Survey : 5.25 drive bay Usage

[Sirmyself]

Since a while now, we see fewer and fewer case manufacturers include 5.25 External drive bays in their cases. And a lot of PC users don't seem to want those bays anymore, but there seems to still be some customers for 5.25 devices.

I actually use two (a bluray drive and an all in one [temperature monitor - memory card reader - fan controller - external sata port - additional USB 3 ports]), but I was wondering if I was alone, so out of pure curiosity, I am starting a poll on that subject and hope to start a discussion on what you think the future of the 5.25 bay is.

[Electronics Wizardy]

where is the option for floppy drive, those are useful.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

where is the option for floppy drive, those are useful.

Maybe not the drive itself but the bays are still definitely useful.

[Sirmyself]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

where is the option for floppy drive, those are useful.

didn't see that coming hahaha. Maybe I'll start a poll later on the 3.5 floppy drive bay

[flibberdipper]

If I had another SATA port on my motherboard/PSU, I'd totally still have an optical drive in my daily. One of my longer-term plans for my XP rig after I get the main upgrades done (Enthoo Pro M, graphics card, RAM, and round IDE/floppy cables) is to try and hunt down a nice IDE DVD-RW laptop drive that doesn't cost as much as a house and one of those things that lets you take a single 5.25 bay and turn it into a slim ODD and 3.5 bay (where I'd install the floppy drive).

[BabaGanuche]

I voted no, but I do us a optical drive a few times a year. Since my case does not have a 5.25 bay I have just been setting the internal drive on the floor of the case.It makes no sense for me to spend any money on a proper external one.So if my case had one I would use it but I don't care if it has one base on how often I uses something that would be in it.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 minutes ago, Sirmyself said:

didn't see that coming hahaha. Maybe I'll start a poll later on the 3.5 floppy drive bay

Gotcha!  All seriousness aside, if you decide to do a survey on it, keep in mind some people still using 3.5" bay devices (card readers, etc.) are using 5.25" to 3.5" adapters to put those devices in.

[HarryNyquist]

I will admit I find an optical drive archaic in 2019 buuuuut at the same time I've also missed it for a few things (burning a LiveCD for a linux distro that refused to boot of USB for instance).

 

Most of the use I would have out of it I feel would be fan/RGB or some other gadgetry though.

[mariushm]

Still have a DVD-RW drive, but rarely use it. So rarely in fact that the drive tray starts to stick from time to time when ejecting (thinks something obstructs the tray and cancels and closes tray)

 

My case is full tower so there's SIX 5.25" slots ... and I actually took advantage of that for a couple of months... i took a pci-e x1 riser adapter thing and placed it on top of the DVD drive and actually plugged a video card in it, with the video connectors of the video card popping out in the front of the case. It worked fine.

 

Basically, already had 2 RX 570 cards in x16 slots and had another x4 slot on the motherboard but the 3rd card (a RX 470) would have sat with just a few mm between its fans and the power supply grill and therefore lousier cooling... so I moved the video card on top of the optical drive using the riser.

[Sirmyself]

7 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Gotcha!  All seriousness aside, if you decide to do a survey on it, keep in mind some people still using 3.5" bay devices (card readers, etc.) are using 5.25" to 3.5" adapters to put those devices in.

Good point, I'll admit I don't use those since larger devices mean they can pack more stuff in it, but I can see people using 3.5 drive bays or adapters.

 

... that said... I just remembered I am using my 3.5 bay as a dual SSD drive bay (I DIYed an old floppy disk drive and repurposed the case to fit 2 SSDs)

[Bramimond]

I've got six 5.25 drive bays. They're for HDDs together with this. I've also got two DVD-ROM drives in there, because hell why not.

 

Spoiler

 

[APasz]

I use my Bluray drive for the express purpose of ripping DVDs/Blurays but as soon as someone develops a steam for film/tv, that shit is gone.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I'm currently ITX so no bay, but I was looking to upgrade my case partly to put a Bluray writer into the machine and was dismayed by not only the lack of cases that can fit a 160mm air cooler but also missing the drive bay.

I ended up using a USB 3.0 adapter, not a caddy, as it would have cost almost three times as much just for a stupid USB 3.0 caddy.  It seems 5.25 is just out of fashion.

[manikyath]

28 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

where is the option for floppy drive, those are useful.

still use a floppy drive, still works perfectly fine for the purpose it serves.

