What separates a true Silverstone premium case from any other? It’s mainly the creative orientation and placement of system components to yield the best thermal performance. Instead of the common mounting methods, Silverstone engineers use something called a 90-degree method for their high end cases. This means the PCI slots (or back) of the system face out the top. The science behind it is valid since heat naturally rises. This allows them to use quieter low-rpm fans. In our review we found the Fortress 2 (FT02) to be a very quiet case. Today, we’re having a look at another premium case from Silverstone called the Raven 3 (RV03) and we’ve got one of their Strider 850W 80Plus Gold power supplies riding shotgun.
Raven 3 Features and Specifications
The unique internal design of Silverstone’s cases is what makes them well known amongst DIY computer enthusiasts. The Raven 3 follows suit. It also offers other creative and innovative ideas. For example, this cases utilizes the back of the motherboard tray to mount some of the hard drives. The mounting of the PSU towards the front facing side ways is also very unique. These two things alone free up more case space for other components.
When talking to Silverstone, the idea behind the case was to offer a product that has a moderate gamer design and the idea of helping to keep gaming systems quieter. All while being able to see your pimped out components inside. Based on this design, the bulk of any escaping noise will come mainly through the top which is actually the back of the system when components are installed in this case.
No feature has been omitted that I can tell. It’s got wire management, storage management, dust filter management, tooless drive bays and a CPU cut out. And, the Raven 3 seems to only need two 180mm bottom fans compared to the Fortress 2 which had three. These two guide cool air upwards which forces the warm air out quicker. Plus, there are four front 120mm fans to help with additional cooling if needed.
Pricing for the Silvestone Raven 3 (RV03) with gold trim starts at $149.99 and silver trim for an additional $10 at $159.99 US. Both can be found from the usual online places and is surprisingly affordable for this level of Silverstone innovation.
Strider Gold 850 Watt Features and Specifications
What is an 80Plus Gold efficient PSU? Plug Load Solutions sets the 80Plus standardized specs that high quality PSUs must follow today or else it can’t carry the badge. The Strider Gold 850 has been tested and able to maintain at least an 87% efficiency (power output/power consumed) whether at 20% load or 100% load. The 3.3v rail provides 22 amps, 5v rail 25 amps and single 12V rail 70 amps. Also worth mentioning is the PSU’s ability to maintain a 3% or less ripple on the rails.
The Strider 850 is completely modular. There are no hard wired cables attached. Users will connect the cables they need. This helps keep the system free of cable clutter because it is assumed you won’t use any cables that are not necessary in your build. Silverstone focused more on the internal circuitry and not so much on a flashy chassis. However, the PSU has a rugged finish which doesn’t scar up easily. As usual, the cable sockets are color coded to keep things simple and make it easy to figure out.
Some of the extras include cable/zip ties, Velcro straps, thumb screws for easy mounting, attached cabling and AC power cable. Overall, the $169.99 US price tag means your spending your money on a well designed work horse. The 1000 watt is $189.99 and 1200 watt is $289.99 respectively. Our money would be on getting the 1000 watt version for the extra $20, giving you another 150 watts to work with.
Test System Setup
We installed our hungriest, hottest and loudest test system to test the cooling benefits as well as the power supply’s rails. I cheated a bit after and used a PSU load tester to confirm the Strider’s efficiency and rail support. Here’s the system specifics.
Test System: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor, ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 motherboard, Corsair Dominator 4G 1600MHz DDR3 memory, 3 x 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives, NVIDIA Geforce GTX 8800 Ultra video card and Strider Gold 850 watt power supply.
Fan Noise Measurements: Extech 407732 Type 2 Sound Meter
Temperature Measurements: NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller.
While the Strider Gold’s is extremely efficient, it’s up to us to confirm whether or not the power rails (3.3V, 5V and 12V) also measure up to this claim. But before we do that, let’s cover any installation issues that came up during our build and how to deal with them.
Installation Notes
The Silverstone RV03 was mostly easy to work with in terms of mounting the system and setting the system up. Especially the hard drives that mount in the back of the motherboard tray. The chassis layout really helps clean things up during and after a build is completed. The removable drive cages were a little tricky to align when attaching the three trays to the fan caps that secure them. While it is tooless, the little tabs on the trays weren’t very durable under repeated use. Silverstone has since revised this due to user feedback and quickly sent replacements to us.
Originally, the case top (which is actually the IO area commonly the back of conventional cases) lost two legs after repeated use. Silverstone has since remedied this by revising the plastic lid making it a bit more flexible and resilient. The replacement top has fared well since the revision.
Installing the power supply is a little tricky. The lower hard drive tray has to be removed first. And, the Strider’s thicker, rough finish was a little too thick which resulted in both the case and PSU getting scratched up getting it inside. While this was my experience, Silverstone said they made slight chassis adjustments to all current stock very early in shipment. So by the time you get yours, this problem should not exist. This also didn’t affect any of the smoother power supplies stacked in the lab.
That said, the PSU bay houses any standard size PSU. If your system requires a larger 1000 watt or even 1200 watt PSU, all of the Strider series will fit as they share the same size chassis. However, other vendors’ larger wattage PSUs are longer and won’t fit. Make sure you double check that before ordering yours or just make it a combo with a Silverstone PSU to alleviate any concerns.
