[quotemsg=19617987,0,30213]"Though slide-out motherboard trays used to be "the thing" back in the early 2000s, they’ve almost completely faded away since then."
We uncool kids don’t really give a flip about those of you have no idea the benefits of a design or feature while you dismiss it. Your lack of vision is obvious.
Cases today are cheap and flimsy compared to cases of years ago. The slide-out MB tray was not simply for flash-in-the-pan fad followers. I used them in the mid 1980s, so they were around before that and well before your claimed "the thing" statement.
It is a good idea that could use more practice today. These tinfoil and plastic cases being marketed these days to those who don't know better are heinously over priced and flex like saplings in a strong wind. Saplings are supposed to flex, metal PC cases are not.
One can't count on the MB CPU access cut-outs on case mounting plates to match up. I have a highly acclaimed Fractal Design and a BitFenix chassis, recent models, and they both have this very issue. I hate both of them. Take any panel off and the case turns to jelly. An elementary school kid could make better in metal shop. They also take up too much space in the closet.
The removable MB tray is immensely more useful than a hole cut in a plate (that also reduces case rigidity). Cases with easily removable MB trays are easier to work on, can be easier to mod without having to remove a bunch of rivets and the tray can be converted to a test bench with ease.
I am not, nor have I ever been a "cool kid" or fad follower, so I will keep the sliding motherboard trays, unplug a few cables and have incomparable access to the inside of the case and the components mounted on the uncool removable tray.
Thank goodness for CaseLabs! I can still buy quality metal cases instead of this garbage being tossed out of the cheap-maker factories of today.[/quotemsg]As a builder, I have a couple things to say:
1.) Cheap and flimsy have nothing to do with whether or not the case has a removable tray and 2.) The slide-out trays did NOT make it any easier for me to build a PC. Ever. Some bad external designs made it less easy, but that's a different matter entirely. Look, the only way the slide-out tray was useful was when you could put everything on the board, slide it in and be done. But you couldn't. Because the graphics cards would block access to front panel headers. The power connectors still needed to be run up the board. You nearly had to disassemble the sub-assembly down to the board before you could put all the cables back on. And at that point, you were wishing that you'd simply bolted the motherboard into the case and did everything else in the case.
Considering that the greatest difficulty in assembling a mid-tower is getting to the EPS12V connector, a completely removable top would be far more valuable as a feature than a removable tray has been. Of course you could just have a full tower with more space above the board, but then what will you do with all that empty space once the system is assembled? A drive rack perchance? Look at the 90's Gateway full-towers. No removable motherboard tray, big removable drive cage above the motherboard. Done.
So you want to talk about how cheaply cases are being made using less bracing and thinner materials. That's great, but it's also a red herring in the discussion of motherboard trays.
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