I'm looking to build a PC and want to know the best way to physically swap hard drives without having to open or unscrew the case. It's fine if the drives are swapped cold rather than hot, and I'd like to boot the PC from these drives. You can think of it like changing cartridges in a game console, except in this case, the "game" is an SSD or HDD. Are there specific setups, cases, motherboards, or peripherals that can facilitate this process? The rest of the PC will include standard components like CPU and GPU.
4 Answers
If you have 5.25" bays in your case, you can get hot swap drive bays that accept 3.5" drives. Even if you don't have those bays, external drive options work great too!
If you're looking for a case with easy access, consider the Lian-li O11 Dynamic EVO XL. It has drive cages accessible from the back, so you can swap drives without opening up the front of the case. I've been using it personally for swapping out media drives!
For what you're looking for, check out swappable drive bays. They work great for SATA drives, and there are tons of options available. A solid choice is the STARTECH HSB220SAT25B. It's easy to install and lets you swap drives with minimal hassle!
Another great solution is an external drive bay or NAS setups. They'll allow you to have accessible drives without opening your PC case. But remember, if you're thinking about Windows, just make sure you can still boot from the drives when using external setups!
What do you mean by tied to the motherboard? I've switched drives in different systems without any major issues.
That's a good option! I really wish they would make something similar for NVMe drives, like removable plug-and-play. It seems like it would be handy.