Chasing down system hangs.

So I'm slowly wringing out my new DAW build (in sig) and very recently I've started getting SONAR hangs of up to 45 seconds just waiting for it to think about something as simple as a NOW time jump or a play start. Commands cue up, so when I angrily hit the spacebar ten more times when I get a hang there reaches a point where SONAR tries execute all of those commands (I know I know, I need anger mgmt classes!)
 
Not sure if this was caused by a recent Win10 update or a driver problem...anyone have a good recipe for tracking down what is causing this hang-time issue?

Do you mean it might be causing it? 

Ditch all the crap you really don't need in Win 10:
 
http://www.tenforums.com/...ws-10-a.html#option2s4

Before making any changes, I'd recommend creating a backup image file of the OS (just in case).
We had a client who uninstalled Windows apps (via normal uninstall routine)... and it caused problems with Windows Start Button.
 
The OP is running fairly recent make hardware... so I'm not sure some of those Win10 "Tweaks for high CPU use" are relevant.
 
The OP can open Task Manager and see what's hitting the CPU.
Latency Mon would also be a good tool to use.
 
Many motherboards come with software "Tuning Utilities".
If left running in the background, these often cause high DPC Latency and affect performance.
Make sure the app is closed (not running in the background) after Windows starts.
 
If TeamViewer is installed, make sure it's not running in the background.
 
The OP should also check Windows Updates settings... (disable any type of automatic or sharing/sending settings)

...wicked
Here's the thing: Task Manager doesn't show anything hitting the CPU very hard. DPC checker shows occasional bursts into the red, even with wireless off. 
 

If you've got DPC Latency hitting into the Red... that'll kill performance.
If you've got the motherboard utility running in the background, that could certainly cause huge DPC Latency spikes.

Sorry to hear your having problems. I was having a problem with static and a few other things with my PC and it is an i7 with 16MB's also. I found this tutorial and followed it to tweak out  my PC and it fixed my problems with recording. Only in my case, I'm no expert but I think my problems had to do with the PC's Core Parking, there's a tweak in this Tutorial that tells you how to turn that off in the registry. Although make sure you have everything backed up before trying it.  
 
Anyway, thought I would mention this in case it might help you. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be to know your PC can do what you want it to do with ease but still have problems.  I hope you get it fixed. Best of luck!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwLzg0GJhoA