New Build

[garystan]

Hi everybody :

I'm getting parts together for first (computer) build. I have a question about Optical Drives. On every PC Case, I've notice a standard size for the external bays....5.25". If the external bays are 5.25"....how is a 5.75" Optical Drive going to fit ? Unless there's a way to modify a drive bay to fit the drive. I've been pricing SATA Optical Drives, but apparently, they're not made in the 5.25" dimension anymore. Which poses a conumdrum. PC Cases aren't made to support a 5.75" Optical Drive. But, when setting up a computer.....you come to the point where you install the OS. This is where you need an Optical Drive. ALL Operating System are installed via a disk. And, with a properly running System, you HAVE to have an Optical Drive installed in one of your bays (being it's connected to the Motherboard). So how do you match the two (Optical Drives and PC Cases) together ?

garystan

[usually_quiet]

In most cases, the bezel is included in an optical drive's measurements. The part or the optical drive that fits inside the 5.25 inch drive bay is the correct size. Optical drives are inserted into the drive bays from the front of the case, not from the inside. If the case has spring-loaded doors so optical drives are stealthed, the bezel must be removed from the front of the PC case before installing optical drives.

[rnb5500]

Also you don't need an optical drive to install an OS. It hasn't been my preferred method of install for years.

[jagabo]

5.25" is the size of the original IBM PC floppy disks. The drives that used them (and hence the bays) were 5.75". IBM hard drives were designed to fit in the same bays. Later CD and DVD drives were similarly sized. Ie, the bays are 5.75" and always have been.

[johns0]

Most people use an optical drive when installing an o/s on a new system that they build,manufactured pcs need an optical drive to back up their systems for the average user.

I use a dvd if i ever need to reinstall windows from scratch since usb drives aren't as reliable for long time storage.

[hello_hello]

To quote Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_bays#5.25.E2.80.B3
Full-height bays were found in old PCs in the early to mid-1980s. They were 3¼″ high by 5¾″ wide, and up to 8″ deep (83×146×200 mm), used mainly for hard disks and floppy disk drives. Half-height drive bays are 1⅝″ high by 5¾″ wide (41.3 mm × 146 mm), and are the standard housing for CD and DVD drives in modern computers, but were sometimes used for other things, including hard disks and floppy disk drives in the past. It is important to note that the name does not refer to the width of the bay itself, but rather to the width of the disks used by the floppy drives which mounted in these bays. Often represented as 5¼-inch.