Silverstone RV03 – Temperatures
Since there isn’t a fan control built in to the case, I used my own Sentry LX to control the RPMs. I also used the 5 sensors attached with thermal tape to the side of the stock AMD CPU cooler, North Bridge heat sink, South Bridge heat sink, bare PCB spot closest to the GPU and hard drive center. This should give us any direct cooling benefits from the case.
The RV03 and the previously reviewed FT02 are very close cousins in both features and design. It wasn’t a surprise to see both perform so closely in terms of temperatures. The hot air quickly escapes through the top as well as the bulk of any system noise.
Silverstone RV03 – Noise Levels
The case fans do range from 19dB to 34dB when measured alone at low and high speeds. Keep in mind is that the test system is much louder and drowns out any case noise. However, the Fortress 2 is slightly quieter in spite of having three 180mm fans. But this drop in noise is most likely due to the thicker case panels of the FT02. The FT02 blocks about 10dB while the RV03 blocks almost 8dB of total system noise. Plus, the bulk of the noise does escape through the top unlike the Level 10 GT which escapes out the side and back.
Any good after-market silent CPU cooler and non-reference cooled video card installed within most any premium case including the Raven 3 can drop the noise up to 16dB in some cases. Especially when you compare them to the “worst case scenario” of parts we’ve planted in the RV03.
Strider Gold 850W Performance
The PSU was loaded down at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% just to make sure it is at least 87% efficient at all times. The Strider does its best 90% efficient work between 50 and 80% which is a pleasant bonus especially if you’re test system is an X58 and Core i7 LGA1366 processor with higher end graphics.
The ripple that the rails experience is in fact right at 3% throughout the spectrum. Each rail was also well above their specified voltage at all times. I couldn’t find any discrepancies with the trusty meter either. Temps reached 54C at the most but were otherwise lower during regular system use under regular system loads.
Maximum peak output of the Strider 850 is listed at 950 watts. Our PSU sample did not disappoint in that respect. It’s well outside it’s rated 850 watts yet still managed to maintain an 80Plus efficiency standard at the outer reaches of capacity. This is good news for those worried about a little extra head room for any hardcore build. The other good news is that we didn’t need to make you sit through 10 pages to figure this out. It’s good. Period.
Now that we’ve got all the testing out of the way, let’s summarize our thoughts on these two products and take it home!
Final Thoughts – Silverstone Raven 3 (RV03)
It’s a nice change of pace every time I get to work with a Silverstone premium case. Sometimes, their creative ideas pay off while other times they are a step in to creating a whole new idea. Using the space behind the motherboard for mounting hard drives is quite creative. It frees up some of the internal space for other possibilities like water cooling components. Unfortunately, there’s no place to attach a radiator in that respect. Still, the Silverstone Raven 3 is surprisingly spacious and makes great use of its resources. There’s ample cooling thanks to the 90 degree design that makes it that much easier to remove hot air.
The launch top (back) removable panel and clunky drive bay cages were the most serious of the issues we experienced. However, these annoyances should be sorted out in the supply channel by now. The quick manner in which engineers fine tuned and fixed the original bugs on the fly in the factory is worth commendation. This is an exemplary example of pro-active Silverstone customer support. If you happened to encounter a substandard lid or soft plastic HDD fan shrouds, let customer support know and they’ll take care of you.
The Raven 3 (RV03) offers a ton of creative and innovative features that should please regular and enthusiast users alike. Aside from the protruding vented grill, it doesn’t offend and keeps rather conservative design standards. The side window is probably just the right size in that respect. When you break down the list, the Silverstone Raven 3 is a very good value for the $149.99 US/CA price. If you want a computer case that offers high end component management and a unique interior layout, this is a great choice.
Raven 3 Pros
- 90 degree system mounting
- Ample cooling performance
- Creative hard drive mounting
- Can be an extremely quiet case with the right component cooling
- Good value for the features
- Innovative cable and component management
Raven 3 Cons
- Problematic tops may still be out there – Contact Support
- Hard drive cages a little difficult to re-assemble
- Protruding side panel grill needs refinements
Final Thoughts – Strider Gold 850Watt
As for the Silverstone Strider Gold 850 power supply, this thing is a rugged beast. It actually lives up to its specifications and slightly exceeds them especially if you need up to 100 watts more than its rating. Stable rails, extra wattage, very respectable ripple control and it even comes in 1000 and 1200 watt flavors in the same exact sized housing. That means it’ll fit in a much larger range of computer cases without cluttering things up or weighing things down.
There’s nothing that makes me question its dependability thus far. The cables, materials, socket ports and fan feel quite durable meaning it should handle repeated use over the 3 year warranty. It also doesn’t kick up too much noise even when requiring a bulk of its capacity to be tapped. In fact, you’ll most likely hear your video card fans over anything else in the Raven 3 or the Strider 850 Gold combo. Par for the course these days.
Considering it meets and exceeds its own standards while maintaining overall great performance, this $169.99 US/CA product is a very good bang for buck power supply and wins my Editor’s Choice in the 850-950 watt segment!
Pros
- Truly 80Plus Gold efficiency
- Peaks at over 950 watts and still qualifies as 80Plus
- Runs Cool and Quiet
- Rugged finish
- None come to mind
Help Us Improve Our Reviews By Leaving a Comment Below!