Dimensions question concerning Case

[phil urich]

I'm building my own computer and I've got most of the components picked out except for the case. What are the different drive bay dimensions used for in terms of components(External 5.25", 3.5" Internal 3.5"). I have two hard drives, two optical drives (DVD reader and a CD-Burner), a zip drive, and I might be keeping my floppy.

Thanks from a newbie builder.

[mackayc]

All modern HDDs are 3½" (although some long extinct models were 5¼")

Optical drives due to the size of their media are 5¼"

Internal zip and floppy drives are 3½"

Most cases have two or three 3½" bays - if you have two HDDs, a zip drive and possibly a legacy floppy drive, you'll probably need to put at least one of these into a spare 5¼" bay. You can get a fixing bracket for that purpose.

[Martin_89]

What are the different drive bay dimensions used for in terms of components(External 5.25", 3.5" Internal 3.5"). I have two hard drives, two optical drives (DVD reader and a CD-Burner), a zip drive, and I might be keeping my floppy.

External 5.25" is where you would put your CD-ROM, CR-RW Ect.
External 3.5" is where you would put your floppy and Zip Drive
and internal 3.5" is where you would put your Hard drive(s)

[Dimarini]

Just wait til the new 2.5" hard drives come out. That will really confuse everyone won't it?

[phil urich]

Thank you. That's along the line of what I was thinking but I had to be sure. Didn't want to buy two cases . Well have a merry CHRISTMAS or a happy Hanukah.

[Martin_89]

lol cheers, same to you to

[DanceMan]

Many of the current cases, at least the cheap ones I use, have 3 1/2" drive rails that extend from the bottom of the 5 1/4" drive rails all the way to the bottom of the case. The top two positions line up with the openings in the bezel for your floppy and Zip, the rest is available for hard drives. Current one I'm using, (typical "17 inch" (actually abt 16 1/2"), has 4 cd drive slots above.

[Martin_89]

ive got 4 External 5.25, 2 External 3.5 and 5 Internal 3.5"