Need help with New PC Build: i5 6600k/32GB 2133

Hey everyone, 
 
After checking out bitflipper's post with the video about real time cpu processing for DAWs I have decided to abandon making an all in one machine.  Taking some advice from someone who is experienced with computers for DAWs I made this potential build on PC partpicker.
 
Nearing Final Build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zwYPMp
 
 
 
 
I'm trying to stay in the sub $1000 range and so far mission accomplished.  There are a few questions that I have about this build though. 
 
1. Is this beast more machine than I need?  I tend to run a large amount of samples (Omnisphere, EWQLSO, Trillian) and I would like to be able to run as much as I can along with processing chains for mixing without needing to bounce or freeze anything to a .wav.  Or at least keep freezing to .wavs to a minimum.   So my expectations are high but can I go cheaper on anything you see here?
 
2. Could I get away with 16Gb of RAM for the time being (it would save me about 100 bucks) and still do everything I want to do?
 
3. What's everyone's opinion on using an SSD for the OS drive and NOT for the sample drive. 
 
4. Conversely, what everyone's opinion on using an SSD ONLY for the sample drive and just using a standard HDD for the OS drive?  Is one going to give me better performance than the other?
 
Thanks for the help!  I hope to start ordering parts this week.  

Thanks! Yea I thought the cpu was overkill too but I was told it was to use DDR4 RAM at 2133 MHZ instead of the DDR3 at 1600 Mhz.  I'm not sure exactly how noticeable it would be though performance wise. My current machine is an i5 2.66ghz with 4GB of 1066 ram so i may just be power hungry.  :)  At the very least this machine will last me for a long time i'm thinking but I would trade a few years of future-proofing for a smaller price tag if able. 
 
Recorded audio is going to go to my external HDD that I am using now with Sonar 8.  I just bought it last year and it's usb 3.0 so i plan to keep using it for a little while at least.  

Hardware fan speed controllers certainly exist. Either as a unit that fits a drive bay or just resistors in a cable that connects between fan and motherboard. What the controllers do is lower the voltage to the fan.

Personally I keep fan speeds controlled by hardware, not the motherboard and BIOS.

For the fans themselves I'd be looking at 140mm, the idea being that a big fan at low rpm can push more air than a smaller fan at "full" rpm. I use Noctua fans capable of running on 5 or 7 volts, but with a controller able to run them flat out if needed. One thing to watch is that some fans which will run on 5v need more than that to get them started. The voltage can be throttled back after they're up and running.

16GB of RAM is probably adequate at the moment,
Doing a burn-in using benchmarking software that can push the cpu to 100% while monitoring cpu and other temperatures is pretty much essential to make sure everything stays in spec. A cpu won't be harmed by running a bit hotter all the time so long as it keeps under its thermal disipation limit (which Intel provide in the processor spec sheets on their website).

Personally I'd go for an i7 over an i5 if possible. For lots of everyday computing purposes the difference between an i5 and i7 isn't that noticable, but DAWs are the kind of situation where it can sometimes be quite noticable. Also a Noctua cpu cooler. A bit more expensive but they are very good indeed. If possible a fanless psu is a good idea regarding noise levels, but for cooling these are better at the bottom of the case not the usual top mounted slot. The PC in my sig has two fans, one on the cpu cooler and one case fan and doesn't get too hot even with the cpu held to 100% for several minutes, a situation I've never been near other than when testing it.

As for SSDs, using one as the C drive definitely makes things run in a snappier way. Windows and applications load much faster, and paging to the swap file is speeded up as well. They don't increase the resources available to an application once it's running though. I spool audio to one as well, but a 7200rpm SATA drive would probably be adequate. Just noisier and draw more power from the psu.

PCs nowadays are very much about the combination of parts working together rather than one component being the crucial one for avoiding a bottleneck.

If it helps, I looked at many of the same options but went with an i7-5820K because it was significantly less expensive (like $400). The mobo (ASUS X99-A) supports DDR4 RAM and uses the latest socket so upgrading the CPU at a lower price in the future is an option if really necessary. Also went with a fanless PSU, GPU and SSDs which made a big difference in noise, heat generated inside the (rack mount) case.   
 
Sonar performance has been rock solid, -no- issues at all.