5.25 bay fight

[penmaster33]

which one should I use the 5.25 drive bay for

[Lord Nicoll]

I completely removed mine, and more and more cases are forgoing them as they're a massive pain really.

[Snipergod87]

You need an option:

No 5.25" bay.  I gutted the supports behind it for a 360mm rad at one point.

[You_are_a_cunt]

need a fan controller? -> Yes -> Fan controller.

need a fan controller? -> No -v       ^

need an ODD? -> Yes -> ODD        |

need an ODD? -> No ------------------'

[You_are_a_cunt]

Then again there's always the option of an external ODD

[LogicalDrm]

Neither? Or maybe get hotswap bay?

[PianoPlayer88Key]

I'd use mine for hot swap bays, if they weren't so expensive.

 

If I could get a mid-tower case with 5.25" bays up/down the entire front (Like Antec 900, Azza 1000R, etc) and the relatively simple aesthetic design of like a Fractal Arc or Corsair 200R (no fancy lights, no or simple window, no fancy physical "gamer" design, etc), and fill it with 5-in-3 hot-swap bays for < $100-200 total, I probably would.  (But those hot-swap bays, at least ones I looked at, are like north of $100 each.)

[Guest]

Fan controllers are practical, and you could also look at a pcie/ internal one, and use the disk reader/writer too with the bay. 

[Syntaxvgm]

hot swap bay. 

or a drawer 

 

[Ithanul]

Depends on what one you are going to really use.

 

Myself, I keep enough bay room to smack anything I want into some of my cases.  Need to get around and get hotswaps for a later build.

[ARikozuM]

You need two more options, sir/madam. 

 

3) Hot-swap bay

4) None.

[You_are_a_cunt]

8 hours ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

I'd use mine for hot swap bays, if they weren't so expensive.

 

If I could get a mid-tower case with 5.25" bays up/down the entire front (Like Antec 900, Azza 1000R, etc) and the relatively simple aesthetic design of like a Fractal Arc or Corsair 200R (no fancy lights, no or simple window, no fancy physical "gamer" design, etc), and fill it with 5-in-3 hot-swap bays for < $100-200 total, I probably would.  (But those hot-swap bays, at least ones I looked at, are like north of $100 each.)

Actually, hotswap bays only get really expensive if you go for server grade ones or new ones in general.

A couple months ago (or was it just a month? Time is so freakin relative) I bought an Antec Sonata for $25-ish that came with an Icy Box 5.25" bay (1 3.5" and 1 2.5") included. The rack alone is about $50 new (still being sold), so it is possible to get cheap ones, specially if the seller has no idea what he or she is selling. That's how I got my enginerding sample Intel NAS for $50 with 2 500 gig drives

[PianoPlayer88Key]

2 hours ago, revsilverspine said:

Actually, hotswap bays only get really expensive if you go for server grade ones or new ones in general.

A couple months ago (or was it just a month? Time is so freakin relative) I bought an Antec Sonata for $25-ish that came with an Icy Box 5.25" bay (1 3.5" and 1 2.5") included. The rack alone is about $50 new (still being sold), so it is possible to get cheap ones, specially if the seller has no idea what he or she is selling. That's how I got my enginerding sample Intel NAS for $50 with 2 500 gig drives

Ahh, interesting.  I do remember several months ago, or last year or so, seeing the Rosewill RSV-SATA-Cage-34 for like $39.99 on Newegg and Amazon, but now it's $54.99 and hasn't been down to the lower price in several months or so.

 

The ones I've seen, of the 5x 3.5" in 3x 5.25" bay variety, have been more along the lines of:

Spoiler

• AMS DS-3151SSBK - $99 on Amazon (3rd-party seller)
• Chenbro SK33502T2 - $152.05 on Newegg (3rd-party seller)
• Icy Dock MB155SP-B - $89.99 on Newegg
• Icy Dock MB455SPF-B - $97.59 on Amazon (3rd-party seller)
• Icy Dock MB975SP-B R1 - $139.99 on Newegg
• iStarUSA BPN-350V2-SS - $95.45 (+ 9.24 shipping) on Amazon (3rd-party seller)
• iStarUSA BPN-DE350SS - $105 on Newegg (3rd-party seller)
• iStarUSA BPU-350 - $117.61 on Newegg
• iStarUSA BPU-350SATA (is the above the same thing?) - $91.92 (+ 8.87 shipping) on Newegg
• Kingwin KM-5000 - $69.99 on Newegg (Only just noticed this tonight; on sale, reg 139.99)
• Kingwin MKS-535TL - $85.47 on Amazon
• Norco SS-500 - $89.99 on Newegg
• Silverstone RL-FS305B - $109.99 on Amazon (I think Linus used this in a video a while back)
• Supermicro CSE-M35T - $99.99 (+ 12.51 shipping) on Newegg

 

Pretty much all of them are priced several times higher than what I was hoping for.  I'm not currently looking for a case with lots of 5.25" bays, but if I was, some candidates might include ones like the Azza Solano 1000R (with 10x 5.25" bays), or older ones like Lian-Li PC-P50 or Cooler Master Centurion 590 (each with 9x 5.25" bays).   I just don't like the "gamer" asthetics, AND, if I got three 5-in-3 hot swap cages, that'd be like $300 or so

Another option might be like a Fractal Design Define R5, and put a hot swap backplane behind the HDD cages.  But then ... $$$, and how to do it  

