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  • Sabresiberian - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - link

    Personally, I've bought my last pre-made case; the only exception is the Skeleton, I might buy one of those just to support Antec's thinking 'out of the box' (literally and figuratively), though it doesn't quite live up to an enthusiast's case. Better than any other design, though.

    Really, even the so-called high air flow cases as they come from the manufacturers are inadequate; the best I can say about them, and this goes for this case in particular, is that they do control noise a bit better as well as giving some slight air flow benefits. The thinking of air flow needs to change though, from power supplies, which have fans good enough to cool themselves and don't add much heat to the system except that they BLOCK air movement, to actually removing hot air from a system, rather than just stirring it up, for the entire industry. Imo.

    My last case purchase was a Silverstone; it was purchased when the industry was talking BTX, which never happened, and was touted for it's cooling capabilities. I think of it as a good case, it is mostly well-made, but as I think back it came with a very cheap air shroud that couldn't even be used in a stock system, and tabs broke off when I tried to use it. I'm not a fan of clip-in expansion slots either, especially with modern video cards weighing as much as they do. Give me screws any time.

    The best feature of the Raven imo is that the video cards will hang straight down and put less side-ways stress on the expansion slots - assuming they are securely held by the case, that is.

    Anyway, I want a system that is easy to mess with as well as supporting maximum cooling, whether that means good air flow or liquid cooling or both. Hard core overclockers don't even use cases - and while I'm not currently in that class, I do make changes and still had to leave the side cover off my Silverstone case with a fan blowing in to keep my non-overclocked video card happy (I've changed cards and this is no longer necessary, but it never should have been; partly a fault of ATI (and Nvidia in another rig) and partly Silverstone and the way almost all cases are made.)

    If noise is a big factor, or you need portability, or love the cool looks of some of the new case, or just the convenience of having a pre-made, I can't argue with any of those things. For me though, they are all inadequate, and I'd just as soon not support an industry, if I can help it, that continues to go down the wrong path. My newest build uses a heavily modified old Antec, but I can OC my i7 to 4.1GHz on air (Cooler Master V8) stress-tested for stability, something which almost all current cases would hamper if not make impossible.

    Kudos to Silverstone for doing some original thinking though; I had some extraordinary difficulties with them regarding a power supply (I did end up with a good power supply, just took too much time and effort to get imo) so am not likely to send any more of my business their way, but they do have some fresh ideas and do produce pretty cases.
  • Sladeofdark - Friday, February 20, 2009 - link

    cases like this make me want to get a job working for the companies that make some of this terrible cases.. what a waste of metal. It looks cool and would look even cooler if the tacky , cheaply implemented window were taken out. Some of the cosmetic standards that have been set need not be undermined by new projects. the mobo orientation is a disaster, i dont see a point to it at all. the stiffness and weight of the DVI cord to a monitor will cause "bowing" and sever the on board video at the connection point of the port to the mobo meaning it cant be repaired. ive seen this happen when people push their towers up against a wall while under their desk. in this case gravity will be the wall, where will all the wires go i have ( looks under his desk) about 10 cords connected to my mobo. what will that look like coming out of the top of the case except awful. this was a miss hit to say the least.
  • vistaisfine - Friday, February 20, 2009 - link

    the intakes on the bottom work well. people who complain about cleaning the filters need to either A) vacuum the floor more B) get it out of the garage / basement (concrete dust). C) remember to clean the filters regularly. this coming from a cosmos 1010 user.

  • JeBarr - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link

    Anybody try squeezing a 4th GPU in there yet? I'm too broke these days to find out, though the price on this chassis is much lower than I had anticipated originally. I don't need to here how bad of an idea that is, or how incapable the chassis is it at removing the heat in that scenario...I just want to know, will they fit?
  • bkusnerik - Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - link

    Wow... something new like this motherboard orientation and no pictures of how it looks with the cables connected? Come on!
  • 7Enigma - Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - link

    Is clearly the very poor and small top fan for exhaust. The problem I see here is positive pressure is great as long as it's SLIGHTLY more. This looks like it would be building up quite a bit of heat at the top, possibly even forcing hot air back down to exit out of the side holes which I'm guessing do practially nothing (look at the picture showing 3! separate shrouds between the inside and the outside of the case) due to the restrictions.

    Aesthetically I don't care. I'm utilitarian by nature when it comes to a case but it looks unique. I think the only way this would be practical would be to ensure that you DEFINITELY had a GPU that externally exhuasted the air out the top. Most of the coolers on cards today either outright exhaust into the case (this would be really bad for this particular one), or only partially exhaust out the back (or top in this case). I think if you had a good exhausting GPU cooler it could alleviate some of the issues with the large bias towards positive pressure.
  • jabber - Sunday, February 8, 2009 - link

    Yes I'd like to see some pics of it fully cabled too.

