation holes on the top panel are now colored mesh which is cheaper to make than some custom CNC-drilled holes like those of the RV05. However, the RVX01 offers color options unlike other RAVEN cases with is a plus. I got the windowed with red trim variant, there's also the blue trim and green trim version available. Overall, I'd give the RVX01's aesthetics a 9 out of 10.

Build Quality

The panels of the RVX01 are thinner and lighter compared to other RAVEN cases given that I reviewed the RVZ01 before. Some of the PCIe shields are non-replaceable too but that can't be seen anyway. Indeed this is a budget edition of the premium RAVEN cases but I do find the structural integrity of the case to be good. While it's tempting to hold the case on the seemingly handle looking plastic mount on the rear, I wouldn't recommend lifting the case fully equipped with hardware holding on to that. Better lift it from the base.

The huge hole on top would be where the cables of your peripherals, monitor, power supply and others routed with. Again, that is not a handle as shown on the image above.

Hardware Support and Installation

Building with the RVX01 is on the difficult level of PC building. The tight spaces and inexistence of cabling space at the back of the case really makes it challenging even for a reviewer like me who handled numerous cases in the past. However, as shown in both our air-cooling and custom watercooling setups, the SilverStone RVX01 can pretty much handle an entry-level to high-end level gaming setups even with dual graphics cards with complete custom water cooling. Just take note of the length limitations for the power supply, CPU cooler and graphics cards which is shorter than what most mid-tower cases offer. Also, I have to say the orientation comes with an advantage for watercooling in case of leakage since there's nothing below that would short so a catastrophic watercooling leakage that could brick multiple hardware is less likely is such orientation. Only the memory modules are vulnerable if ever the CPU waterblock leaks. As for ventilation and cooling, the airflow path intended for the case is very efficient. It is also very quiet given that the majority of the fans are all at the bottom.

Well, there are several disadvantages that are obvious with the SilverStone RVX01. For one, there's no ODD bay which is rather common in new RAVEN cases by now. Also, the USB ports on the rear of the motherboard are inaccessible unless you use a cable extension.

The SilverStone RVX01 models can be found at Amazon for $75.99 bundled with three 120mm SilverStone Penetrator fans. This budget RAVEN case does resemble the other more expensive RAVEN models. The RVX01 offers the signature RAVEN looks for a cheaper price tag along with the typical RAVEN layout and orientation. We are happy to give it our highly recommended award.

Likes

• Signature RAVEN aesthetics and layout
• Trim color options
• Package bundling

Dislikes

• Hardware installation and cable management difficulty