What is wrong with case designers?

natan-

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Mar 2, 2008
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After shopping around for cases for the last week I didn't find one that did what I need exactly and I don't know what.
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.

My perfect case would be a PC-X1000 front with 1x 5.25 and all the grill holes for 3x high 120mm or 140mm fans. Then give it the inside from a PC-A70 and extend the HD rack out to be 15 tall or something. I mean seriously, at least then you can stick a bunch of hard drives inside when are you going to have more than 1 5.25 drive?
 
For the 5.25 and 3.25 bays, some people like to put reservoirs, fan controllers, and other gizmos and gadgets there. They aren't JUST for cd/dvd drives and floppys.
 
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.

A bit presumptious, isn't it? Plenty of cases offer ports on the front center or bottom. If you don't like it on the top, find a different case that fits your needs. There are tons of them out there.
 
I think there should be more cases with less of some of those things (no more than 3 5.25 bays), but some people do have multiple drives plus card readers plus fan controllers plus other things that can also go into 5.25 bays.

I really want more choices in terms of smaller ATX cases than the PC-A05N/NB. Otherwise, it's mATX or a minitower.
 
Lian Li has plenty of cases that fits the bill. It just depends on if you're willing to pay the premium for it.

You're asking to pay the same price for a case with less function and features. Think about that.
Cases are not going to get cheaper because it only has 1 5.25 bay.
 
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*shrugs* There are a lot of cases out there, you should be able to find on that fits your needs. I'm looking forward to cases that include 2.5" drive bays for SSDs. Some new ones out are coming with them, it's nice.
 
Show me an ATX case from lian li with 1 5.25 drive and no 3.25 externals...The PC-X1000 comes close but doesn't have enough 3.25 internals and to many externals not to mention the cooling is bad in that configuration...
 
After shopping around for cases for the last week I didn't find one that did what I need exactly and I don't know what.
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.
1) Some people have 2 optical drives; there are a heap of times I wished I had two as well. In any case, they can be spaces to fit extra fans, or weird gizmos for case mods.
2) A decade...wtf? Granted, I don't have a floppy drive, but I do have a USB floppy, and I do use that. Not very often, but it does get used.
3) Well a lot of people also keep their cases under their desks. I would never buy a case with the ports/buttons near the bottom, it's just uncomfortable. Seeing as there are so many different cases out there, I would not have thought it difficult to find a case which you like and which has the ports/buttons on the bottom.
 
After shopping around for cases for the last week I didn't find one that did what I need exactly and I don't know what.
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.

My perfect case would be a PC-X1000 front with 1x 5.25 and all the grill holes for 3x high 120mm or 140mm fans. Then give it the inside from a PC-A70 and extend the HD rack out to be 15 tall or something. I mean seriously, at least then you can stick a bunch of hard drives inside when are you going to have more than 1 5.25 drive?

1. Plenty of things go in 5.25 bays. Others have already mentioned plenty, but I'll add things like front panel audio connectors and storage trays.
2. 3.25 can also fit fan controllers, card readers, additional usb/esata/firewire port panels, among other things.
3. Plenty of cases also offer it on the front panel, either near the top or bottom.

And honestly, I don't see why you're complaining about additional bays to begin with. What exactly would it affect other than a little aesthetics?
 
I still use a floppy drive...it's incredible reliable for flashing or running dos. I also use more than one DVD drive. It's convenient when burning something, installing something with multiple cds, or dragging and dropping from one dvd to the next. Don't be so selfish. Your idea of a case fits 1% of the population.
 
You're asking to pay the same price for a case with less function and features. Think about that.
Cases are not going to get cheaper because it only has 1 5.25 bay.

I agree with this comment,

1 x 5.25" is just silly. I even see some chassis with 3 x 5.25" bays and no 3.5" external bays and that is too deficient in expandability. With 5.25" bays you can get 4-in-3 HDD converters, LCD panels, fan controllers, power supplies, card readers.

And 3.5" bays are still useful for the ZIP 250 disk drives or even LS-120s if you remember them. Remember that most Intel RAID drivers are available only on 3.5" disks in motherboard bundles.
 
After shopping around for cases for the last week I didn't find one that did what I need exactly and I don't know what.
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.

My perfect case would be a PC-X1000 front with 1x 5.25 and all the grill holes for 3x high 120mm or 140mm fans. Then give it the inside from a PC-A70 and extend the HD rack out to be 15 tall or something. I mean seriously, at least then you can stick a bunch of hard drives inside when are you going to have more than 1 5.25 drive?

I know a lot of others have commented, but anyway...