    I dont see how a nice chunky DVI cable with a ferrite core on it will manage, plus I have to use the VGA socket on the monitor at home (I game, the Gf does design so she gets the DVI)so also have to factor a DVI to VGA adapter too. Thats about 4 inches+ of stress right there.

    Cmon lets see some real in sction pics.
  • SLayVus - Sunday, February 8, 2009 - link

    Here are some pictures

    Camera: FujiFilm FinePix S1000fd - Component side
    http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/killer_che...">http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/killer_che...

    Camera: Sanyo VPC-T700 - Cable management
    http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/killer_che...">http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/killer_che...

    Camera: FujiFilm FinePix S1000fd - Desk
    http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/killer_che...">http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/killer_che...

    i7 920@ 3.8GHz 25*C(Core @ 38*C Idle) - ThermalRight Limited Edition Black TRUE - G.Skill PI Black DDR3-1600 3x2GB - MSI X58 Platinum Non-Sli - VisionTek HD 4870 X2 - 3x500GB WD Caviar Black 32MB 7.2k w/CP05 hotswap adapters - Antec 850w(Corsair 1000HX on the way)
  • kmmatney - Sunday, February 8, 2009 - link

    Your cable management pic is just like my Antec P180 case - I spent hours getting all the cables routed around the back of the motherboard. It was great for about 6 months, and then I needed to take my power supply out to test on another computer (helping out a friend). After that, it just wasn't worth all the time and effort - I just keep the cables routed around the front. Not as clean, but much easier to remove the power supply if necessary.
  • jrcaptain - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    You'll also need to remove the top panel anytime you want to access the side panels, since the two lovers that open the sides

    the two lovers.....levers
  • Zak - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    All other reviews I've read gave it low ratings due to poor (cheap) plastic quality, tight space around video cards, awkward cable management and poor cooling (!). Many people complain the case arrives with broken/jammed doors. I'd stay away from this one. CM Cosmos S or Antec Twelvehundred would be my choice.

    Z.
  • 9nails - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    I liked this orientation, which is better for these longer GPU cards that run into the HDD cage. My Antec P180 cannot properly fit hard drives in the same horizontal plane as the GPU. Though it can fit a few drives beneath the MB chamber in the PSU chamber, at the subtraction of the fan which is kept in this area. (My PCP&C PSU is too long hindering the combination.)

    I'm a bit worried about the usefulness of this case and USB Flash drives connected to the back of the motherboard. It seems to me that the case is fairly large and begs for cables with a 90 degree bend.

    What I liked least was the swirling air near the CPU as shown in the YouTube video's. This does appear to be a dead spot.

    My vote on the appearance, is F117 "Nighthawk". It seems they considered this too with the black bird name of "Raven".

    The perfect case still doesn't exist, but I'm happy to see creative thinking!!! Good job on the review.
  • andrihb - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I think tsponholz is right, Most of these things have been done before.
    If I had a little more money, I would get the Cosmos series from CM, but the CM 690 is such a bargain. It can do almost everything you need to get good airflow, especially if youre willing to do some slight modifications (cutting out the hex mesh and stuff like that).

    The only thing unique here is the 90° turn that the motherboard has taken, I can see certain benefits from that. I'm imagining all the back panel cables coming out from the top rear in one bunch, bundled together neatly. Feels rather satisfying if you're an obsessive compulsive like me. Still, I'd rather have the ability to mount more fans in the ceiling.

    Having balanced intake and exhaust cfm is the way to go in my opinion. Unless you can somehow seal everything tightly, you're only going to be forcing the air out of every crack it can find and that can lead to problems like areas with very little flow.

