great. thanks for the post. Looking forward to your followup in a week or 2 with your success story.

anyone else?

I imagine that you're using VE Pro? I'd be interested to hear how many instruments (and number of articulations per instrument +/-) you can handle with that setup. That's a 6 core, right?

@jammusique said:

I imagine that you're using VE Pro? I'd be interested to hear how many instruments (and number of articulations per instrument +/-) you can handle with that setup. That's a 6 core, right?

The i7-930 is a 4-core. Just now I'm beginning to use MIR-SE, still setting up templates, will report then ...

Steve:

I used MIR-Se's template with 32 instruments, filled most of them with VSL, Strings with 5 fairly complex Kontakt-Instruments (5 channels each) and can play all channels simultaneously perfectly crackle-safe at 512, even 256 seems possible ...

Updated specs:

i7-920 overclocked to 3.4 GHz (which was easy to accomplish with the Gigabyte mobo)

24 GB RAM @ 1320 (Samsung)

Will report experiments with VEPro soon

You can potentially get more power with 8-12 cores of xeon (dual chip setup) but the i7 is an amazing value for the price.  I wouldn't be surprised if you could build two decent i7 slave machines for the price of one beefy xeon setup.  I have a machine with a gigabyte mobo as well and it has been great.  I'd make sure the mobo you pick has sata 3 and usb3, and at least 6 slots (probably the most you'll find without moving up to a server mobo).

@Steve Millikan said:

mmeixner ~ Anything to report yet? I"m hoping to have my tech guy buy a 2nd pc to house VE Pro and some samples (present slave is wimpy) and curious what kind track counts we're talking.

Ok, sorry for the delay 😊, and sorry for the very unscientific test:

Just loaded into the i7-930-Machine:

VePro 1: 19 ch woodwinds (full presets of the download instruments)

VePro 2: 19 ch brass (full presets of the download instruments)

VePro 3:   9 ch percussion (complete presets DVD instruments)

VePro 4:   3 ch: 2 harps, Vienna Imperial (complete presets)

VePro 5:   5 Kontakt Multis (LASS) = 50 ch

this "template" was around 16 GB RAM (loading time SSD: 4 minutes [:)] )

all these 100 channels playing very fast chaotic lines: CPU hovering around 40 % (at stock 2.8 GHz)

So: for a VePro setup this seems quite amazing

MIR Se could play 32 instruments with a buffer of 512 safely, 256 maybe (overclocked to 3.5 GHz)

motherboard:Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 (lots of SATA and even SATA 6 GB, USB 3, very tweakable BIOS)

i7-930 (everyone says go for i7, they are right obviously)

24 GB RAM

80 GB Intel SSD + 240 GB Crucial SSD

Antec Solo case

Noctua fans

the machine is very quiet

So I'm happy so far ...

Hi mmeixner,

still happy with the i7 930? 100 channels, really?

can you discuss why the UD7 mobo (vs. the UD3, which is considerably less expensive) ?

the Noctua fan - are you speaking of this?   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608014

And i see you overclocked to 3.5ghz -- really? anything you can share???

I am looking to build a server this week fro VE Pro -- so guys, lay it on. I will buy my parts from newegg, so you have any saved wishlists, I'm all ears.

I will probably do a 3U rackmount case -- anyone have a specific case they like?

Oh -- ram... I want to do 24gb. Any ram pairing experiences to report? Which speed ram did you go with? I'm not sure which speed is the best for price/performance -- I don't have unlimited resources.... looking at one possibility:

@Another User said:

OCZ Reaper Edition 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3RPR1333C9LV12GK

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227538

BUT -- is 1333 PC3 10666 fast enough? I would get two kits for 24 gb. Anyone have a better suggestion for 24gb ram? 

And for overclocking, is the 9-9-9-20 ok??/ This is one area where I really haven't a clue and need some guidance. I'm a mac guy with 2 custom PC builds, and both builds were highly researched and PERFECT for many years. I want to do this once, and not again for awhile.

Thanks in advance to all who can share some local knowledge.

PS -- am I better off building a dual xeon with 8 cores (instead of a single 4 core i7) ??? I know, lots of questions...

PPS - the i7 950 is now down to US$299 - if we're going to OC , does it matter? Or is the faster processor a "better" starting point ? 

Thanks,

J

@jeremyroberts said:

I will probably do a 3U rackmount case -- anyone have a specific case they like?

Upon further review, if I am to do a "quiet cpu cooler", will the 3U case be tall enough? May need 4U. Thanks for your thoughts.

J

@jeremyroberts said:

And i see you overclocked to 3.5ghz -- really? anything you can share???

I learned all the necessary stuff from the net and tried different things for 2-3 days: it wasn't that difficult, the i7 are eminently overclockable. Of course one has to be organized and has to adhere to a few basic rules (careful with voltages, always monitor temperatures while testing etc)

[quote=jeremyroberts]Oh -- ram... I want to do 24gb. Any ram pairing experiences to report? Which speed ram did you go with? I'm not sure which speed is the best for price/performance -- I don't have unlimited resources.... looking at one possibility:

I got Samsung RAM 1333, 24 GB was about 700 Euros ... works as advertized [Y]

Thanks mmeixner!

There is so much reading before a build... how will I ever get any work done? Thanks for all suggestions.

J

I forgot to mention:

I'm also very happy with my PSU, it's quiet and very efficient:

Enermax Modu 87+

@mmeixner said:

Enermax Modu 87+

I LOVE Enermax power supplies! I have one in my old Giga rig and it has been solid as can be... and very quiet as well. The 87+ is a fine choice. I hesitate to say, "more power than I'll ever need" but maybe in 5 years... 😉

I was thinking about installing a VE Pro VSL/LASS-farm with a new Mac mini.

Any opinions?

regards

Philipp