SilverStone Introduces Raven RVZ02, The Successor To RVZ01 HTPC Chassis

By Kevin Carbotte
published

SilverStone announced the successor to its popular RVZ01 chassis, the RVZ02. It is similar to the previous model, but it's clear that SilverStone's design team spent significant efforts refining the already-efficient design of the previous model. The RVZ02 is a mini-ITX case with space for up to three storage drives, a slim optical drive and graphics cards as long as 13 inches. It could be a very attractive option for anyone looking to build a living room gaming PC.

The RVZ02 uses a very similar layout to the previous model. If oriented vertically, the motherboard mounts in the lower rear of the case, and the SFX power supply is mounted directly in front of the board, drawing in air from the bottom. An extension cable running through the inside of the case connects the power supply to the external power jack located in the upper rear.

Above the motherboard tray is a rigid mounted raised section. Two tool-less 2.5-inch hard drive mounts can be found on top of this section, along with the mounting area for the slim optical drive. On the back side of this raised section is the space for the graphics card. With the use of a riser card that passes through the raised section, the graphics card is installed vertically in its own section. A third hard drive mount can be found here, and depending on the length of the graphics card installed, it can accommodate a 2.5- or 3.5-inch hard drive.

The Raven RVZ02 case comes in two different variants. The black version (model RVZ02B) has two large black mesh sections providing air flow to cool the components. The mesh sections can be found on either side of the case, with one above the motherboard and CPU and another on the opposite side of the graphics card, providing fresh air.

The second version of the case (model RVZ02-B) includes two acrylic windows, which replace the black mesh sections and also have vents in them. The windowed version appears to have more vents than the black case. The windows wrap around the edges and have vents all the way around.

SilverStone said the case is capable of being used in either a horizontal configuration (similar to a set top box) or vertically to save surface space. There is a stand included with the case so that it can stand securely.

SilverStone's RVZ02B has a suggested price of $93.48. The windowed RVZ02-B is priced at $106.68. Both cases are available now.

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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • balister
    Guys, you really can't say the following (especially after further explaining lower in the article):

    The RVZ02 is a mini-ITX case with space for up to three storage drives, a slim optical drive and graphics cards as long as 13 inches.

    This is very misleading. Silverstone, and a paragraph lower in the article, explain that you can either have 3 drives and a short video card or 2 drive and a long video card. You can't mention that you can have up to 3 drive and a 13" video card in the same line, there is a caveat to whether you can have 3 drives or not depending on the length of video card (or lack of video card).
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    16708780 said:
    Guys, you really can't say the following (especially after further explaining lower in the article):

    The RVZ02 is a mini-ITX case with space for up to three storage drives, a slim optical drive and graphics cards as long as 13 inches.

    This is very misleading. Silverstone, and a paragraph lower in the article, explain that you can either have 3 drives and a short video card or 2 drive and a long video card. You can't mention that you can have up to 3 drive and a 13" video card in the same line, there is a caveat to whether you can have 3 drives or not depending on the length of video card (or lack of video card).

    You can have three drives, the caveat is which size drive.
    a 3.5-inch drive will not fit with a full length card. None of Silverstone's documentation states that an SSD won't fit if a full length card is installed.
    Reply
  • balister
    16708780 said:
    Guys, you really can't say the following (especially after further explaining lower in the article):

    The RVZ02 is a mini-ITX case with space for up to three storage drives, a slim optical drive and graphics cards as long as 13 inches.

    This is very misleading. Silverstone, and a paragraph lower in the article, explain that you can either have 3 drives and a short video card or 2 drive and a long video card. You can't mention that you can have up to 3 drive and a 13" video card in the same line, there is a caveat to whether you can have 3 drives or not depending on the length of video card (or lack of video card).

    You can have three drives, the caveat is which size drive.
    a 3.5-inch drive will not fit with a full length card. None of Silverstone's documentation states that an SSD won't fit if a full length card is installed.

    Maybe you should have gone to Silverstone's site, like I did, and read the specifications before making the above statement you made.

    From the Silverstone RVZ-02 site:

    RVZ02 Specifications

    Model No.

