How many external 5.25" and 3.5" bays do you really need?

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Elledan

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2010
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As anyone who, having stopped drooling at its marvelous shape and design, has taken a good look at the G5, may have noticed that the G5 only has one 5.25" bay. 3.5" bays are limited to two internal ones.

Then we take a look at the 'PC'-world, and discover that the average case has about 3 5.25" and 2 3.5" (external) bays. However, are those bays actually used?

Most systems have one FDD and a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or similar. This means that only one 5.25" and one 3.5" bay are filled.

True, there are a lot of gizmos which can fit in unused bays, but these do not necessarily have to be confined to those bays. There have to be more creative ways of mounting them.

In my own systems I seldom use more than two bays. Only in some systems do I have a ZIP-drive, which takes up an additional 3.5" bay. I simply do not have any need for more 5.25" bays, which is why the new case I'm currently designing will only have one 5.25" bay, but two 3.5" bays. The latter type seems to be more useful.

So, how many bays do you currently use, and could you do with fewer bays? If you've ever designed (or heavily modified) a case, what were your considerations when it came to determining the number of external bays?
 
hell, i dont even install floppy drives in my systems any more
if i need to use one to install drivers or something like that, i just crack it open and temporarily hook one up
 
I like maxi type cases which take all the 5" bays away from the mobo and has enough dead space above it to be able to get lower temps. Yeah, I have to install much longer cables, but it's worth it. I'll take a servere case any day.

I usually like at least four 5" bays because I use caddies, 2 for drives, a dvd burner and a cd burner. Throw in another bay for an amp and another for a patch panel and 6 is the number I choose to go with.

So, why caddies? So I can swap in WXPP or W2KP or Linux or W98SE (gasp!). Why two? To do imaging. One image gets all the test crap. If it doesn't work right it doesn't get installed in my "production" drive. So things like SP2 don't get installed blindly.

With Shuttle mini systems I'd have to go with external USB hard drives and burners.
 
My Ideal case only needs 1 x 5.25" external but 2 x 3.5" internal and 3 x 3.5" external (with hot-swap sleds). The reason I need that configuration is that I use a mix IDE/SCSI with the 2 internal drives being IDE (2 x 250GB) and the 3 external drives being 72GB 10k SCSI.

Granted, not everyone would want to go that way, but thats all that I need.
 
All I use now and think that I will ever need is 2 5.25" and 1 3.5" external bays. Then as many 3.5" internal bays as could be managed...
 
As many as possible.

I have 4 200gb ide drives right now and 3 more just sitting waiting for my new case. I have a cdrw, a dvdrw, and my audigy 2 front panel. I want to put in some fan busses as well.

I never have enough 3.5 bays. I have the two external ones I use for legacy applications (floppy and zip). youd be suprised how often I get requests from people to do work and it needs to be put on floppy or zip.

I keep a seperate cdrw and dvdrw as the cdrw burns a hell of a lot faster and I can burn 2cds at once (I do it all the time).
 
Scar1.8T said:
All I use now and think that I will ever need is 2 5.25" and 1 3.5" external bays. Then as many 3.5" internal bays as could be managed...
Click to expand...

amen to that. case makers seem to be skimping on those lately. Excepting with lianli who just has weird orientations...
 
wallijonn said:
I like maxi type cases which take all the 5" bays away from the mobo and has enough dead space above it to be able to get lower temps. Yeah, I have to install much longer cables, but it's worth it. I'll take a servere case any day.
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Well, there are server cases and server cases. What you're talking about are 'big tower' cases. 'Real' server cases will have twice the width of a standard (tower) case and will allow for lots of 5.25"/3.5" bays in the front.

I usually like at least four 5" bays because I use caddies, 2 for drives, a dvd burner and a cd burner. Throw in another bay for an amp and another for a patch panel and 6 is the number I choose to go with.
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You could use an external (eSATA/SCSI) case for a couple of 5.25" devices. You could then place the system below the desk or something, leaving the now external drives easily accessible when placed on the desk or something.

With Shuttle mini systems I'd have to go with external USB hard drives and burners.
Click to expand...
Or Firewire, or eSATA, or SCSI... :)
 
Scar1.8T said:
All I use now and think that I will ever need is 2 5.25" and 1 3.5" external bays. Then as many 3.5" internal bays as could be managed...
Click to expand...
Few things annoy me as much as a case which has only two internal 3.5" bays. That's why the case I'm designing will have space for at least 15 HDDs ;)
 
3.5" or 2.5"?