    How much positive pressure could you really achieve? Maybe if there were 3 or 4 ultrakaze 3000 fans for intake and 1 exhaust fan at the top-rear, but even then it seems to me that the pressure difference would be absolutely negligable. Just get your air flow balanced and clear up your internal cable clutter, people!
  • Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    I have the CM690 in the comparison and will have the review up very soon. It provides indeed impressive cooling.
  • RagingDragon - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    I'm using a CM690 for my primary PC, so I took a close look at your CM690 graphs - and I was very pleased to see how well it performs :). It's only weakness seems to be hard drive cooling, but using fewer drives and/or a stronger front fan would probably fix that. The CM690 comes with 3 120mm fans, but if you need/want more cooling it has mounting holes for: 5 * 120/140mm, 2 * 120mm and 1 * 80mm, and if that's still not enough, Thermaltake and others sell cheap 3*5.25" to 4*3.5" converters which mount a 120mm fan.
  • glenster - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    The Enermax Revolution PSU takes in air from the top and sends it out the back. Since this case uses positive air pressure, could you install the Enermax upside down?
  • Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    Both directions possible. Would suggest (as mentioned in the article) to take the air from the bottom since it's fresh... there is a ~80x160mm wide opening in the bottom.
  • Cardio - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    So you can use shorter cables from your PS. Well, do they come with various lengths, no, you will just have more cable to try to stuff somewhere!
    Especially that inflexible 24 pin number that will be much too long. And any number of cables, USB, sound etc will probably be too short. It really didn't cool very well, anyway. Want to take the thing apart just to plug or unplug a cable. Answer to a non existent problem. I have had a number of their cases and none you could love.

    Rather than a Lamborgini, it looks more like a 1950's garbage can.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, February 9, 2009 - link

    Well, you can run short cables, Silverstone makes them for their power supplies, and I am sure they would like to sell you both an expensive case and an expensive PSU with optional cables.
  • elfy6x - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I enjoyed the article. The multi-bar graphs are really interesting in showing all the different temps. Could you shade them with slight variances? It would help A LOT in reading the temp data you have. Just a suggestion.
  • Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    Waiting for the i7-System, will have multiple setups in the future. Noctua is sending fans and coolers that I can run the cases with different fan setups, speeds and different cooler designs.
  • glenster - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Comparing the bit tech temp results, it cools a CPU better than a
    CM HAF 932, and GPU cooling ability falls between a 932 and a Silverstone Fortress--about like a CM ATSC 840, and better if you don't mind leaving the lid ajar. It's quiet and good at keeping dust out. If you want to get the bargain out of OCing a Core i7 920 (and would like it quiet for recording with Cakewalk), it sound like a good deal. I'd like to compare an Antec P1000, but I don't know if I'll wait till it comes out.
  • darthwhit - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Here is how it works.

    The case doesn't sit flat on the floor. There is plenty of room for air intake through the bottom of the case. There is a dust screen at the bottom to help prevent dust from getting into the case. There is also much less flat space for dust to settle on.

    The power supply intake and outake go directly to the outside of the case. Not helping or hindering airflow or heat at all.

    The cables still go out the back of the case, they just plug in at the top of the case under the hood and trail out the back of the case. There is plenty of room for most connectors under the hood. I would not expect there to be room for a USB WIFI dongle or something with similar height.
  • surt - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Note to case designers. I do not want noisy 120mm fans. I will not be buying anything with fans under 140mm. I don't care if it starts out quiet, as they accumulate dust they start to whine. 140mm+ fans tend not to suffer from that with their wider blades and slower turn rates.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, February 9, 2009 - link

    rofl.

    A few years ago you would see posts identical to this, but with 80mm in place of 120 and 120 instead of 140. Few more years and people will be crying for 200mm fans only.
  • tsponholz - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I don't see how this would be fundamenatally different from other cases that intake on the bottom/low and vent out the top. The CoolerMaster Cosmos series for one -- same isolated air supply and vent for the PSU, same bottom fan intake, and two exhaust fans out the top (plus on emore at the top rear). The Cosmos appears to have more clearance for the floor, as well, to allow less dust collecting.

    I understand that it uses positive pressure colling (more intake than exhaust fans) but has that been shown to be conclusively better?

    I just don't see how turning the mobo will accomplish better cooling. Maybe I'm missing something. I'd much rather take the FT01 if I'm spending on a Silverstone.
  • BarneyBadass - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    The design while esthetically pleasing to the eye, appears to have the opportunity for significant improvement.

    With all the grill work so close to the fans, I would expect the exhaust to be restricted.

    I don't think I would consider this case for any build.

    Also; while access to the HDD's from the front is nice; I would have expected some louvers that forced or otherwise channeled airflow between the drives.

    The aspect of "Positive air pressure" is at best interesting. Considering the Air is just looking for anywhere to escape; it's seems plausible that the positive pressure could actually reduce the air flow in the case and trap some level of heat inside the case. I would certainly find a way to add a second fan at the top of the case.

    But those are my thoughts... simply thoughts.. no experience with the case.
  • Wineohe - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I would really like to have seen a few pictures with actual cabling. What are we hiding. I just can't imagine putting a cover over a DVI cable that is resisting your every effort at getting it to make a right angle, not to mention the stress on the connector. Am I missing something.