    SST-RVZ02B (black)
    SST-RVZ02B-W (black + window)


    Material

    Reinforced plastic outer shell, steel body


    Color

    black


    Motherboard

    Mini-ITX


    Drive Bay


    External
    Slim optical 12.7mm or 9.5mm x 1
    (9.5mm compatibility limited to tray type)

    Internal
    2.5” x 2
    (one additional 3.5” or 2.5” space depending on expansion card installed)

    Cooling System


    Rear

    Passive exhaust vents

    Side

    Oversized vents over CPU/motherboard and expansion area


    Expansion Slot

    2


    Front I/O Port

    USB 3.0 x 2
    audio x 1
    MIC x 1


    Power Supply

    SFX & SFX-L


    Expansion Card

    *Compatible with 13” long, width restriction – 4.78”


    Limitation of CPU cooler

    58mm


    Net Weight

    3.2kg~3.3kg


    Dimension

    380mm (W) x 87mm (H) x 370mm (D), 12 liters


    Extra

    Support two Kensington locks


    *Expansion card holder needs to be removed when installing expansion/graphics card wider than 4.78 inches. When system is assembled without the holder, vertical orientation of the case is recommended and transporting/shipping should be avoided. For more details, please refer to manual.

    See that it states that the addition of the third drive, be it 3.5" or 2.5" depends on the length of the graphics card installed which means that if you install a 13" video card, there is no room for using the third installation spot for a drive be it 3.5" or 2.5". That's pretty specific that you cannot have a 13" video card and also use the third mounting point. If you could mount a third 2.5" drive with a 13" video card, Silverstone would have been very specific about that.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    16708780 said:
    Guys, you really can't say the following (especially after further explaining lower in the article):

    The RVZ02 is a mini-ITX case with space for up to three storage drives, a slim optical drive and graphics cards as long as 13 inches.

    This is very misleading. Silverstone, and a paragraph lower in the article, explain that you can either have 3 drives and a short video card or 2 drive and a long video card. You can't mention that you can have up to 3 drive and a 13" video card in the same line, there is a caveat to whether you can have 3 drives or not depending on the length of video card (or lack of video card).

    I have a Raven Z01, mainly because I was tired of waiting for the Z02 to be released. But the Z01 you can mount 2 x 2.5" drives (SSDs, laptop drives, etc) and still have enough room for a full 10" video card. I'm not entirely sure what the maximum length of a GPU you can install is, but my EVGA GTX 760 fit perfectly fine with two drives and a CD burner installed.
    Reply
  • Blueberries
    If you can't figure out how to mount a 2.5" SSD in your case you suck
    Reply
  • firefoxx04
    I cant wait until 1-2TB SSD is cheep enough to warrant getting these tiny cases without sacrificing space for drives.

    My buddy will be home soon (Marines) and wants to build a desktop but he is always on the go. This is perfect as long as he can budget for an expensive big SSD. Fast, small, with big space.
    Reply
  • McWhiskey
    I'm really digging all of these small cases. I had my eye on the node 202. But a few reviews are saying there is a heat issue with the graphics cards. I wonder if this one suffers from the same issue.

    Any word on the release of other revisions of this design?
    Reply
  • mortsmi7
    Guys, you really can't say the following (especially after further explaining lower in the article):

    The RVZ02 is a mini-ITX case with space for up to three storage drives, a slim optical drive and graphics cards as long as 13 inches.

    This is very misleading. Silverstone, and a paragraph lower in the article, explain that you can either have 3 drives and a short video card or 2 drive and a long video card. You can't mention that you can have up to 3 drive and a 13" video card in the same line, there is a caveat to whether you can have 3 drives or not depending on the length of video card (or lack of video card).

    "Up to three" meaning it could be less. They didn't say you could have 3 drives and a 13" video card. They said up to 3. They were just listing off features.
    Reply
  • Blood Angel
    2.5" bays x2
    3.5"/2.5" bay x1 (if you're using a mini-ITX sized graphics card)
    ODD/2.5" bay x1

    So four drives total. Not that hard. Nothing misleading about it. Also, if you want to, you can have a 13" graphics card AND three 2.5" drives, either SSD or laptop hard drives.
    Reply
  • Nicolas_1
    anybody know where this is available with free or reasonable shipping? The store that I found it at has $40 shipping.
    Reply