1) Well..I have two optical drives and a hot swap SATA drive bay, so I'm using 3 total 5.25 bays.
2) A lot of external card readers are 3.5" slots. And one can use it as a hard drive bay in a pinch, so why not have it also be able to use it as an external 3.5" drive bay?
3) I do prefer the power buttons and so forth to be on the front, not near or at the top myself. And yes I keep my case on my desk also. But my case isn't so tall that having the power button at the top is a huge issue either. It's very easy to find. As for the USB ports and other ports in the front/top, after having my current case for a couple days I could find the ports on instinct without having to stand up to look at the case. So for me I can see your last complaint, but it's not a huge issue IMO.
 
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I'm looking forward to cases that include 2.5" drive bays for SSDs. Some new ones out are coming with them, it's nice.
There isn't really any reason for dedicated 2.5" bays unless they're just in some small corner or empty spot.
They simply aren't as versatile because it will be still lot of years before SSDs can challenge HDDs in storage capacity and you can use adapter for installing two 2.5" drives into one 3.5" bay.

3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.
You can replace those with module in 5.25" bay:
http://lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=234&cl_index=2&sc_index=6&ss_index=121
But agree especially about that power/reset button part. Buttons on top next to ports could be pressed accidentally if you tried to put something into USB-port. (top front would be best compromise for ports)

I also use more than one DVD drive. It's convenient when burning something, installing something with multiple cds, or dragging and dropping from one dvd to the next.
Also two drives is good thing because if you have drive which makes good quality burns you don't have to replace it for example for getting Blu-ray drive.
 
One, I haven't used less than two burners in years. I'm always moving a burner from my last rig to my next one. Makes copying CDs/DVDs so much easier.

Two, that's why you mod a case! To make it fit your needs--that's half the fun of building a computer! :D
 
How many computers leave dell/ibm/compaq/hp/ect with more than 1 cd/dvd/blueray drive every year installed in a 5.25 drive bay? 1%? maybe 2%? With a multi terabyte raid why wouldn't I copy an image of whatever disk to my computer before making a copy anyway. If I am going to use a 5 to 3 drive converter anyway why not just get rid of the extra 5.25s and stack up some more 3.25s inside makes handling them easier. I think fan controllers are cheesy. How often are you changing the speed of your fans anyway? Why not just put in fixed resistors if you want to run your fans slower than stock. Same thing with front bay power/reset buttons. Why don't they just put the button in the front in the first place. I guess I must be crazy here but that is my opinion I guess i'm just not [H]ard. :eek:
 
How many computers leave dell/ibm/compaq/hp/ect with more than 1 cd/dvd/blueray drive every year installed in a 5.25 drive bay? 1%? maybe 2%? With a multi terabyte raid why wouldn't I copy an image of whatever disk to my computer before making a copy anyway. If I am going to use a 5 to 3 drive converter anyway why not just get rid of the extra 5.25s and stack up some more 3.25s inside makes handling them easier. I think fan controllers are cheesy. How often are you changing the speed of your fans anyway? Why not just put in fixed resistors if you want to run your fans slower than stock. Same thing with front bay power/reset buttons. Why don't they just put the button in the front in the first place. I guess I must be crazy here but that is my opinion I guess i'm just not [H]ard. :eek:

Sounds like you think everyone else shares your tastes and needs. Unfortunately, that is as far from the truth as you can get.
 
More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?

And I sit here annoyed that I only have 6 5.25 bays instead of 7. This prevents me from installing an second 5 x (3.5) in 3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1&cm_re=sata_backplane-_-17-332-011-_-Product

However I guess it would have been a big improvement to have 10 or so 3.5 SATA hotswap bays built directly into the case instead of me having to shell out $75 for a 5in3.

I'm looking forward to cases that include 2.5" drive bays for SSDs
I have my X25-m floating freely in the bottom of my case. Maybe at some time I will spend 20 minutes make a bracket for that...
 
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How many computers leave dell/ibm/compaq/hp/ect with more than 1 cd/dvd/blueray drive every year installed in a 5.25 drive bay? 1%? maybe 2%? With a multi terabyte raid why wouldn't I copy an image of whatever disk to my computer before making a copy anyway. If I am going to use a 5 to 3 drive converter anyway why not just get rid of the extra 5.25s and stack up some more 3.25s inside makes handling them easier. I think fan controllers are cheesy. How often are you changing the speed of your fans anyway? Why not just put in fixed resistors if you want to run your fans slower than stock. Same thing with front bay power/reset buttons. Why don't they just put the button in the front in the first place. I guess I must be crazy here but that is my opinion I guess i'm just not [H]ard. :eek:

Okay, I'll ask you this:

1) Where do you get this so called 1% or 2% figure? Just sounds like a figure you pulled out of your behind to be honest.

