SilverStone Introduces Raven RVZ03 SFF Case, Now With RGB
SilverStone today revealed the Raven RVZ03 SFF case, which features the improvements that the company made to the RVZ lineup over the years. The new case also brings the Raven RVZ series up to speed with the hottest industry trend: RGB lighting.
SilverStone released the first small form factor Raven HTPC gaming case (RVZ01) in February 2014. Since then the company continued to innovate and improve HTPC form factor. In September 2015, SilverStone dropped the RVZ02, which featured an alternate internal design and introduced a window to see your graphics card. Last year, SilverStone went back to the original design and revised the internal layout to add support for ATX power supplies. Now the company is back with another take on the Raven RVZ platform, which mixes a modern external design with the revised internal layout.
SilverStone effectively reskinned the RVZ01-E to build the RVZ03; styling is the primary difference between the two models. The RVZ01-E case is a 3-year-old design that is somewhat bland compared to the sleek style of modern computer cases. The RVZ03 features an updated front fascia with an RGB light strip that pulses in the center of the face plate.
The SilverStone Raven RVZ03 chassis is a small enclosure with more space inside than you would think. The original RVZ01 supported SFX power supplies and offered space for a 3.5" mechanical hard drive. The RVZ03 features the revised internal layout of the RVZ01-E case, which removes the mount for the mechanical drive in favor extra space for full-size power supplies up to 150mm long.
The RVZ03 chassis includes four mounting points for 2.5" hard drives and SSDs. One mount is located on the central partition that separates the graphics card chamber from the rest of the case. The other three mounting points are on the graphics card mounting system; two on top, and one underneath.
SilverStone’s Raven RVZ small form factor cases are compact and don’t offer enough space to mount a graphics card perpendicular from the motherboard. The company engineered a riser bracket that lets you place the graphics card parallel to the motherboard. The RVZ03 case has space for full-length graphics cards up to 13" long and up to 5.88" thick. SilverStone includes two 120mm fans with the case, but you can add an optional third fan in the graphics card bay.
SilverStone said the Raven RVZ03 chassis would be available in Europe after July 28. The company didn’t reveal the price, and it didn’t say anything about a North American release window. We’ve reached out for more details.
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| Header Cell - Column 0 | RVZ03 Specifications |
|---|---|
| Model No. | SST-RVZ03B |
| Material | Reinforced plastic outer shell, steel body |
| Motherboard | Mini-DTX, Mini-ITX |
| Drive bay | 4 x 2.5" |
| Cooling system | 1 x 120mm fan, 1500rpm, 18dBA (Top), 1 x 120mm fan, 1500rpm, 18dBA, 1 x 120mm fan slot (Bottom) |
| Front I/O port | USB 3.0 x 2 audio x 1 MIC x 1 |
| Power supply | Optional PS2(ATX) (maximum 800w due to internal power cord) |
| Expansion card | Compatible up to 13" (330mm) long, width restriction-5.88" (149mm) |
| Limitation of CPU cooler | 83mm |
| Limitation of PSU | 150mm (Maximimum 140mm if center bracket drive bay in use) |
| Net weight | 4.05kg |
| Dimension | 382mm (W) x 105mm (H) x 350mm (D), 14 Liters 15.04" (W) x 4.13" (H) x 13.78" (D), 14 Liters |
| Extra | Support Kensington lock PCI Express riser card set x 1 RGB light strip control box x 1 |
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.
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DarkSable You know, I had an RVZ-01. When it first came out, it was the closest thing to a console form factor that you could get without learning about someone with a Steam Machine and breaking into their house.Reply
In three generations, the Raven lineup has gone from being innovative and decent looking (though still far too stylized for my tastes), to this... And it's gone backwards in terms of pushing SFF cases to the limit.
Now I look over at my Sentry, and the raven rvz-03 just looks like a toy to me. -
10tacle Looks great and will fit right in with gaming consoles sitting in an entertainment center shelf. However, the size of a SFF HTPC case is too small to cover a large GPU required to game at 4K. The fastest SFF GPU you can get is a 1070 I believe, and that won't cut it for 4K. Otherwise for a 1080p HDTV gaming setup in the living room along with a PS4 and XBone, it's perfect.Reply -
dstarr3 Reply19981407 said:Looks great and will fit right in with gaming consoles sitting in an entertainment center shelf. However, the size of a SFF HTPC case is too small to cover a large GPU required to game at 4K. The fastest SFF GPU you can get is a 1070 I believe, and that won't cut it for 4K. Otherwise for a 1080p HDTV gaming setup in the living room along with a PS4 and XBone, it's perfect.
Assuming you're building a living room gaming rig, do you really think you'll be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 4K from the couch on the other side of the living room? I sure can't. -
why_wolf Reply19981407 said:Looks great and will fit right in with gaming consoles sitting in an entertainment center shelf. However, the size of a SFF HTPC case is too small to cover a large GPU required to game at 4K. The fastest SFF GPU you can get is a 1070 I believe, and that won't cut it for 4K. Otherwise for a 1080p HDTV gaming setup in the living room along with a PS4 and XBone, it's perfect.
It can take a GPU up to 13" long, aka normal sized GPUs. You are not restricted to SFF half size units. -
bloodroses I have the RVZ-01 and I see they still have the same flaw/complaint that I've had with mine; CPU and GPU fans blowing on the opposite sides of the case. A simple ribbon cable or a different riser would completely fix that issue. There would be no worry about poor ventilation on either the CPU or GPU when laying on it's wide side that way.Reply -
bloodroses Reply19981328 said:You know, I had an RVZ-01. When it first came out, it was the closest thing to a console form factor that you could get without learning about someone with a Steam Machine and breaking into their house.
In three generations, the Raven lineup has gone from being innovative and decent looking (though still far too stylized for my tastes), to this... And it's gone backwards in terms of pushing SFF cases to the limit.
Now I look over at my Sentry, and the raven rvz-03 just looks like a toy to me.
Big price difference as well. But yes, if I do replace my RVZ-01, the Sentry is one of the cases I was looking at. -
gstauffer Reply19981407 said:Looks great and will fit right in with gaming consoles sitting in an entertainment center shelf. However, the size of a SFF HTPC case is too small to cover a large GPU required to game at 4K. The fastest SFF GPU you can get is a 1070 I believe, and that won't cut it for 4K. Otherwise for a 1080p HDTV gaming setup in the living room along with a PS4 and XBone, it's perfect.
From the article: "The RVZ03 case has space for full-length graphics cards up to 13" long and up to 5.88" thick." Same with the RVZ01 and RVZ02. I actually have a Silverstone ML08, which is effectively a RVZ02 with a more toned down front panel. It definitely fits full-length GPUs. Other SFF cases do have GPU limitations, but this one will fit almost any GPU on the market, including a 1080Ti if you wanted to go that powerful.
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10tacle Reply19981458 said:Assuming you're building a living room gaming rig, do you really think you'll be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 4K from the couch on the other side of the living room? I sure can't.
Well not everyone has a living room big enough to sit back 15' from the TV where the notice is little. My 4K HDTV setup, a 55", is about 9' from the sitting area. I can most certainly tell the difference between 4K and the 47" 1080p HDTV it replaced.
19981631 said:From the article: "The RVZ03 case has space for full-length graphics cards up to 13" long and up to 5.88" thick."
I stand corrected. Somehow I missed that. So it will fit a 1080Ti. Okay it's now on my short list.