    Speaking of cabling some innovations that I think are more important?
    1) How about a standard for wireless keyboard and mouse communications so that the Transceiver could be built into the case somehow?
    2)A standardized USB hub connector for remote mounting(powered by the computer of course). I would love to have to plug in only one cable when servicing or replacing a computer.
    3)Can some minor changes to the HDMI Protocal be made to effectively replace bulky DVI?

    I guess I got a little off track. The case looks great with it's stealth appearance but I suspect a more conventional layout would be more successful.
  • waffle911 - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    In terms of cabling, there is actually quite a bit of space underneath the top panel. Plenty to allow a stiff DVI cable to bend without breaking a sweat. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but it has something like 2.5"+ of wriggle room.

    1. The answer to your prayers is Bluetooth. Logitech peripheral dongles are absolutely minuscule, and plug in to a USB port. Not quite integrated, but better than having something built into the case that adds unnecessary cost.
    2. I assume you mean a high-powered USB connector, since a USB hub by design requires external auxiliary power in order to meet the demands of multiple devices that one USB port could not power. If this is the case, then yes, the standard exists and is being wholly neglected by the industry. AeroCool has some front panel accessories with these ports.
    3. HDMI = consumer DVI. But the true replacement for DVI is going to be Display Port, and if Apple has their way, Mini Display Port. Have you seen this thing? It's tiny, and has all the functionality of dual-link DVI—and then some.
  • Wineohe - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I'm aware of Bluetooth of course, but frustrated by the proprietary nature of the protocal and the communication chips. What a screwed up mess. I want to put a gun to my head every time I want to make it work on my Laptop or Desktop. Toshiba, Broadcom, CSR, ISSC, IVT ...yada yada. 802.11 seems like genius by comparison.

    As for the high-powered USB? I'm intrigued. Having 6 cables hanging out of the back of my box is a pain.

    Mini Display Port? Hmm. Leave it to Apple. If DVI were invented in the 70's I can't imagine it being any more cumbersome.
  • Th3Eagle - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I wonder what whould hapen if 1 or maybe even 2 12cm intake fans would be placed at the bottom of the window. Extra cold air intake would force all the hot air out of the top creating a flow over the mb of cold air.

  • andrihb - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    It occoured to me that most of the benefits here are achieved just by having the PSU at the bottom. Does anyone here have the Cooler Master Dominator case? The Bottom PSU configuration is great because you can keep most of your cable clutter at the bottom of the case, and need even shorter pci-e power cables than with this one. You need the case to be somewhat taller than average to have ample room for aftermarket video card coolers on SLI/XF setups though, else they will be uncomfortably close to the psu. Another neat thing is that you can decide which way the PSU faces, with the intake UP (inside the case) or down (drawing air from outside).
  • aapocketz - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I would have liked to see tests with various fan speeds configured. Are the case fans not throttled, they only run at one speed?

    I would be concerned about dust, hopefully the air filters work well. Would this case work on carpet? May be interesting to put on a floor vent when the AC is running.

    when it comes to air cooling you can do a lot of things but in the end it mostly comes down to volumetric replacement of air, without stalling out the airflow and creating dead zones. with this significant directional airflow, the actual order of components in the airflow path makes much less of a difference. I would have liked to see a stovepipe design without the motherboard rotation to compare.

    This theory is even more true for watercooling as well. I had a system that was cooling the CPU, then chipset, then hard drives, and back to the radiator/pump. Reversing the direction of flow so the CPU was cooled last made negligible difference.
  • superkdogg - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    It seems pretty reasonable that the issue with the temp would be that the graphics card exhause is being limited as you alluded to. If it's harder to get the warm air out, more is going to accumulate inside and the test was running 3 cards.

    It would be interesting to see the results run with the top off or modded to have black screens where it's currently solid plastic. Or maybe not that interesting, since for $240 you want something that performs awesome right out of the box.
  • CU - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Just wish it was cheaper. The cpu heatsink did catch my attention though. I have that same one setting on my X2. Nice to know I can use it on my next cpu also.
  • beepboy - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    "Even though this is a steal chassis with lots of plastic..."

