The times, they are a' changin' (apparently)

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mudboy

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  • #1
    Building a new PC for my wife the first in 6 or so years. My wife isn't fond of change so there is an optical drive requirement that exists "just in case".

    Drive to MicroCenter to pick up their $349 Gigabyte Z690 motherboard/i7-12700K/16GB DDR4 RAM bundle. Look for a new case for her because I'd like to put her current case to use elsewhere...there were TWO cases with optical drive bays. The rest had none, just fans up front. I guess her old Corsair stays in the game.

    No other point other than kind of surprised that optical drives have died so quickly on PC's.
     
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    whoisit

    whoisit

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  • #3
    Yeah. I used to need an optical drive occasionally. I kept the one from my last case and put it in a USB enclosure. I've used it, maybe,...twice. USB flash drives w/boot support, and broadband software downloading killed optical discs quick.

    Plus is, the extra fan/radiator space helps cooling a lot. Or it lets you build really tiny SFF systems.
     
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    continuum

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  • #4
    Get an external per @sakete ++;

    And yeah, the times, they aren't a'-changin', they started changing probably over a decade ago. Heck the Fractal Design Define R5-- which does still have a 5.25" bay, but was definitely of the era when they were rapidly beginning to go away-- is now ~8 years old. :eek: (yes it hurts my brain to think about that...)

    @mudboy go to Newegg and search for cases, even there it's slim pickings, and gets even slimmer if you rule out all the 8+ year old designs still on sale as well as the ginormous E-ATX/SSI-CEB capable full towers that are 50% bigger (or more!) volume-wise than you need.
     
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    hestermofet

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  • #8
    whoisit said:
    Yeah. I used to need an optical drive occasionally. I kept the one from my last case and put it in a USB enclosure. I've used it, maybe,...twice. USB flash drives w/boot support, and broadband software downloading killed optical discs quick.

    Plus is, the extra fan/radiator space helps cooling a lot. Or it lets you build really tiny SFF systems.
    Click to expand...
    I actually use optical a lot since I deal with vintage computers a lot. But even then, an internal drive doesn't make much sense these days when external drives are so flexible. I have a Pioneer BD-RW drive that can rip UHD discs. This external drive is the cheapest option that MakeMKV can use that doesn't require any flashing in order to be able to read UHD discs. Internal drives with similar non-flashing ease of use exist, but they are considerably more expensive. Or you can go with a different drive, flash it yourself, but even then, the cost for the internals is similar than my external no-flashing-required drive, so what would be the point?

    I have a few USB DVD drives as well, and if they are external, it's so easy to just plug in extras if I want to burn multiple copies of an image at once. Or even multiple different discs simultaneously for stuff like software that comes on multiple discs (usually CD distributions of OSs that normally came on DVD). You don't have that flexibility with internals.

    And finally, as you mentioned, you can always put an internal drive into an enclosure. That's what I did when the enclosure for my first BD-RW drive died: I put it in a new enclosure. The drive itself also died shortly thereafter, but still. This is sadly not really an option with 5.25" drives since enclosures for those are becoming rare. Just slim drives.
     
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    Velvet G

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  • #10
    Look at CoolerMaster. Like you, I wanted an internal drive because I do use my Bluray/DVDRW a LOT and don't want extra crap on my desk or sitting on top of my PC. CM had multiple models and sizes that still have an optical bay and they aren't expensive as far as cases go. I get why USB is attractive and I can't fault it for 99% of the users who rarely ever use optical media, but I still buy CDs and blurays to rip to plex, lot of older photo shoots still have physical backups to go with the hard drive backups. I just want a clean tower and a clean desk, This works. Eventually that may have to change but there is no point in replacing an optical drive that works well.
     
    Xenocrates

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  • #11
    I can't imagine going to a chassis without 5.25 bays personally. But then, I've only recently stopping running an E-ATX board and gone from having an HBA in my desktop to using less SATA devices and more stuff on the NAS (and larger drives).

    But having a 5.25 for hotswap bays is so handy, and I don't want the built in ones, since I use the same cages on my workstation as on a lot of my other hardware so that I can trivially re-image the various dedicated appliances.

    Thus why I'm still rocking an old NZXT Phantom 630 bought in 2014, and to be honest, I doubt I'll be moving to a different chassis for quite some time.
     
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  • #12
    Yar I'm thinking a Define 7 XL or Enthoo Pro or maaaaybe a Pop Air XL next. Sadly the Pop Air series 5.25" bay is not finished looking at all if you actually have to remove the cover to use the drives (or let the drives get fresh air).

    For everything else, well, I am very happy with my Meshify 2 or one of many other choices on the market.
     
    MadMac_5

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  • #15
    mudboy said:
    Ended up buying this case by BeQuiet!:
    View: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9ONQSK
    on sale and it has two optical drive bays.
    Click to expand...

    Uggggh, I wish I had known about that case a few years ago back when I bought my Meshify C. It's a great case, but having an optical drive and no side window would suit me SO much better. As would having a power/reset button that's not on the top, since my cat is an asshole.
     
