New Quiet Quad Core -- Advice?

[lnz]

Hello folks

I have been speccing a new computer and I was wondering if you can give me advice on the selection.
I have a few requiremens

1) Not expensive (max £750)
2) Quiet (the quietest the better)
3) Parallel port
4) 3 PCI slots
5) Medium size case
6) Needs to drive 2 large 24" monitors
7) No gaming

With these requirements in mind I came up with the following components, sourced from either ebuyer or scan

- Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case
- Foxconn P9657AA-8EKRS2H Socket 775 P965 DDR2 PCI-E ATX
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
- 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 (Crucial or somebody
- MSI 8600GT Silent edition 256MB DVI HDTV PCI-E
- Samsung SpinPoint 500GB SATA-II 16MB
- LiteOn 20X SATA DVD±RW/RAM With Beige, Black & Silver Bezel + Nero - Retail
+
- APC Smart UPS 1500 VA Line interactive (DLA1500I)
- Icy Box Mobile Rack IB138SK-B Black + Blue Light SATA I/II + Fan fitted with a 250GB SATA drive (how noisy is its fan?)

It will run XP at the moment, to be upgraded to Vista if and when.

I was looking at one of the Asus P5B or P5K MoBos but they don't have a parallel port, which I need for a specific printer I want to use.

Also, I don't specifically need a DirectX 10 graphic card, but it needs to have 2 DVI ports, and be passively cooled, and needs to cost less than £80.00 approx. (and be powerful enough that I could play a game on it, should I want to).

The PCI ports will be fitted with another graphic card running another monitor and a second LAN card.

I understand that this is perhaps an odd machine.
I am a translator, and generally have 6 or 7 applications running, a couple of which are processor intensive database apps. and the monitors display texts, references, stuff, internet searches, a couple of VMware machines running, etc. and at the end of the day, I don't plan to replace it for another 3 years.

Any advice, comments on noise levels, cooling, reliability, etc. are welcome

TIA

Lorenz

[staffsMike]

you need to be a bit careful with the graphics card you choose. Most passive cards are double width so you need to choose your motherboard accordingly as you must account for the gfx card taking two slots...ie you might lose a pci slot.

The 8600GT's will run very hot passive..and i'm tempted to say this would be a better choice
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=615613

I have the 8500gt version and it runs around 50 degrees which very good for passive cooling.

Don't compromise your motherboard for the sake of a parrallel port just buy one of these
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...arallel%201.8m)

Then you have the choice of the better boards.

My recent silent build went as follows..

Antec p182 (best case for the job...the sonata is probably as good though)
Asus P5B-E Plus (3 pci slots but you lose one because of the gfx card)
E6600 with Scythe Ninja HSF (the ninja is totally silent and a great cooler)
2gb of crucial ballistix pc5300 RAM
corsair 520w HX Whisper (Doesnt make an audiable noise..fully recommended)
Gainward 8500GT Silent FX
400gb Western Digital (AAKS version..very quiet ..every little helps lol)
Samsung SATA dvd writer (very good dvd writer and makes the least noise of any ive come across)

This is the best pc i've ever built for noise..specced with silence in mind and i certainly got it.

All in all it was £680

[aeronic]

you can buy a usb to parallel adaptor.
this may give you greater choice.

[lnz]

Thanks for the comments

you need to be a bit careful with the graphics card you choose. Most passive cards are double width so you need to choose your motherboard accordingly as you must account for the gfx card taking two slots...ie you might lose a pci slot.

Yes. The MSI has the cooler "north" (so to speak) and if I am not completely misguided and that would help me keep the adjacent PCI slot free (I mean, how difficult is it for MB manufacturers to move the PCI slot one space down....)

Don't compromise your motherboard for the sake of a parrallel port just buy one of these USB/Parallel adapter

This is an excellent idea! Maybe I'll go for one of the ASUS P5B or P5K. Any suggestions or are they all much of a muchness? The reviews I have seen show minuscule differences only. I don't need WiFi
.... Although the Foxconn is on PCPro's A-list (so it's not that bad).

Antec p182 (best case for the job...the sonata is probably as good though)

Too big for the space I have unfortunately :-))

Samsung SATA dvd writer (very good dvd writer and makes the least noise of any ive come across)

Good suggestion. Also the Scythe seems interesting, although I'd be using a Quad core... That could be done later, I guess.

Thanks again

[frazered]

i have a sonata and if i was looking to go quad core with a passive gfx I would not choose the sonata.

the sonata is good for acoustic's once modded a touch from standard (soft mounting the hdd's properly), but the airflow is not as good as a p182. i would be worried about temps and would be looking at a larger case such as the p182 whoch has great venting and recognised as a quiet performer, edit i know you ay there is no room but it is not that bigger than the sonata