Hi,

 

I'm thinking of building a brand new PC (64GB RAM, 1 nvme SSD for cache, 4x6TB HDs including one for parity, i7-6700k, a GT-1060) with Unraid to take care of 4 main types of tasks:

 

1. Web development and work - PHP, Nginx, MariaDB etc. in Docker containers + PhpStorm, MS Office and other Win apps in a Windows 10 VM

 

2. Media NAS - Sonarr, Plex, Filebot, Calibre, etc. Probably a mix of Docker containers and apps in a Windows 10 VM for music, movies, TV, home pics/vids, ebooks, etc.

 

3. Gaming - Driving games such as Assetto Corsa and Dirt Rally, strategy games etc. in a Windows 10 VM.

 

4. Windows 10 Audio - Roland electronic drums connected to a PCI-E sound card via MIDI, triggering Toontrack samples in Reaper.

 

For scenario #4, latency is very important, i.e. you don't want to have more than 5-8ms total latency between the time you've hit a drum pad and when you hear the triggered sound sample. Will MIDI latency in a Win10 VM within Unraid be comparable to running Windows directly?

 

Would you run one or several Windows VMs by use type? I.e. is it all one big Win 10 VM, or can you/should you have a VM for dev, another for gaming, a third for audio?

 

Thanks for any help. My PC is 7 years old so I have ruled out updating it. I have to buy parts when I travel to the US because they're too expensive/obsolete where I live, so I need to plan this build just right.

I'm not so sure pcie soundcards play nice with pass through. I haven't seen anyone passing through one with success. But it's mostly Xonar cards passed through around here.

You can't use a USB soundcard for this? I have a Roland quad-capture, but no drums to test with. Only way to test is to use a drum kit? 

USB or even Thunderbolt are options, but usually they don't have as low latency as PCI-e:

https://www.presonus.com/community/Learn/The-Truth-About-Digital-Audio-Latency

 

So I could always go that route, it's just not the ideal choice. Related discussions on USB audio with Unraid:

- https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=50397.0

- https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=49366.30

 

Edit: here's an app to measure round trip latency: http://www.oblique-audio.com/free/rtlutility

USB or even Thunderbolt are options, but usually they don't have as low latency as PCI-e:

https://www.presonus.com/community/Learn/The-Truth-About-Digital-Audio-Latency

 

So I could always go that route, it's just not the ideal choice. Related discussions on USB audio with Unraid:

- https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=50397.0

- https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=49366.30

 

Edit: here's an app to measure round trip latency: http://www.oblique-audio.com/free/rtlutility

 

I have used guitar rig with a USB sound card for a long time, so I know about latency when it comes to audio. From your question it sounded like there was something special with midi.

If I get time, I'll hook up my quad-capture to see how it works, but from what I remember I didn't have any problems with latency when playing.

Build updated after further research on components. Storage will tentatively look like this (including a couple drives I'll take out of my current PC):

 

* Cache pool: 2x512GB M-2 SSD (BTRFS RAID1)

* Storage array: 3x6TB + 1x3TB + 1x6TB parity

* Pass-through disks: 512GB M2 SSD [Windows VM] + 320GB SSD [drum samples]

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor  ($336.49 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Red 53.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme7+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($224.88 @ Newegg Marketplace)

Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Storage: Toshiba X300 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($179.98 @ Jet)

Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 8GB GAMING X Video Card  ($249.99 @ Newegg)

Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($159.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($167.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Keyboard: Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard For Business Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard  ($63.29 @ B&H)

Keyboard: Razer Ornata Chroma Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($99.99 @ B&H)

Mouse: Razer Taipan Wired Laser Mouse  ($59.99 @ Directron)

Other: SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 32GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-032G-B35  ($12.21 @ Amazon)

Other: Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools | First  ($248.98 @ Amazon)

Other: Microboard M340CLZ 34" Curved 3440x1440 REAL100HZ AMD FREE Sync Gaming Monitor  ($729.90 @ Amazon)

Total: $4076.57

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-24 12:06 EST-0500

I completely forgot to check the latency... I'll see if I find the Quad capture one day and test it.

 

I have an Asus RX 480 that works fine here passing through. MSI one on the way. Should be here before new year I hope.

 

The motherboard you have choosen does not have ACS register capabilities, meaning you might not be able to separate the components into their own iommu groups so they can be passed through. Check this link out for more info. 

The motherboard you have choosen does not have ACS register capabilities, meaning you might not be able to separate the components into their own iommu groups so they can be passed through. Check this link out for more info.

 

You mean the fact I picked from the Skylake architecture, not just this specific motherboard, right?

 

Someone here seems to have it working for a similar AIO scenario

https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=50193.0

 

But I'm going to look into Broadwell-E prices/specs, if it's not outrageously more expensive it might be worth saving potential aggravation.

 

Edit: can't find X99 boards with triple M.2 and the 6800K consumes 50W than the 6700K for comparable performance in many cases (i.e. when the extra cores won't be used, e.g. in most games).

 

I'm starting to think that as much as Unraid looks compelling, it might not be the optimal choice for my specific needs vs. sticking to native Win10 + Docker for Windows + some drive pooling solution (something like Stablebit Drivepool+SnapRaid maybe).

Yes,  I meant skylake, not the board. But if you know it will work,  reference the thread you linked,  I see no problem.  I just had a quick look,  but did he pass through more than gpus? If you want to run as many VM's as you said,  make sure you can separate the pcie ports in separate iommu groups.  Post in he thread if it's not there.

 

Regarding how many VM's you run, I would suggest to use the downloaders and stuff as docker containers. And if you don't have any resource hungry software that have to be running all the time,  just use on vm.