Quality case with 5.25 bay

I can't remember the last time I required the use of an optical drive. If I ever do again, I have an external drive that takes 30 seconds to plug in. Considering how butt ugly most cases look with optical bays, I'm glad they are being phased out. It's not worth spoiling the aesthetics and internal compatibility for a dying format. As nice as the Pro M is (one of the few where it looks ok with 5.25" bays), compare it to the Evolv X or the 719 and there's no contest.
 
ChugNorris said:
Considering how butt ugly most cases look with optical bays, I'm glad they are being phased out. It's not worth spoiling the aesthetics and internal compatibility for a dying format.
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The annoyance is that the reason most of the ugly cases are ugly is because they are either older, cheap (or just plain ugly), rather than because they have a 5.25 bay.

I'm positive it would be possible to design an aesthetically pleasing case with provision for an optional optical drive without compromising form or function.
Christ, if they can squeeze them into a laptop and mITX chassis they can fit them in a mid tower!

Most modern cases have some form of sleek slab faced front, which I would think would be super easy to conceal a drive bay behind.
E.g. look at the the fortress FT05 - you can't even see the slot loader. Or the heavily styled InWin 904. - I still wouldn't choose those cases for other reasons, but it shows what could be done to "stealth" an ODD asnd still make a statement, if there was the will to do so.


It strikes me it is like the removal of the 3.5 jack from 'phones. Something that benefits the manufacturer more than the consumer, but marketed in such a way to make you feel you are a luddite for not getting with the times.
I know I can (and probably should) just buy an external USB, but it is still ****** infuriating to not have the option nonetheless.

The fact that Phanteks released the Pro M SE must surely prove there is sufficient numbers of cantankerous old farts buying them (presumably only because of the 5.25 bay, because why else?) that there is still a market there.
 
I think the Pro M SE happened more because they wanted to push the Halos Fan frames than anything else. Their last 5 case releases (P600S, Shift Air, P360X, P400A and Enthoo 719) are all without optical drive support. The tooling cost for a front panel is much less without having to incorporate a 5.25" bay, which also impacts radiator support. With the advent of cheap external optical drives, I doubt we will see a change in the trend.
 
I'm in an even more specific requirement for a case - I wouldn't mind having a 5.25 drive bay as well in a mid tower, high air flow case without a tempered glass panel, though I don't mind an acrylic window. Haven't used a disc in months/years but I still like the idea of having one, my current case is from 2007 so obviously still has one.

This might seem overly cautious but I don't ever want glass or water anywhere near a PC of mine. I can't even consider any of the tempered glass cases which leaves me with barely any choice, namely this:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...w-mid-tower-case-cc-9011049-ww-ca-173-cs.html


I know I'm limiting myself by refusing tempered glass, but I actively dislike it as a construction material, I've seen a ton of "I woke up this morning to find this" posts that show a shattered glass panel or even the whole glass desk with trashed PC and monitor as a result. Or enough pictures of a dripping AIO or custom loop to ever use water either.
 
I actually love the look of that Phanteks, but it's plastic casing whereas the Corsair is steel and aluminium, I know it's being picky and I should have mentioned that in the first place, but that's another requirement for me as I'm coming from an aluminium and steel case.

That Phanteks looks really nice though, I wish they did an aluminium version, would look awesome in black or silver. It definitely looks better than the Corsair for sure.
 
Haha, yeah I agree, it doesn't leave me with too many options. I would love to see more tempered glass cases that also offer acrylic versions, but it seems tempered glass is here to stay; though not knocking anyone who likes it.
 
I'm looking for a decent case with at least one 5.25" bay for a Blu-Ray drive. The only one I really like the look of is the Corsair Graphite 780T and that's £200, which is a bit steep.

Current case is a Coolermaster CM690 III, which I really like, but I can't find anything like it (I'm passing my current PC onto my daughter when I've built a new one, so I'm not keeping the case unfortunately).
 
I don't think it will help much, but in the end I just bought the R6. It doesn't look as out-of-place in my desk as I'd imagined for its size, although I'm running a mATX board temporarily which does look a bit lost inside. Quality of the case though is very good indeed.
 