I have a project in the works which will have 4 hot-swap 2.5" bays, which will accomodate those new enterprise-level 2.5" drives like the 10,000 RPM Seagate Savvio.

2.5" might become the new standard; a lot of interest has been directed at this size, not only in mobile markets but in enterprise systems. The advantages are obvious--lower power consumption, lower access times, greater reliability, much higher storage density, etc.
 
I personally use all my 5.25 bays and 3.5 bays in my Antec clone case. top is fanbay, next is temp monitor, and the bottom 2 are DVD-RW and DVD-ROM. the 3.5s are a floppy and a some front USB ports. I hate to see that space go to waste. But yeah, I must agree... the 4 interal 3.5s just aren't cutting it anymore... I ahve 3 of them filled, and am looking for another 200gb to stick into it. I have a really nice acrylic case lying around though....
 
xonik said:
3.5" or 2.5"?

I have a project in the works which will have 4 hot-swap 2.5" bays, which will accomodate those new enterprise-level 2.5" drives like the 10,000 RPM Seagate Savvio.

2.5" might become the new standard; a lot of interest has been directed at this size, not only in mobile markets but in enterprise systems. The advantages are obvious--lower power consumption, lower access times, greater reliability, much higher storage density, etc.
Click to expand...
3.5" bays can be converted into 2.5" ones, but not the other way around, so it seems like the best strategy to keep internal (HDD) bays 3.5" and later use adapters (i.e., a piece of wood/aluminium =) ) to 'upgrade' them to 2.5".
 
Homer : Bays "hmmmm" Bays
The purpose of a case is to holde the mobo and drives, I think there should be more bays or both sizes, but preferably 3.5, with out resorting to expensive server cases.
 
Well the stacker for instance has 11 bays... as this thread my point out, it is kind of a waste.

However it depends on what kind of user is using the machine. Isn't that basically what it all comes down to? If you only need a few bays, you probably wouldn't buy a stacker (for instance) you'd buy something that would not exceed (at least by too much) the amount of space you need (ideally).

So some users might use a whole slew of either 5 1/4" bays or 3 1/2" bays for various things. For instance, what if someone had a DVD-RAM drive, a CD/DVD/CDburner combo drive, and decided that they wanted HD cooling on all four of their harddrives? (2 in raid 0 and then 2 for storage). That sort of setup isn't necessarily unheard of, and it would require at least 4 5 1/4" which most mid towers can afford.

Most users including even people on this board probably average at 1 1/2" optical drives and probably around 2 harddrives. Then the rest is occupied by controllers, or SB livedrive, front mounted ports, or any of those various sorts of things which are all valid uses for the space.

How much is necessary? Well that is a question that is easily answerable... I suppose it should be more like, how much do you want? For most people I think the Lian-Li PC65, the Coolermaster Praetorean(sp sorry), Addtronics 6890a, Antec Sonata/lanboy etc is probably enough for the greatest majority of users, even if they never expand to the full extent of the case.

When you ask this question, did you think about how many PCI slots you need? I currently use zero, why haven't we all moved to mini ATx or baby? Sometimes just having the extra size is more reassuring, or knowing that if you had to, you could. Always having more simply makes things more convenient.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
However it depends on what kind of user is using the machine. Isn't that basically what it all comes down to?
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Pretty much, yes.

The G5, which I used as an initial example, is not aimed at people who wish to regulate the speed of every fan inside the system, monitor temperatures, hot-swap drives or any other such craziness. They just want one DVD(-/+RW) drive to read (and write) all of those shiny round disks, a system which does not sound like a jet-powered airplane readying for take-off without some serious sound-management modifications, a system which allows them to do what they want, when they want it, and look good in the office, living room or wherever it's placed. In other words, something that is easy to use, requires no maintenance or monitoring and looks attractive in the process.

According to Apple's reasoning, if you need anything more than this, then you're a candidate for an Xserve (G5/RAID).
 
OT: Xserve (G5/RAID) with sata ide drives for that amount of money , sheesh, waste of money IMO.
You guys got a point on the average user, all they need is enough for optical and ONE disk drive.
Me on the other hand... ;)
 
I use two for optical drives, and I would like to have a 1 spare if I want a fan controller. So 3, maximum 4 I would like. I dont use my Floppy bay. My floppy drive is flipped around and put at the bottom, so you have to go inside to put a floppy in. But I hardly use it, so it is of no inconvenience.
 
If I didn't have my LCD Display, SCSI tape drive and removable HDD tray, I'd only need 2 5.25" bays (one for dvd-rom, one for the burner) and 1 3.5" bay (for my floppy/smartcard reader).