I'd prefer to keep it under $80-100 for the case AND the cages,

Spoiler

(or $150-250 for combo of non-server-style case, cages, power supply, dual-socket mobo, GPU (if mobo doesn't have HDMI or DisplayPort), CPUs, enough RAM for deduplication on FreeNAS with 60+ TB worth of HDDs, and anything else I forgot other than the hard drives.  One HDD, if I don't splurge on the 12TB WD Gold or 10TB Seagate Ironwolf, but instead get like a 4TB or 8TB HGST NAS on Black Friday, should cost more than everything else combined.  And, ideally, the combined backup system + storage media should cost about 1/4 per TB or less, vs what 5400rpm HDDs are, and store several HDDs worth on a single tape or something like that.)    That's if I was building a NAS or similar, though.  (Or if I could deduplicate & checksum & other ZFS features on like a Socket 478 system with 512-1024MB RAM, and still support 3+TB HDDs on at least SATA 3.0 gbps, I might consider that.  I wonder if UnRaid supports integrity checks, deduplication, etc, on < 2 GB RAM...)  Also I'd need several PCI Express SATA/SAS controllers.  I've been seeing things online about 8-port LSI controllers, I wonder about those...

 

I did see a 5-in-3 cage for like $39.99 on moddiy, but it appears to be missing the SATA backplane, for example.  (And even if I could DIY some SATA power & data cables taped in there or something, idk how securely they'd be fastened, and would they support repeated hot swapping from the front of the bay...)

 

 

[You_are_a_cunt]

32 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

I did see a 5-in-3 cage for like $39.99 on moddiy, but it appears to be missing the SATA backplane, for example.  (And even if I could DIY some SATA power & data cables taped in there or something, idk how securely they'd be fastened, and would they support repeated hot swapping from the front of the bay...)

From the photos that's literally just a box with rails and isn't even designed for a backplane and it's not even a hotswap.

Look for cheapo servers with hotswap. You're in the US so you're bound to find awesome deals (which I am major jelly about) or even get lucky and dumpster dive for profit.

 

I'm on the same boat about the "gamer aesthetics" and I just ordered a CM HAF XB EVO (was a 2 horse race between that and the more expensive Corsair Air 540). The HAF won easily thanks to larger expandability (I can fit at least 4+2+1 drives in it and still have room for an ODD)

[SpaceGhostC2C]

14 minutes ago, revsilverspine said:

I'm on the same boat about the "gamer aesthetics" and I just ordered a CM HAF XB EVO (was a 2 horse race between that and the more expensive Corsair Air 540). The HAF won easily thanks to larger expandability (I can fit at least 4+2+1 drives in it and still have room for an ODD)

I have this same case  I find it surprising how many people suggests hot-swap bays in a poll that didn't even include it as an option... The HB has two, and I seldom benefit form it anyway  They have  their uses, but I certainly use them much less frequently than ODDs and other front panels, including fan controllers. i wouldn't give up the ODD nor the other front panels to have them. If anything, my only issue with the HB is that two 5.25" bays are not that many, it forces me to make some tough choices  What is everyone doing that requires hot-swapping? 

 

On 9/19/2017 at 1:29 AM, Lord Nicoll said:

more and more cases are forgoing them

Sad, but true 

[Donut417]

They dont make it any more. But back in the day, they had a cup holder 5.25 drive bay adapter. I think it was a smart idea myself. 

[penmaster33]

4 hours ago, Donut417 said:

They dont make it any more. But back in the day, they had a cup holder 5.25 drive bay adapter. I think it was a smart idea myself. 

that's honestly insane

[ARikozuM]

2 hours ago, penmaster33 said:

that's honestly insane

That's ingenuity right there. Having a dedicated spot for drinks where they're held in by gravity keeps electronics safer than at the edge of a desk.

[vanished]

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

That's ingenuity right there. Having a dedicated spot for drinks where they're held in by gravity keeps electronics safer than at the edge of a desk.

not if it opens a hole for them to fall into

plus it encourages storing liquids near electronics which is never a good idea regardless

[ARikozuM]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

not if it opens a hole for them to fall into

plus it encourages storing liquids near electronics which is never a good idea regardless

It was the 90's, nobody knew what they were doing, see wood everything. 

11 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

What is everyone doing that requires hot-swapping? 

I need them for work and transporting my 500GB Steam library between work and home. 

[Guest]

20 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

You need two more options, sir/madam. 

 

3) Hot-swap bay

4) None.

What about a Rasberry Pi Dock? (They exist)

[vanished]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

It was the 90's, nobody knew what they were doing, see wood everything. 

And denim, and random patchwork of neon colours

[ARikozuM]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

And denim, and random patchwork of neon colours

My original PC case, found at the recycling center, had oak veneer except on the front panel.... 

 

Also, I can't remember if it was the 80's or 90's, but vinyl... suits, furniture, curtains!, and did I mention suits? I can remember the distinctive squeaking. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

10 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

My original PC case, found at the recycling center, had oak veneer except on the front panel.... 

 

Also, I can't remember if it was the 80's or 90's, but vinyl... suits, furniture, curtains!, and did I mention suits? I can remember the distinctive squeaking. 

For some reason that makes me think of Strange Days. When 1999 was the (near) future  

[XenosTech]

could use one of these in there