Computer Build - Quiet but Powerful!

[MercenaryMax]

Hey

Thanks for taking a look at the thread!

I've been asked by a friend to help build them a system for use with trading platforms (options trading). I haven't built a system in a while and the last one I built was for general gaming use.

The key features are:

• 
  Low noise from fans (or alternative cooling) The more simple to put together the better!
  
  High speed (obviously)
  
  I don't think graphics are as important for the trading platforms as for games, but could be wrong
  
  The system will need to hookup 2-4 monitors. (They already have the monitors)

The budget:
Roughly £1000 (roughly $1700 upon time of posting)

Hopefully you can chip in and give me an idea of what components are best bets. Ideally a full list of components would be great, but any help is more than appreciated!!

 

[Pr3di]

Here`s one example of a strong build close to your budget, with a very strong GPU that will support 4 screens. However, this will not be very good at gaming on 4 screens. For this we will need to cut on the CPU and other corners, and add another card for Crosshair:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£154.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£340.38 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Corsair Force Series GS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£117.73 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£120.63 @ YoYoTech)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£389.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£142.51 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer (£18.23 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.74 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1719.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 12:18 BST+0100

Here is another option, with the best i5 on the market, silent cooler, silent case, and two GPU`s in crossfire:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£64.90 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£105.19 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£130.19 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.36 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£389.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£389.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£142.51 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer (£18.23 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.74 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1659.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 12:24 BST+0100

 

[MercenaryMax]

Pr3di! Thanks a lot for taking the time to help out! It's greatly appreciated.

Just to be clear, the system won't be used for gaming. It's going to be used for trading platforms (you know, trading options, or stocks and shares, etc). So in my mind graphics are slightly important, but shouldn't be massively important, I think CPU and RAM will be very important and a decent graphics card should do the trick.

Thanks again so far for your help Pr3di!

 

[Rammy]

You don't need a powerful graphics card to output 4monitors, most low end ones will do it, though there may be some caveats like Eyefinity needing to use Displayport/adaptors and restrictions on display resolutions. You'll probably need a discrete card but it probably doesn't need to cost more than £100 and you could probably manage on half that.

I'll be honest, I know absolutely nothing about trading software, so any specific info here would be helpful, but I'd assume it's primarily based around a decent CPU, probably not a huge need for large amounts of memory, and near to zero need for graphics.

Quiet cases tend to be a bit awkward as they are generally counter-intuitive to good airflow. There's some really decent cases with sound-proofing credentials though, like the Bitfenix Ghost and Fractal Design Define series. Also it's pretty straightforward to add extra soundproofing to a case if it's necessary, but if you buy a more flimsy case, or one full of vents you are never likely to get it super quiet.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

This system uses a very quiet CPU cooler and a fanless GPU to allow for a very quiet machine. An adapter can be used to convert the dual link DVI port to a dual output so you can run four monitors.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C12P SE14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£51.03 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.60 @ Kustom PCs)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£83.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.14 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card (£96.27 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£30.50 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£93.50 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£11.21 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.74 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £777.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 17:10 BST+0100