# Does this build look OK for VEP slave?



## jazz72piano (Oct 13, 2017)

Can anyone please offer advice about this build for my first PC slave? My DAW is LogicX on a retina iMac (4.0 i7 quad with 32GB RAM). I bought VEPro and will be running Hollywood Orchestra diamond (and the rest of EW stuff) as well as Spectrasonics stuff. My iMac has Orion Studio TB interface. This PC will be used only for sample playback (no gaming, graphics etc..)

I would greatly appreciate any advice on this. Thank you!!

*
Intel Core i7-7700K*

*MSI Z270-A PRO LGA 1151*

*Samsung - 850 EVO 250GB (system drive)*

*Samsung - 850 EVO- 1TB (sample drive)*

*Noctua NH-D15 SSO2*

*G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 64GB DDR4-2133*

*Fractal Design R5 ATX Mid Tower Case*

*EVGA - SuperNOVA GS 550W ATX Power Supply*


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Oct 13, 2017)

Looks good. A couple of suggestions:

You're never going to be able to run the entire orchestra of EW off of 1 SSD. I'd suggest 2x 500GB instead. You might even need 3 SSD's depending on the sort of music you're writing. 

I'd suggest replacing the fan on the case with a Noctua one and then adding 1 or 2 more fans. You can then use the ultra low noise adapters ("ulna") to have the computer essentially be silent. The only noise that my computer makes is from the CPU cooler because I had to go with the Intel stock one since the Noctua wouldn't fit my the case.

I originally had a Supernova psu and the fan was always at 100% (even with barely any load). I recommend the Corsair RMi. They are more expensive but the fan will be completely off (considering how small of a load the computer is). 

With all of this the computer would be really quiet. When I had to take mine in to the shop for repairs (they really messed up putting it together) they thought the computer wasn't booting because they couldn't hear anything.


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## jazz72piano (Oct 13, 2017)

thank you so much Gerhard! I've written a 2.5 hour musical with Logic and need to start orchestrating a mock-up for a 20 piece pit orchestra. Yikes, so much work ahead with building the slave, configuring my template, and orchestration. If assembling the PC is too much, I may hire someone here in the bay area, California.

i already own the 1tb 850 (in a USB 3 enclosure). Was planning to put that in the PC (guessing i need to clone it then reformat for PC). Then i'll probably add a 500gb 850 (or 2) as well. i've read on this forum, that Omnisphere likes M.2 drives; I use Keyscape a lot and it seems to hang up my iMac a bit (on the external 1tb). I subscribe to EW composers cloud and have downloaded only a small portion so far. For this project i won't need that much of the EW stuff, but i'd like to build templates for future projects. At least i want to have complete HO (diamond i own) installed.

I like DIY projects and i'll try to find some youtube vids about fan installation and PC assembly. Is it difficult installing the fans? Eventually i'll move the PC to another room, but i'd still like to make it quiet. i hear r5 case is roomy and easy to work with. I've installed RAM before, soldered cables, swapped CPUs...(back in the 90s . IOW i'm willing to give this a shot.

Thanks again for chiming in. All the best, Eddie


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## jazz72piano (Oct 13, 2017)

i forgot to ask a more specific question: should i bypass the SuperNova fan with the Corsair RMi then add these ULNA devices? What are those? Noctua NF-P12? 

Also, in regards to HO diamond SSD allocation, better to have 3 500GB for strings, WW, brass, percussion? or is 2 ok (one 1tb drive and one 500gb drive).


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## agarner32 (Oct 14, 2017)

Jazz72piano,

I had my slave built by a guy in Davis and he did a great job. PM me and I can give you his number. By the way, we're almost neighbors. I live in Sacramento and coincidentally I also play jazz piano. Just played a gig in the Mission last night with Todd Dickow.

Cheers,
Aaron


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## chimuelo (Oct 14, 2017)

I agree with SSD Spanning.
In Gigastudio we learned the value of multiple streaming devices.
That was with a better streamer patent too.
Not knocking current streamers but no app can stream like GSIF did.

I was getting 1800 voices when I started using Raptors.

EVOs are excellent. I use 3 x 1TB on each of my 3 x 32GB slaves, as well as the Master PC.
All identical parts, 4 x 1U PCs in a 4U ATA Rack.
One EVO is an M.2 which is only capable of 768MBps from the Motherboards 2x Slot.
I love the older Z97 no frills Server boards.
But even with Windows 8.1 on the M.2 it still streams.


Nice 64GB Slave though.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Oct 14, 2017)

jazz72piano said:


> hould i bypass the SuperNova fan with the Corsair RMi


Not sure what you mean. Use an RMi instead of the Supernova.



jazz72piano said:


> add these ULNA devices? What are those? Noctua NF-P12?



Like the NF-S12A ULN. They come with a number of adapters for varying the amount of noise (speed of the fan). ULNA is the quietest adapter. I originally had 5 in my PC which was overkill and now 4 since one started to squeak. 2 or 3 with the ULNA should be fine.



jazz72piano said:


> Is it difficult installing the fans?



It's just 4 screws and then connect to the correct port on the mobo. Couldn't be simpler...

If you have only 2 SSDs I'd suggest strings and perc on one and the rest on the other. Hollywood strings alone may need its own.

M.2 will give you better performance for OS and possibly some sample loading times but I don't think it'll give much better streaming performance. Even if the specs show it as being 2x better than an SSD, using 2 SSDs will give better streaming performance. Not sure if M.2 is really worth it.