I feel for the people with only one optical device when the thing dies on them due to overusage. Two optical drives is a more desired setup if you do any normal amount of burning or copying of anything.
 
Blackdog said:
I feel for the people with only one optical device when the thing dies on them due to overusage. Two optical drives is a more desired setup if you do any normal amount of burning or copying of anything.
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What are you doing to your optical drives that they keep dying on you?
 
Elledan said:
...They just want one DVD(-/+RW) drive to read (and write) all of those shiny round disks, a system which does not sound like a jet-powered airplane readying for take-off without some serious sound-management modifications... (G5/RAID).
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The G5 has some serious sound-management modifications, it's just done inside tho. ;) I still haven't seen a PC case with the smart compartmentalized design of the G5, you'd think it'd be getting copied all over seeing as it's a fairly simple mechanical design...

The first few BTX cases I've seen and the pseudo-BTX ones that take ATX mobos have all had pretty weird configs that don't really improve on the standard ATX design at all, meanwhile we keep on channeling air in a double L type path within our systems...

On the topic, I need 'least 3 bays... Having two optical drives is just convenient imo and I've had two for years (maybe it just appeals to my lazy side, who knows). Having another bay for a Livedrive or LCD is also a thing of convenience (I rarely use my LCD to monitor temps or any such thing even, but I like knowing if I've got mail without turning my CRT on :p ).

The Livedrive and LCD could be mounted elsewhere but since they're not standard by any means not every case will have room for 'em elsewhere. I also use an internal (3.5 bay) media card reader 'cuz I got tired of having external ones dancing around my desk and forgetting it when I move the comp, again, all about convenience.
 
Oh and DVD-RWs and CD-RWs do tend to burn out easily if you do massive burning, 'specially cheaper branded ones. The vast majority of people don't get anywhere near the amount of burning you have to do to make these things fail but some do, quality drives with more solid metal gears tend to last longer...

A friend's father does so much burning for his business he buys nothing but Plextor now (still kills them eventually, but what they cost is worth it in the long run) after having developed a nice cementery of dead drives.
 
My main rig uses four 5 1/2" bays and one 3 1/2". Most machines that I build need two 5 1/2" and one 3 1/2". I still put a floppy in everything.

Impulse said:
Oh and DVD-RWs and CD-RWs do tend to burn out easily if you do massive burning, 'specially cheaper branded ones. The vast majority of people don't get anywhere near the amount of burning you have to do to make these things fail but some do, quality drives with more solid metal gears tend to last longer...
Click to expand...
I deviated, and bought a Lite-on once, but choosing Plextor is money well spent. I don't even consider the others anymore.
 
I use 2 of my 5 1/4" bays in my PC65 the other two have excess cabling tucked away inside. None of my 3.5" Bays are taken (waiting on a VGA LCD mod.) and I got two hard drives, and I'm looking for two more. If I ever switch to Water cooling I'm gonna use the External 3.5" cage for the Hard Drives and remove the internal cage (as others have done in the past). Just because YOU can't see a use for extra bays doesn't mean the rest of use don't use them either.
 
Really it all depends on what you're going to use your computer for. Here's my setup

4 internal 3.5s filled with:
(2) 36GB Raptors in RAID 0 for video capture, swap file, temp files and caching from apps
(1) 40GB WD IDE for Windows XP and apps
(1) 30GB split for Red Hat Core 1 and MP3 storage

5.25s listed in order from top to bottom
(1) Sony DRU-500 DVDRW
(2) Left open for better airflow to:
(3) Kingwin Watercooler (Enermax makes the same thing, it's the CDROM pump/water resivor combo w/ an 80MM second radiator
(4) Custom made 12v and 5v switch panel using 1 IDE power connector

3.5s listed from top to bottom
(1) floppy drive (RAID drivers for XP, duh. Also it's useful for making bootable CDs ;) )
(2) Vantec fanbus controller

I'd like to have one more 5.25 bay for my drive tray. There is no real set right number, it's in what you need or will use. Although I must confess anything over 6 just seems like overkill to me.
 
I have a lian li pc65 and i need more room to put in better cooling and more hdd..its my main server and lets see I have:

DVDRW
CDRW
36GB Raptor
250GB SATA x2
250GB IDE x2
200GB SATA

I wish i had more space coz I could really use the space as my video and digital editing takes alot of space and being that its my main server the other media files also take alot of space..i wish i had more bays so i could space it out better and possibly add more space as I know I will need some in a short while ;)
 
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