Shocked at lack of external 5.25' bays

[varunrandhawa]

So I have just recently started to build a system, the last time I built anything was approximately 10 years ago.
Now is it just me or do a lot of cases actually don't have any support for an external 5.25' drive? At first I didnt even notice it, but then as I was plugging in a microSD card to the front panel I realised that none of the cases I was looking at actually had a drive bay pictured. Is that right? For example Thermaltake View 71.

Now I don't plan to use a 5.25 for optical media, but even then, it can be dead useful when USB4 comes out OR I simple want to add some HDMI connectivity for VR now etc. I mean I never used more than 1 bay but at least 1 would've come in handy? Does anyone else feel like its silly not to have at least 1 5.25 bay, or is it just me?

 

[The Paladin]

Most bay uses are 3.5": anyways. internal full size HDD or other devices 90% come in 3.5" format

 

[varunrandhawa]

Most bay uses are 3.5": anyways. internal full size HDD or other devices 90% come in 3.5" format

You are right, but the point I was asking was - Isn't it good to have 1 external bay - to add future upgrades without having to change the case or PC. Eg. I added USB 3 support, micro SD and HDMI connectivity using a 5.25 bay to my current PC which is like 10yrs old easy.

Don't you feel a 5.25 will be invaluable and irreplaceable simply because of the above? On top, you can add optical drives etc if you want. (I don't personally think that's the best use of a bay). What do you feel?

 

[The Paladin]

I have not used an optical drive in at least 7 years. , and if a situation demands the need to use a dvd/cdrom, I have an external usb one that sits in a box in the shed until I need it again.

My current case has no 5.25", nor 3.5" nor 2.5" bays at all.

does in general having bays to mount a hard drive or cdrom or device (usb card reader or fan controller) make things easy sure if you need those things then yes you would need a case with bays in it.

I have a ostrog case with bays because the duo core2 system in it, doesn't have fan controlling software so, I needed a bay for the fan controller device in the bay... but my main computer controls fans via bios software. no need for one.

practical for a situation, yes, needed always.. nope.

 

[varunrandhawa]

So a noob question - If i were to add next gen USB functionality, or make things easier for VR support later (mainly allowing connections at the front of the case for easier connectivity) - would these be foregone by buying a case that has no 5.25 external drive

 

[Tolis_GR]

That's true. I guess it's all up to modern needs, functionality and space economy. They design cases to make things easier for a custom build. I have a fairly old pc case from 2003 that i rebuilt myself (new paint, new window etc). It features 4 (!) 5.25" external drives, 2 3.5 external drives, and 4 3.5 internal. You simply need to work with cable and component management. As i see it, the true era of custom builds is going to be over soon, with an homogeneous mixture of components dominating the market to produce "all in one" devices.

 

[Magnus Thunderson]

It a big mistake as I use DVD and blue ray for back up as my system holds 7 TB so not easy to back up on USB and I also use my drive to make mp3 CD for my car on a 6 month basic as in Tampa with the heat the disks go bad fast when stored in the car so whe my old back up system dies I need to buy an external drive which is pain in the neck installing and uninstalling it

 

[CountMike]

New, slim external drives use only USB cable to connect, what's the pain in that ? Just plug and play, no setups.
http://www.verbatim.com/prod/accessories/disc-drives--burners/external-slimline-cd-dvd-writer/

 

[Magnus Thunderson]

simple finding were you put the dam thing between uses as i go no room to keep it installed as the top of my new case cannot have anything on it and my desk as my monitor and new case only fit on my desk by turning it 30 degrees and the monitor still over hang the desk I have

 

[CountMike]

I keep it on a shelf and take it down only when needed. It's small and thin. A case without internal 5.25" bay can be smaller and slim DVD drives take much less space than 5.25" bay. It's barely larger than a DVD disk with it's jewel case.

 

[Magnus Thunderson]

but what the problem, of having in the case none external much higher risk of dropped and damaged

 

[Magnus Thunderson]

This also increase the price of a computer as externals are more expensive then internal as most people have one from your old computer

 

[CountMike]

No problem except that case without 5.25" bay(s) can be smaller. Personally I don't like small cases, On this main PC I'm using Chieftec Dragon full tower case https://www.cnet.com/products/chieftec-dragon-series-da-01wd-full-tower-extended-atx/ and it has 5 x 5.25" bays 4 are used for removable 3.5" bays and one for 2 x 2.25" removable bays. No space left for a CD/DVD/BR drive.

 

[CountMike]

This also increase the price of a computer as externals are more expensive then internal as most people have one from your old computer

For some reason, small (mini and micro) cases tend to be more expensive than midi towers. There's also a fad to have bunch of case fans, some with 3 or more front mounted fans so there's not much space left for CD/DVD drive bays.

 

[Magnus Thunderson]

you are so very right and cheep case are doing

 

[The Paladin]

only choice to changing case is get 2 usb3 external enclosures for your drive and use them that way.... but from what I see a lot of them are over 40$/each which would make getting a new computer case more sense. or get a duplication dvd station for 90$.