 

on topic:

bluray burner in the top slot, and the slot below houses an SD card reader, and the remaining space serves as a shelf for some remotes.

[porina]

I wouldn't be totally against an internal only 5.25 bay as they can be used for storage, but certainly I don't have any more need for an external one.

 

BTW the poll doesn't let you complete if you select option 3 in 1st section and leave 2nd section blank. 2nd section could use a "not applicable" setting for that.

[Sirmyself]

4 minutes ago, porina said:

I wouldn't be totally against an internal only 5.25 bay as they can be used for storage, but certainly I don't have any more need for an external one.

 

BTW the poll doesn't let you complete if you select option 3 in 1st section and leave 2nd section blank. 2nd section could use a "not applicable" setting for that.

I'll try to edit the poll, you're right.

 

EDIT : well... that was easy...

[Lady Fitzgerald]

26 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

I've got six 5.25 drive bays. They're for HDDs together with this. I've also got two DVD-ROM drives in there, because hell why not.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Are these enough 5.25" bays for you?

 

 

1. Switch Panel - Power, Reset, Reset, LED Dimmer/Switch

2. USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Audio Ports, all behind a flip down door

3. Future 3.1 ports, also behind a door

4. Stealthed optical drive (CD/DVD/BD)

5. USM (Universal Storage Modual) hot swap bay (to be used for syncing files between the computer and my notebook computer's backup drives)

6-7. Hot swap bays for my backup SSDs

8-9. Stealthed SSD bays (total of 8 ) for my data storage SSDs (so far, have five). The Bay covers are held in by magnets and are removed by an even stronger magnet.

10-12. Stealthed storage drawers (pushing on the faces releases the latch)

13-14. Spare bays

 

The last three are dummy bays to allow room for air flow.

[porina]

4 minutes ago, Sirmyself said:

I'll try to edit the poll, you're right.

 

EDIT : well... that was easy...

Also edited my vote to match, thanks.

[Sirmyself]

Interesting results so far! Please share this poll with your friends, the more data it get, the more relevant its results are.

[Giganthrax]

2 out of the 5 drive bays in my case are occupied, one by an optical drive reader (which I use from time to time) and another for some extra front USB ports. 

 

I'm also likely going to add a 120mm fan bracket up front at some point for that extra bit of airflow + aesthetics. There are some nice 120mm fan brackets that take up exactly 3 5.25" drive bays on ebay. 

[Slayerking92]

I had used one of these 4 2.5 bays for a long time when i had more SSD's.  My case only had a few drive bays at the time.

 

[Anomnomnomaly]

I have BDroms in both my gaming rig and my mediaserver, their main use is writing CD's for the car as my bluetooth system in the car is phone only... no audio and I won't be replacing my car for a couple more years at least.  Worse still... the headunit doesn't even do MP3, and because it's an integrated unit with satnav and ac controls... kinda impossible to change.

 

I could get a grom or xcarlink system (I've used grom before and they're ok but very flawed) but that's an extra expense of around £130... and the cheap ones that plug intot he CD changer ports aren't compatible with the satnav version, only the radio/cd head units.

 

 

I also have 3.5"  mem card reader that's used quite a lot as I transfer all my photo's from SD cards to the PC... that's using a 5 1/4 to 3.5 adapter face plate.

[mr moose]

I have external ODD for when I need one,  now the only use I would have for a 5.25"" bay would be for a hotswap HDD if I ever decide to use one. 

[The King of the Undead]

I would use it for anything it could have. I also work with things old enough to need a cd.

[Tristerin]

I love 5.25" bays, because the options are there for some neat additions, and you can just cut away the metal if you don't want it.  Or buy a case with none to begin with lol.

 

I prefer the drive bays, but - BUT - as things shrink in size Ive used them less and less.  My 2 bay SSD holder with fan...barren because M.2 and put my SSD behind the motherboard tray.  Currently debating purchasing a two slot water cooling reservoir for my loop instead so I can see the fluid on the outside of the case.  Or I can put an 80mm radiator in there which I may do as well for funzies.

 

EDIT - in my spare parts pile I have far to many old DVD RW drives etc (I cant seem to throw anything away lol) and in my media center/server I have a BD RW drive and a DVD RW drive only because they would fit, and it got them out of the parts pile and into a bay that MIGHT be used one day (spoiler, have only used the Blue Ray player once, would rather stream lol)