Creative things to put in an unused 5.25" bay?

[DigitalHermit]

put in an android device...

[Deprecated]

http://www.easylife.org/fufme/

 

cause why not (somewhat nsfw?)

[FizzyFantom]

If you could find a car amp to fit in the bay (one that runs on 12V DC) that could be pretty awesome. I wonder how large an amp you could run from a PC PSU. Enough to piss off your neighbors?

[Trik'Stari]

An ash tray,

 

Or mount a loaded cocked ready to fire gun in it, aimed at the hard drive for when the NSA/FBI shows up. (to take out the hard drive)

[TigerBoy]

Here are some things That I placed on my 5.25" drive cages in a span of 8-ish years. Don't have any of these any more since I could not afford to keep my destop.

 

 

(number of bays needed) - (Thing)

 

1 or 2 - Cup Holder

 

1 - PS2 to USB controller (routed it to internal USB through a simple inside USB bay 1$)

 

2 or 3 - Digital/Non-digital Photo frame =) (if you find the right dimension and just cut a plastic bay to mount it and some proper screwing =) )

 

1 - use the bottom most drive bay and if its a flip type, hide money, diary, or extra credit cards there, no one would suspect it =)

 

1 or all - Paint or paste something on the plastic/metal, you can get a good design on it =) I used vinyl stickers

 

1 or 2 - Cabinet (easy to make your own with scrap wood just dont forget to chizzle the metal fins on the 5.25" bay if there are any) Bonus for cabinet* -> you can place holes in it and make the heat from the PC blow through the cabinet, tada hotdog heater =)

 

 

 

I remember doing 3 other mods, but it's hard to explain without the picture, i'll post it here when I get the chance to find em =)

[elkenrod]

Not exactly finished with it yet, however I've thrown a 7" lcd screen in my optical bay for rain meter, eventually it will show time/date, cpu and gpu temps along with any downloads in progress. So really what goes in your optical bay now CD's are hardly used is down to you, let your imagination run wild.

 

I had the screen lying around from a old project, but ebay is a good source for cheep LCD's if you are looking for one.

 

 

More interested in this...

 

Any cutting involved with this?  I'm curious how you got it to fit inside so nicely.  It looks great.

[FrankTheTank]

More interested in this...

 

Any cutting involved with this?  I'm curious how you got it to fit inside so nicely.  It looks great.

 

Curious as well! I think he glues the ODDpanel to it (with a cut in it).

[ygohome]

seriously, I'd use it for hot swappable HDDs.  Get one or more of them depending how many 5.25 bays you have.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817998020

 

See "Fred P." review in that above link and his short little video to get better idea how it works.  pretty slick for under $15

[PercySavageEG]

Not exactly finished with it yet, however I've thrown a 7" lcd screen in my optical bay for rain meter, eventually it will show time/date, cpu and gpu temps along with any downloads in progress. So really what goes in your optical bay now CD's are hardly used is down to you, let your imagination run wild.

 

I had the screen lying around from a old project, but ebay is a good source for cheep LCD's if you are looking for one.

 

what screen ratio is that 7 inch screen?

[LukaP]

i use my included hidden drawer on the case for hiding stuff like weed candy.

[VulsaviiK]

Cup holder?

 

A housemate of mine that used to work in IT department at a school, lets just say one of the teachers there legit thought a CD drive was a pop-out cup holder

[TheKDub]

-snip-

 

That is absolutely amazing!

 

How many bays did it take up? (I'm guessing 2)

[The Gaige]

I have had thes 2 92mm fans lining around & though that my rig could use them!!!! 
1st zip tie them togather!!!! 
 
  
2nd zip tie to ware you them in my case where i needed them!!! 
 
 
  
Now I'm done & I can enjoy them!!! 
 
 
  
I hope this gives you an idea on some additional places for cooling!!!

 

 

This is something I did a long time a go!

[VulsaviiK]

Using the existing 5.25" bays as a mount for an ssd could be interesting. Just expect to have to do a bit of cutting. I did something similar recently

[Maxibonbits]

• card reader

optical drive

reservoir

fan controller

Nothing

[ObilvionNizer]

Hot swap bay

[Shroomster]

Your e-peen. Oh you dont have one because you are using an 5,25 bay. (joking, joking)

[Thorium19]

Install a shrine to top gear in there.

Get a cup holder in there. And not by using an optical drive, but by cutting the blanking panel enough to install a plank of wood which can be glued into the slot. Also, cut out a circle in the wood where the cup will go. Don't cut the whole way through, but chisel a section out.

Or just put some extra USB ports, a card reader or a fan controller in there.

[Vacsol]

http://www.easylife.org/fufme/

 

cause why not (somewhat nsfw?)

HAHAHA the images on the site NSFW

[ManWithBeard1990]

Weirdest thing I've seen in a bay was a Peltier based memory cooler. I think it was called pc aircon or something

 

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/PC-AirCon-PAC400

 

It's rubbish though.

[Fgtfv567]

Cup holder?

You mean that thing that holds my drink and plays those coasters with holes?

[Parus major]

Optical drives are for people who have real music collections and not children who download pop music from itunes.

They are useful, please refrain from pretending you're somehow more elite for not using one.

[GoodBytes]

Optical drives are for people who have real music collections and not children who download pop music from itunes.

 

YYYEESSSS!!! I get from XBox Music. I am not a children, I am not a children, I am not a children....Crap! My ice cream feel...snif... snif.... Mmmooooommmmyyyyy!!!!!