2) Just because YOU don't see a need for more then one external 5.25" drive bay doesn't mean someone else doesn't. Even if I decided I only need one optical drive, I still have a 5.25" SATA hot swap dock that I like, I like being able to quickly hot swap a SATA drive between my main PC and my spare or the HTPC I built last month. Sure, I COULD go ahead and have an external bay connected via a eSATA or USB port, but if I have the 5.25" bay, why not use it?

3) Finally, why not have a case with a lot of options? With mine for instance, I have 5 5.25" external bays, the bottom one also has a bracket and smaller cut out so I can use it as a 3.5" instead. I also have 5 3.5" internal HD bays, and my case came with a bracket or two to use some of them as 2.5" or even 1.8" drives. If I wanted to convert all of my external bays to hard drive bays, I can do so cheaply, and nothing is stopping me from putting a hard drive in the bottom 5.25 bay if I wanted. If for some reason I want to fill every external bay instead with 5.25" drives or something else, I can. That doesn't even get into water cooling reservoirs that use one or more 5.25" external bays for instance. Need I continue?

See, having options with a case is a good thing. :p My case works fine for those that like filling external bays, and can work fine for those that only need to use one or two external bays at most too. I'd MUCH rather have that, then have a case that ONLY allows one or two 5.25 inch drives at most to be installed, thus limiting my options as to what I can put in the thing.

Anyway, the only point I see that you have at all is position of things like the power button, USB ports and so forth. Yes, on my case I'd prefer it if they were in the front, not the very front of the top of the case. But again, I can literally find the button in the dark, and the USB ports (the ports I use the most on my case) in the dark too. And I've had my case for maybe a bit over a month now. So for me, this is an issue, but not a huge one.
 
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I remember when people thought the Corsair 800D was a perfect case, then we soon realized that it wasn't. I wanted more intake fans and no hot-swap bays, others where fine with the hot-swap bays. That simple disagreement meant the case had flaws depend on "who is" buying the case.

There nothing wrong with the cases your looking at, it's your personal preference that makes you not like the current cases. I didn't like the 800D because it didn't have front intake fans, that doesn't mean it was poorly designed, it's just not for "everyone".
 
After shopping around for cases for the last week I didn't find one that did what I need exactly and I don't know what.
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.

My perfect case would be a PC-X1000 front with 1x 5.25 and all the grill holes for 3x high 120mm or 140mm fans. Then give it the inside from a PC-A70 and extend the HD rack out to be 15 tall or something. I mean seriously, at least then you can stick a bunch of hard drives inside when are you going to have more than 1 5.25 drive?

obviously you should buy a dell they make the cases you describe
 
You should consider a shuttle type pc case if you want a small case with 1 drive etc.
 
How many computers leave dell/ibm/compaq/hp/ect with more than 1 cd/dvd/blueray drive every year installed in a 5.25 drive bay? 1%? maybe 2%?

Most Dell consumers can live on weak processors with no oc, integrated video, and 1 gig of ram too; why the hell would they need a 2nd burner when a good number of those owners don't even know how to burn a disc in the first place? :mad: That's one of the dumbest assumptions I've ever heard.
 
I remember when people thought the Corsair 800D was a perfect case, then we soon realized that it wasn't. I wanted more intake fans and no hot-swap bays, others where fine with the hot-swap bays. That simple disagreement meant the case had flaws depend on "who is" buying the case.

There nothing wrong with the cases your looking at, it's your personal preference that makes you not like the current cases. I didn't like the 800D because it didn't have front intake fans, that doesn't mean it was poorly designed, it's just not for "everyone".

QFT: For me the 800D is slightly too large, when I got my Storm Sniper I needed a case under 22" tall, the Storm Sniper is just under, and can be made an inch shorter if you swap out the case feet with the shorter rubber pads also included with the case. For others, the very idea that a case is too large or tall is an absurd statement, they would have told me to use a different desk or put the case on the floor. For a really good example of a case that can be polarizing on if it's a good case or not, go look up any forum posts, here or elsewhere on the Thermaltake 10. And so forth.

Having said that, again I see no issue with including 4 or 5 5.25" external bays, not when it's easy to convert said bays to other uses. It's easier for someone with little or no case modding experience or skills to convert them to accept 3.5" hard drive bays, then it is to add 5.25" bays if you do decide you need more then one or two. So again, having options IMO is good.
 
I do believe we have too many large cases that go overboard on 5.25" bays for no particular reason. Two I can see, three even, but these large cases with 6, 8, 10, 12 of them?! How many fan controllers does one need?!
 