To update my post from earlier, I did get the Corsair Obsidian 450D in the end and it's an amazing case with insanely good airflow that the 5.25 bays actually help by channelling air slightly lower than it would from the front fans. Got a Blu Ray rewriteable in it that can burn 128GB blurays for extra backup and for buying a few series on Bluray as I'm sick of on demand services taking stuff off.

So I highly recommend it for a 5.25 bay case, I honestly think it's a lot better than any of their new cases and most new cases in general that often block airflow with needlessly heavy and more easily breakable tempered glass.
 
Now thinking of the Fractal Design R6, though it's a bit pricey in the USB C configuration. As I have the PC next to my desk a window isn't essential so I can save a bit by getting the solid side.
 
Ravenger said:
Now thinking of the Fractal Design R6, though it's a bit pricey in the USB C configuration. As I have the PC next to my desk a window isn't essential so I can save a bit by getting the solid side.
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I'm very happy with the case, the only thing I would say is the supplied fans are a bit lacking for pulling through the front filter.
I'm going to move them to the bottom and find some better ones for the front.

Not much help, but I picked mine up on a Black Friday deal which knocked about £15 off the gunmetal.
 
I'm looking at the Corsair Obsidian 450D.
I want the 5.25 bay, but also want to fit a 360mm 3 fan cooler.
The info states "Top: 3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm (360mm radiator)"
Anyone done the same thing, or let me know if this would be ok ?

Just realised I'd been looking at the info for another case. Not the Obsidian.
The rad will fit fine in the top with the drive bays.
 
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ChugNorris said:
Considering how butt ugly most cases look with optical bays
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Unlike those aquariums with more RGB garbage than in Las Vegas?
(+worsened cooling because of solid glass/acrylic front being real low in permeability of air)
And cases with those cheese grater/electric razor mesh fronts certainly aren't as clean looking as cases with door.


ChugNorris said:
The tooling cost for a front panel is much less without having to incorporate a 5.25" bay
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So why are 5.25" bays common in budget/low end cases, while expensive ones have removed them without any decrease in prices?
In fact Fractal Design Define R6 has lot less expandability/versatility than R5, but price went up.
Neither is beQuiet Silent Base 601 any cheaper than preceding Silent Base 600.
Same for Silent Base 801 vs 800.

This fashion is all about increasing profits of case makers and making cases more disposable parts with shorter usage life without ability to add say new ports into 5.25" bay.
 
EsaT said:
Unlike those aquariums with more RGB garbage than in Las Vegas?
(+worsened cooling because of solid glass/acrylic front being real low in permeability of air)
And cases with those cheese grater/electric razor mesh fronts certainly aren't as clean looking as cases with door.


So why are 5.25" bays common in budget/low end cases, while expensive ones have removed them without any decrease in prices?
In fact Fractal Design Define R6 has lot less expandability/versatility than R5, but price went up.
Neither is beQuiet Silent Base 601 any cheaper than preceding Silent Base 600.
Same for Silent Base 801 vs 800.

This fashion is all about increasing profits of case makers and making cases more disposable parts with shorter usage life without ability to add say new ports into 5.25" bay.
Click to expand...

First part is purely subjective and my opinion is that 5.25" bays are pretty much unnecessary for the majority of systems these days, therefore should be removed in favour of improved internal support for radiators. Seems like the majority of manufacturers agree.

5.25" drives are common in lower end/cheap cases because the majority of them are public factory toolings and have not had any investment from the vendor, just taken off the shelf, had their logo slapped on it and sold out.
 
ChugNorris said:
First part is purely subjective and my opinion is that 5.25" bays are pretty much unnecessary for the majority of systems these days, therefore should be removed in favour of improved internal support for radiators.
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Same can be said for majority of systems not doing anything with radiators.
Especially when high end heatpipe coolers beat average waterpipe coolers in continuous cooling per noise.
 
I went for the white Fractal Design R6 with the USB C front panel for my 3900x / X570 build, and I'm very pleased with it. It looks striking and very clean. The build went smoothly and there was plenty of room inside (though the Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler does take up a huge amount of space).

The motherboard tray cut-outs allowed a very neat build with all the cables routed around the back. I didn't get a window as the case is sitting beside my desk but neat cabling also helps airflow, even if you can't see how neat it is :)

I didn't add any extra fans, and the built in ones seem to do an OK job of cooling, while also being very quiet. The built in fan controller also works great.
 
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