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## jazz72piano (Oct 15, 2017)

Thanks for that info. i'll just stick with the 850 EVOs. 

So I'll go with Corsair RM650i instead of the SuperNova. For fans i'll stick with the Noctua D15, but also add a Noctua NF-S12A ULN (or maybe add 2 of these?). Not too worried about noise as this computer will be in a different room eventually. 

Will these changes keep everything cooler and quieter? Is a 650w PSU good enough for this build? Thanks again for all your help. Cheers,
Eddie


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## jazz72piano (Oct 16, 2017)

Sheez, I can't find 64gb of ram for under $585! Anyone know a secret source? I take that back, B&H has Crucial for $538. don't trust all the price listings at pcpartpicker!

I googled '64gb ddr4' and got this:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1237243-REG/crucial_64gb_ddr4_2133_mhz.html

Oops, never mind this is 260 pin which i don't think will fit the motherboard


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## jazz72piano (Oct 16, 2017)

will this ram work? darn, i shoulda bought back in July almost $200 cheaper back then!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1193704-REG/crucial_ct4k16g4dfd8213_64gb_ddr4_2133_mt_s.html


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Oct 16, 2017)

jazz72piano said:


> Will these changes keep everything cooler and quieter?



2 Noctua case fans (replacing the one that comes in it) should be fine. 



jazz72piano said:


> Is a 650w PSU good enough for this build?



Yep. My 6 core i7 with 64GB and 6 SSDs uses around 100W.


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## jazz72piano (Oct 16, 2017)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> 2 Noctua case fans (replacing the one that comes in it) should be fine.



Ok, great. So just to double check, I'll order 2 of the NF-S12A ULN in place of the case fan that comes with the R5? and these are in addition to the D15? Sorry to bother, just want to make sure i order the right stuff 

I notice that the R5 has top, front, and bottom case fan (radiators) location possibilities. Can you recommend locations?

Thank you so much for the help. i hope i'm not asking too many questions. I'm gonna try to build this thing


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Oct 17, 2017)

jazz72piano said:


> I'll order 2 of the NF-S12A ULN in place of the case fan that comes with the R5? and these are in addition to the D15?


Yes and yes (assuming that the D15 is the right cooler for your processor).
Edit: Looks like the case comes with a 140mm so I'd look into the NF-A14 ULN. I'm not sure which one I'm using. I believe the 140mm.


jazz72piano said:


> I notice that the R5 has top, front, and bottom case fan (radiators) location possibilities. Can you recommend locations?


Looks like it has 9 possible fan locations. I'd replace the back one and then put the other either on top or on the side wall.


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## jazz72piano (Oct 23, 2017)

Almost all parts have arrived for my build. Still waiting on RAM which ended up being over $600. ouch! anyhow, time is money as well. Along with following your build advice, reading other great posts on this forum, and watching many good vids online, I feel like i'm ready to get started.

A quick question: I see it's possible to remove all drive cages in the r5 case, if i only use the 2 SSD spots under the motherboard for samples then use the m.2 slot on the motherboard for OS drive. I'd like to keep it really simple inside (i can use external CD and HDD drives) as this reduces watts, clutter and heat. For around $70 i could get a 120GB m.2 drive. Do you think this sounds reasonable? Is 120gb enough for WIN10 pro on a slave PC? Again, my only plan for this machine is VEPro. TIA!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Oct 23, 2017)

If you're putting in 32GB now, my suggestion is to use large enough RAMs to leave slots open so you can raise that to 64GB if you need to. You can get a lot of mileage out of 32GB, but you may want more if you're running multiple Hollywood Orchestra mic positions.

And if you're judicious with the number of mic positions you're using, HO doesn't use anywhere near as many voices.

Which leads to my next question: why does drive-spanning with SSDs make any difference? They're all on the same bus, right?

I actually do have things spanning multiple SSDs, but that's only because I've kept adding them, not because I thought that was a better way to go.


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## jazz72piano (Oct 23, 2017)

@nick. thanks for chiming in. I've ordered 4x16gb of Crucial Ballistic Sport putting me at 64gb (just to be future proof). I'd like to build a temp that has everything i deem necessary and activate in VEP when needed. The plan is to have a VEPro template with entire HO, along with Pro Drummer, Keyscape, some other Omnisphere, and start adding other EW things if i need (composers cloud subscription). Idk about spanning across drives through experience as this is my first build. I plan to go with Gerhardt's advice about putting HW strings and percussion on the 500gb 850 evo and everything else on the 1tb evo - At least for now. If I end up needing more than 1.5tb total samples, i could add the drive cage and more SSDs or upgrade to larger SSD size for the ones i'll put underneath the MB. Ready to pull the trigger on the Kingston m.2 i linked above as my OS drive. My main concern is installing W10pro on this and the 120gb. Do you think this will be ok? Thanks so much!


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## jazz72piano (Oct 23, 2017)

updated build:

*Intel Core i7-7700K

MSI Z270-A PRO LGA 1151

Crucial Ballistic Sport 64GB DDR4-2400*

*Kingston M.2 SATA SSDnow 6gbs 120GB (os drive)

Samsung - 850 EVO 500GB (sample drive1)*

*Samsung - 850 EVO 1TB (sample drive2)*

*Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler

(2x) Noctua NF-A14 ULN case fans*

*Fractal Design R5 ATX Mid Tower Case*

*Corsair RM650i Power Supply*


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