Optical Drive
With the current generation of games played today, each gaming system requires a device to install games and play them. Despite the many modern over-priced optical devices that utilize HD features, the majority of optical drives offer multimedia solutions to run your software. An HDD is not considered an optical drive, but I have an article pertaining to Hard Drives, so we can clearly focus on discrete drives that offer extra functions.
I just want to clarify about the general uses for optical drives related to gaming computers for a moment. These drives include media devices that use DVD's and CD's, and top price high definition Blu-ray drives.
Along with the many uses for these drives, they all actually use simliar hardware, which I will emphasis exactly what is recommended for a gaming computer.
Selection
Choosing an optical drive based off of you system capabilities is quite simple. As simple as reading a disc or writing a disc can be, the money you spend will determine the characteristics and features your selected drive can utilize. As for capabilities, consider your preference of disc optimazation, as this quality will help you decide between a CD, DVD, or combination of the two.
Compact Disc Drives were designed to store data in different formats, more specifically for audio. CD drives vary is use as they have can be used in these methods: CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. I wouldn't invest into a CD drive, as its better to spend your valuable money towards a backwad compatiable drive, such as a DVD drive.
Digital Video Disc are commonly used to distribute software pertaining to media and games, but just about any data can be stored on them for any reason. This is the best solution for building a gaming system, as you can purchase a combo drive that can take advantage of the different formats of DVD's and CD's.
Blue-Ray Drives are the predecesor to the standard DVD format. To summarize Blu-ray, this drive isn't preferrable among current gaming setups due to its price and focus towards large storage capacity and movie distribution. Check out the Blu-Ray page for indepth information.
Interface
Most internal and external drives use device bays or case enclosures to house optical drives in. As well as houseing these drives, the drive interface for connection purposes should be considered to accomodate reliable data transfers via the motherboard and the remaining system. The most common forms of interface for these particular drives include SATA, USB, and FireWire connectors.
Internal Drive Interface
The drives that should be situated in your computer should mainly utilize the SATA interface format to take advantage of newer, more superior technology. If you are still using an older IDE connection, lets face it, its time for an upgrade. Since gaming computers are configured from advance features, investing in a motherboard and drive set that uses the SATA interface is something I recommened. Other than the SATA cable, your secondary device also requires a source of power, featuring a connector purposely for the PSU or power supply unit. Along with the mutiple connectors, your motherboard will be able to handle up to four different drives, 2 of these drive specifically optical drives. Among the variants of SATA drives, look for the newest version of SATA for premium performance.
External Drive Interface
As drives adapt to new enviroments and technolgies, so do their physical locations. An alternate choice to an internal drive, the external drive offers personal selection and practical use for many consumers today. Based on the age of rising external devices, the technolgy comparisons between the internal and external drives are not to different. To take advantage of an external drive, all you will need is your preferred drive, and simply a variant of USB or FireWire cable to connect to the alloted pherphial. Upon connecting your external drive, you will usually gain immidiate response and you should be able to use it within seconds. These devices are useful in many ways, as they are plug and play devices that are interchangeable between computers as long as the software is appropriate. Though many of these devices do take up extra desk space and require an additional external power source. Also there are many portable HDD's aimed at supplying the portable user additional data storage, but beyond this, maybe consider focusing your attention towards upgrading the internal drive, or another component that specifically impacts gaming circumstances.
Drive Speed
Read and Write
When it comes to selecting an optical drive for your gaming oriented computer, this specification is the only notable characteristic that PC gamers should prioritize. The speed at which data is read from a disc or written to a disc is known as the drive speed. Look for a drive speed that supports 16x DVD read speeds and 48x for CD's write speeds.
Overall, the optical drives avaliable on the market today are affordable and reliable performance, not matter what your decision it. Just check to drive types, offered formats, and read/write speeds.