Benchmarks
Thermal performance
SilverStone's Raven RV03 likes a CPU cooler that'll help maintain an upward airflow, and that makes our high-end Intel DBX-B cooler ideal.
In this configuration, the chassis is able to deliver good results with its fans at low speed, and class-leading results with all fans at full tilt. Having heat rise through the body of a chassis and out the top has always seemed a good idea, and the RV03 is proving that it works.
GPU cooling performance tells a similar story. Crank up the bottom-mounted 180mm intakes, and the upward-pointed airflow manages to shave an impressive 5ºC of heat off of our high-end Radeon HD 6970.
At full speed, the RV03 records the lowest under-load temperatures we've seen.
Noise
To find out how loud the chassis can get we're using a PCE-318 noise meter placed at the front of each chassis to take decibel readings with the system idling in two modes; low fan speed and high fan speed.
The Raven RV03 may offer class-leading CPU and GPU temperatures with its fans running flat out, but it also struggles to keep noise under control and can become very noisy when configured for maximum airflow.
The good news is that it needn't be that loud. Turning the fans down to silent mode drastically lowers noise levels and the system becomes barely audible. Not bad for a gaming chassis, and temperatures at low speed are perfectly acceptable.