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  • #17
    MadMac_5 said:
    Uggggh, I wish I had known about that case a few years ago back when I bought my Meshify C. It's a great case, but having an optical drive and no side window would suit me SO much better. As would having a power/reset button that's not on the top, since my cat is an asshole.
    Click to expand...
    well, the power/reset buttons aren't not on the top.

    Got the old system guts moved over from my ancient Chenbro SR209. The PC is my work room computer, mostly used with my 3D printers and my side hustle. It's a reasonably well thought out case. I don't like their 3.5" hard drive mounting, but I don't have any in that PC so the point is a bit moot - I just removed the drive holders. The behind the motherboard cable management is pretty good. Panels have acoustic dampening and there's a fan speed control switch up there with power & reset. Not sure exactly how well ventilated the front of the case is, but I popped the top cover up one notch to bring in some air.
     
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    Ulf

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  • #18
    mudboy said:
    Got the old system guts moved over from my ancient Chenbro SR209. The PC is my work room computer, mostly used with my 3D printers and my side hustle. It's a reasonably well thought out case. I don't like their 3.5" hard drive mounting, but I don't have any in that PC so the point is a bit moot - I just removed the drive holders. The behind the motherboard cable management is pretty good. Panels have acoustic dampening and there's a fan speed control switch up there with power & reset. Not sure exactly how well ventilated the front of the case is, but I popped the top cover up one notch to bring in some air.
    Click to expand...
    My Define S2 is functionally the same design (Minus the 5 1/4 drive bays). Ventilation is not a prirority with a case like this, unfortunately. You're probably fine now (and I was) but as components get hotter you'll probably start wanting a bit more airflow. The only cases left with solid front panels are dual chamber designs where the power supply is behind the motherboard and air flows in from the bottom of the case.
     
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  • #19
    Yar, unfortunately due to the era a lot of the last remaining cases with 5.25" drive bays were designed, the whole "silent" version with a solid front panel (often with some small side vents on the edges of the front panel) was pretty common.

    IIRC for a vented front panel (not necessarily good performing, just a vented front panel) the Fractal Design Focus G/Focus G Mini, Phanteks Enthoo Pro, only a handful of others...
     
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  • #21
    mudboy said:
    Building a new PC for my wife the first in 6 or so years. My wife isn't fond of change so there is an optical drive requirement that exists "just in case".

    Drive to MicroCenter to pick up their $349 Gigabyte Z690 motherboard/i7-12700K/16GB DDR4 RAM bundle. Look for a new case for her because I'd like to put her current case to use elsewhere...there were TWO cases with optical drive bays. The rest had none, just fans up front. I guess her old Corsair stays in the game.

    No other point other than kind of surprised that optical drives have died so quickly on PC's.
    Click to expand...
    I haven't had an optical drive for maybe 10 years. Once games went digital distribution and movies started streaming, the format was pretty dead on computers.
     
    cogwheel

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  • #22
    mnpctech said:
    Using Optical drives in bays is making comeback with Retro builds. Otherwise I havent installed new optical drive in customer build since 2008.
    Click to expand...
    Given what you do, I'm imagining a Retro build using an authentically boring/ugly beige case, with floppy drives and optical drives having faceplates of slightly different beige shades, and all of it carefully hand-yellowed to mimic the effects of plastic aging from UV exposure and fire retardants.
     
    mnpctech

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  • #23
    cogwheel said:
    Given what you do, I'm imagining a Retro build using an authentically boring/ugly beige case, with floppy drives and optical drives having faceplates of slightly different beige shades, and all of it carefully hand-yellowed to mimic the effects of plastic aging from UV exposure and fire retardants.
    Click to expand...
    I recently had somebody ask if the nicotine stain was authentic on a Sleeper PC I listed on Marketplace :LOL: "Yes, it is" It's freeing to not have to do any special F/X to create an "aged-look"and just leave the exterior as is.
     
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  • #24
    mnpctech said:
    I recently had somebody ask if the nicotine stain was authentic on a Sleeper PC I listed on Marketplace :LOL: "Yes, it is" It's freeing to not have to do any special F/X to create an "aged-look"and just leave the exterior as is.
    Click to expand...
    D:

    I've had to work on machines of smokers before. That layer of sticky brown dust that coats everything is disgusting, especially on a desktop that has fans to actively draw it in.
     
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    mudboy

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  • #25
    mudboy said:
    Ended up buying this case by BeQuiet!:
    View: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9ONQSK
    on sale and it has two optical drive bays.
    Click to expand...

    After a month with the case, I like it, especially for the price. Only weirdness are the 3.5" hard drive cages which seem like a really odd design choice, but since I'm running an SSD, I just removed them all.
     
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  • #27
    cogwheel said:
    D:

    I've had to work on machines of smokers before. That layer of sticky brown dust that coats everything is disgusting, especially on a desktop that has fans to actively draw it in.
    Click to expand...
    I had a chance to make ~$200 back in the mid 90's to get a family's computer working again. All of them smoked and the Rig reeked badly. Turned it down and a friend cleaned it out for them. It worked after the cleaning, but he gotten sick doing it.
     
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