I do believe we have too many large cases that go overboard on 5.25" bays for no particular reason. Two I can see, three even, but these large cases with 6, 8, 10, 12 of them?! How many fan controllers does one need?!

you can put backplanes
 
I do believe we have too many large cases that go overboard on 5.25" bays for no particular reason. Two I can see, three even, but these large cases with 6, 8, 10, 12 of them?! How many fan controllers does one need?!

Vertical radiators for mod free watercooling maybe?
 
Just do what I'm doing right now and build one from scratch.

Aluminum isn't expensive at all.
 
I do believe we have too many large cases that go overboard on 5.25" bays for no particular reason. Two I can see, three even, but these large cases with 6, 8, 10, 12 of them?! How many fan controllers does one need?!

A lot of cases like that often have as stock or an inexpensive option bays that convert some of the 5.25" bays into 3.5" hard drive bays. My friend's Thermaltake Armor does, it came with one or two free I think, I can't remember if he bought one of the two bays in his case or not, but I'm sure it came with at least one.

Or to put it another way, they don't expect most people to put in 10 5.25" optical drives or devices, half of the bays are really set up to be hard drive bays, but if someone for some reason really did WANT to use them as 5.25" external drives/devices, they still could, the bay in at least my friend's case comes out pretty easily.

So again, options are good. :)

Having said that, I do prefer mine, with it's 5 5.25" external bays (one can be used to hold a 3.5" external device or HD) and 5 hard drive internal bays. But his works well enough IMO.

To maybe (or maybe not) go off topic, since I mentioned the Themaltake 10 in another post here..well..it's on Newegg's site now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133089
 
After shopping around for cases for the last week I didn't find one that did what I need exactly and I don't know what.
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...
3. Power buttons\expansion ports on the top of the case. I keep my case on my desk, This is just bad ergonomics.

My perfect case would be a PC-X1000 front with 1x 5.25 and all the grill holes for 3x high 120mm or 140mm fans. Then give it the inside from a PC-A70 and extend the HD rack out to be 15 tall or something. I mean seriously, at least then you can stick a bunch of hard drives inside when are you going to have more than 1 5.25 drive?

1. I use more than 1 optical drive thank you very much
makes backup much easier and faster

2. you ever heard of internal card readers?
sigh....

3. there are actually people who put their tower below the desk
now power button on the bottom would be just "bad ergonomics"

we all need something different, just because you do something that way does not mean EVERYONE does it the same way

I think you are just being narrow minded ;)
 
3. there are actually people who put their tower below the desk
now power button on the bottom would be just "bad ergonomics"

Like me! And if you're too young to remember, there was a time where you needed to give your PC the reach around to turn them on. ;) :D
 
2. External 3.25 drive? What is this 1995? I haven't see a floppy in a decade...

For the 5.25 and 3.25 bays,

Show me an ATX case from lian li with 1 5.25 drive and no 3.25 externals...The PC-X1000 comes close but doesn't have enough 3.25 internals and to many externals not to mention the cooling is bad in that configuration...

2. 3.25 can also fit fan controllers, card readers, additional usb/esata/firewire port panels, among other things.

and stack up some more 3.25s inside makes handling them easier.

since when did 3.25" bays become a standard?!?! :confused:

that's 0.25" too small to fit a floppy :confused:

:D :p
 
Based on the design of the case I'm building in my worklog, here's a variation of that, to hold one 5.25-inch drive and twelve 3.5-inch drives:

NarrowTower1-640.jpg


:D
 
1. More than 1x 5.25 bay? How many people actually have more than 1 cd\dvd\blueray drive anyway?

Well, I do. I find it handy to have two drives. But I definitely agree that cases with four 5.25 bays is a little over-kill. But otherwise it's just wasted space, what else would you use it for? It's better than just a blank case front I guess
 
i would also like a case with 1 external 5.25 and 1 or 2 internal 3.5 drive bays.. it is hard to find a small case that still takes full size ATX and full length PCI.

Yes, i could get a jumbo extra large everything and kitchen sink case... but i want something small and efficient.

I understand everyone needs are different, but the market should meet all needs and not just those for loud server wind tunnels or shuttle boxes that don't take standard mobos.
 
Well, I do. I find it handy to have two drives. But I definitely agree that cases with four 5.25 bays is a little over-kill. But otherwise it's just wasted space, what else would you use it for? It's better than just a blank case front I guess

Hot swap SATA bay...fan controllers...some watercooling reservoirs take up one or two 5.25" external bays...some high end sound cards have a panel that fits in that bay...erm...there's a lot of devices that can fit in one.
 
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