    Steel :). Great looking case, but I'm still wary about water/accident that might just spill on top of the case...

    thanks,
    Beepboy
  • haukionkannel - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Guite interesting case. So this has the power in the bottom of the case like in Antec 180 series.
    When all the cables are in the top of case this can be good "under the table" solution, as lond as there is enough space above it.
    I still like my P180, but this definitely is one that I may consider depending on the sound level. It would be nice to see some test in more "normal" configuration, but to any heavy user this seems quite ideal. 3 way sli and 7 harddisk and so low temperatus and sound level? Maybe if there would be more space to route the cables behind the mother board would be a nice feature to the revised edition of this case... och and an alumine variant to the rich boys ;-) or one with same idea, but a little bit more conservative appearance...
  • falchard - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I don't think the idea is actually that good. You have air coming in from the bottom, and going out the top. Sometimes different isn't always a good thing.
    The bottom intake will be limited because of the ground, and side intake really would not generate alot of airflow due to the angle it comes in at.
    You have all the air flow through the PSU first which is one of the hottest parts on the machine, and now your just flowing warm air over the rest of your PC.
    If this design had a descent chance at working, the bottom fans would be angled at 45 degrees and the PSU placed at the top of the case.
  • RagingDragon - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link

    I think the motherboard orientation has potential, but that the fan layout leaves alot to be desired - I agree completely that the bottom intakes are sub-optimal (to put it kindly). I'd recommend the following layout changes:

    1. Get rid of bottom intakes
    2. Put a big intake fan in the standard bottom front case
    location (i.e. under the hard drive trays)
    3. Put two or more large intake fans on the side of the case,
    above the power supply (blowing cool air on the graphics
    cards and motherboard)
    4. Enlarge the top exhaust fan to 140mm (port clusters are
    about 140mm wide anyway)
    5. Add an 8th expansion slot cut out to support support dual
    slot graphics cards on motherboards with a PCIe-16 slot in
    position #7 (i.e. on the leftmost edge), and also triple slot
    graphics cards on more standard motherboards.

    And personally, I think the case is hideous. I prefere simple, conservative case styling. But if it sells decently, no doubt Silverstone will offer variants using the same layout with different styling.
  • C'DaleRider - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    If you really look closely at the photos provided, the PSU's exhaust is to the outside, so the power supply is NOT just taking cool air into it and then circulating it back into the case, which is the way almost EVERY case is set up....the psu takes in air from either outside or from inside the case and exhausts its now heated air directly to the outside......DUH!
  • Visual - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    i really don't fancy the idea of intake fans on the bottom. there's going to be a huge amount of dust gathering down there.

    and expansion cards and cables at the top, really? maybe it can work if i hide the case under the desk, but what if it is on top?
  • weevil - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    But you would never have to sweep the floor.
  • HelToupee - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    I really like the idea of the layout of this case. It's the perfect arrangement for an under-the-desk setup. You are right that the intakes on the bottom of the case are a terrible idea. They'll clog with dust, and need cleaning constantly, and are in the most inconvenient place they could possibly be. Maybe if they add some kind of ducting along the back to direct air underneath the case and raised the case off the ground a bit.

    What I really like is the cable management. Where the cables come out of the power supply is right next to where they plug into the motherboard. If you look at the pictures of the system assembly, there are no cables at all routed over the motherboard. All the cable mess tucks nicely away into the bottom front of the case where it's not visible, and not in the way of airflow. Perfect. Plus, when the case is sitting under your desk, all the ports are the closest they can be to where you want them -- rear top of the case. I love the idea of having access to the back panel (now on top) of the case by just rolling the case out a bit. Lighting will be better, cables will not be strained and crimped around corners. Very convenient.

    I hope other (cheaper) options appear with this configuration. I may have to consider picking one up.
  • Dreamwalker - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    A very interesting case, but I do wonder how you manages the cables that are coming at the top, the VGA cables and all the other stuff. A picture would be great here. Can't realy imagine how it looks like all the cables coming at the top rather than from the bac side.

    Anyone got the Lamborghini Reventon in his minde when looking at he pictures?
  • weevil - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Looks like an F-117 Stealth fighter to me, Love the interier but the outside is ugly. But at least it will evade radar, I could replace the fairing on my Harley with this and the CHP will never see me.
  • strikeback03 - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    Personally, I think the person in the previous look who compared it to a Jawa Sandcrawler was dead-on.
  • Bigjee - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    That's the first thing that came to my mind.

    The lamborghini Reventon.

    This case perfectly portrays it. The lines make it look like its been designed by the same person who designed that car.
  • soydeedo - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link

    With dreadlocks.
  • maxnix - Thursday, April 28, 2011 - link

    Had this case two years now and it has been rock solid except for a bad fan that would rattle when installed. Replaced with an even quieter one and all is well. Not overclocked yet, so acoustic signature could increase when it is. Access is great and easy. Case is heavy.

    Now the Raven 3 is out.

    By the way the filters while rudimentary, are a lot better than nothing in most other cases.

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