dortmunder wrote:I'll need a memory card reader for my digital camera's storage card. These readers all seem to be of smaller width than an optical drive. Do all cases come with a suitable slot on the front?
I would suggest using a USB card reader, and plugging it in as necessary in one of your USB slots. My high-end case came with a built in card reader and it doesn't work very well; I think this is because plug-and-play SD card reader drivers are expecting to see a removable device. Most cases have at least two USB slots on the front, heck even silly NUCs have one.
DDR3 sticks appear to come in two shapes – 'normal' and those odd looking ones such as Corsair Vengeance. Is there a difference between the two types? If not, why the odd shape of the Vengeance?
The big flashy gamer heatsinks give you ULTIMATE XTREEM M-M-M-MONSTER SKILLZ!!!!1!!1!one! So no, not really any meaningful difference, but do be aware that gamer/enthusiast memory tends to use DRAM modules cherry-picked for better latency and reliability. This isn't something that matters for the typical user, but the price difference between CL 11 and CL 9 is negligible so I personally would get some 1600MHz CL9 memory, or 1866MHz if the price is the same. 16 GB if you can swing it, as the state of the industry is such that memory capacity is going to bottleneck you a lot faster than CPU or memory speed.
I'm not a gamer so a mini or micro board would probably be fine. However, would I be correct in thinking that a full size ATX is easier to work with (fiddly plugs etc)?
Makes no real difference. mATX is generally the price/performance/features sweet spot, but Haswell brought with it some very very sexiful mini-ITX motherboards for not a lot of money. The difference is in how many expansion slots are available, the plugs you care about are all crammed into small areas whether it's mini-ITX or extended ATX.
Is the motherboard's backplate (for the mouse/keyboard etc) an industry standard size i.e. any mobo backplate will fit any case?
The size of the backplate is standard. I/O port configuration varies, which is why each mobo ships with its own backplate.
Do CPUs come with a tube of thermal paste or is that a separate purchase?
CPUs bought as a retail box, as opposed to OEM or tray, come with a heatsink which has thermal paste pre-applied. You won't need paste when you attach it, but if you ever want to take it off and reseat it on this or a different CPU you'll want to apply new thermal paste.
If you're interested, I've made my kit selection:
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130
MOBO: Asus H87M-E
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x4Gb
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB (I've a 1TB HDD for file storage)
OPTICAL: Asus DVD-RW Drive DRW-24F1ST
PSU: Corsair CXM600W
You didn't mention a budget so I'll assume you want to keep it affordable but have some room to grow if it's a meaningful improvement for a system you can expect to use for 5-10 years. Asus is a fantastic brand but I have a hard time recommending it when features are being sacrificed. And, while the i3 had its day, it's 2014 now and it doesn't offer very good value relative to improved Pentiums and true quad-core i5s. I'd suggest an
ASrock H87M and put the saved money towards a
i5-4460 or similar chip. Or, if you're sure you can get away with a dual-core CPU, save some buckzoids and get a
Pentium G3450.
PSU is, as noted, far too beefy for what you need. Get something in the 400 watt range, preferably 80 Plus Bronze and from a reputable vendor like Corsair or SeaSonic. This is more cash that can to toward a better CPU.
Per my above comment I would really suggest a 2x8 GB memory kit, any reputable brand is fine. Memory is going to become a major bottleneck even as CPU/GPU/etc. requirements stagnate. The reason for this is that developers are lazy and don't optimize for efficiency anymore, and also because the industry has moved away from spending years doing it right for a masterpiece launch in favor of rushing buggy, bloated code out the door as fast as possible in the name of "open beta" or "agile" or whatever buzzword provides a convenient excuse for getting paid as soon as possible and filling out the details later.
If you need to save money, save money on the case. Sure, fancy cases have a lot of neat features and it's something that lasts many builds, but when your CPU has slowed to a crawl because the OS, antivirus and running application(s) are cage fighting for limited system resources, are you really going to be thinking happy thoughts about how the tradeoff was worth it for the 30 minutes of bliss you had assembling the system five years ago? Again, a good case will last a lifetime and it's a very worthy investment on its own merits but sacrificing everyday performance for case bling is one of my pet peeves and whenever I see "i3" and "enthusiast case" in one post the little vein on the side of my head starts throbbing, it's the one responsible for quasi-populist rants and nerdrage posts.
TLC vs MLC debate aside, the 840 EVO is a really nice SSD for that price point, and one of the few 120GB SSDs that isn't crippled. Do be aware that Windows itself can take upwards of 40GB these days, which leaves little room for the other stuff you want to run quickly. You can however use Intel Smart Response and/or Windows system settings to use it as a dynamic cache, with most of the beneifts of having an SSD but without needing to closely manage the contents of the drive.
