I have to disagree with Mark56; the master does not need to be at the end of the ribbon, at least on all of the 5 setups I just tried to confirm/falsify this statement.
The only thing that matters is that one is Master, and that another is Slave. Both cannot be Master or both cannot be Slave. But regarding the position on the ribbon, it doesn't matter, or at least on all 5 setups I just tried.
I know that elderly "techfolk" (not trying to include Mark56 or anything) always told me the same thing, but I've put Masters on the centre and slaves at the end from time to time, and I never, ever, noticed anything.
So you just have to be different, right slick?
Now, why don't you chat us "geriatric members" up about cable select? That should provide some variety in another ignorable post.
So all in all: 5,25'' drives (like CD/DVD/BD drives) are really 5,75'' wide, and will always fit a "5,25'' drive bay" which is always 5,75'' wide (and about 1,75 inches tall unless I'm mistaken).
You are, at least somewhat, mistaken, possibly only by omission. 5.75" is the faceplate dimension, while 5.25" is the body dimension as to width, (or rail spacing), if you will. But yes, both dimensions are standard.
As to height, the actual vertical faceplate dimension would coincide with the center to center distance of the drive mounting holes.
This is probably trivia, unless of course, someone is planning to build their very own case, day after tomorrow.
I have to disagree with the comments made about eBay. I have bought many computer parts from eBay and have never had a problem. I always use the big shops that trade on eBay that have very high reputations. The payment protection through Pay Pal does guarantee your purchase if for any reason things go wrong. The larger sellers will bend over backwards to keep their reputation as high as possible, any unhappy customers will bring down their reputation level for all to see deterring future customers. If a seller provides sub standard products that do not fit the description they give then their reputation stays low and few people will buy from them. You don't see customer ratings outside a high street shop but you still go in, they could close the next day and you wouldn't have a leg to stand on. If anything eBay is a better and safer place to shop. But that's just my opinion.
Spoken like a man that lists his location as, "Spain". Here in the former British Colonies, we have a custom called "Newegg". With that said, trust me, there's no reason to deal with Ebay. Period. Also, "Microcenter has about 25 stores nationwide. Their sale prices are spectacular, and I'm fortunate enough to live within easy driving distance of one of them, (about 20 Km). Here in the colonies, we would call that "12 miles", (or so).
If you buy something from a brick and mortar and they go out of business the next day, TS; if you didn't read the "going of business" sign on the side of the building, that's your own stupidity.
In any event, the computer parts "climate" in the US, is far different from the same thing in Spain.
Here's possible a dumb question..Are all these the same size? I mean will they all fit in the space my computer provides?
Not only are the cases the same size, but the bolt pattern is also the same.
Almost forgot. Why would the new one be the master,instead of the old one? Does it matter which one is the master? How do you set one as Master?
In the "folklore" that I've read, the "master" has a priority in the data flow. Since your new drive should be the faster of the 2, it gets to be the master.
The is a tiny jumper on the back of the drive, and usually also a diagram on the case somewhere the indicates the different positions. Also, most Intel boards do in fact use, "cable select" for IDE drives. The board manual is a good place to look for this info.
This is especially true when, (in the old days), HDDs were IDE also. The optical was always the slave, the HDD was always the master.
Keep in mind, all this goes out the window if you buy a SATA ODD. In that case, you would: knock out the bay cover...., slide in the new drive...., screw it onto its rails...., plug in the power and SATA cable, (SATA goes from the drive directly to the motherboard), and finally put the side cover back on. Hit the power switch, you're done!
Remember, If you buy an OEM drive, it will not come with a cable, (or screws). If you need these things , you usually have the option of buying a retail version. (Yes, they cost a bit more).
I just read some more info on this and it does not matter what position the drives are in on the cable as long as they are set as master and slave. But if using the cable select jumper setting it does matter, the master (drive with the OS) has to go on the end, and also if only fitting one drive on the cable it has to go on the end.
I touched on this in the preceding post. The "master" position has data flow priority, hence the fastest drive goes on the end. Obviously, an HDD would be faster than an ODD.
