Better known for its aluminium beauties, Silverstone has taken a curious turn to the extreme with the new Raven RV01 case.

The first thing you’ll notice is that Silverstone has basically reinvented the case as we know it – the motherboard is angled 90 degrees pointing it upwards instead of out the back. This means the heat from the 200+W graphics cards can rise naturally and that plugging in your cables is far easier to see. There are two large fans in the base, while the PSU fan sucks in from the bottom to avoid funneling conflicts.

The case won’t be aluminium, but instead steel and a dull matt plastic (although it looks kind of rubberised) – Silverstone is keen not to use any shiny plastic that might make it look cheap. Design wise, well, it’s aggressive that’s for sure, and it shouldn’t cost too much so it’ll be more accessible than many Silverstone high-end cases.

This model is the second engineering version from Silverstone, but it’s now coming close to final design.

When we met with Silverstone we also asked about the Fortress FT01 case, which has apparently undergone a couple of modifications, and were told that should be available sometime in July.

God-like or Ghastly? Let us know your impressions in the forums.