My OLD DAW (AMD 8 core with Gigabyte Motherboard) had the same issue.  I never could get rid of it.  So I made the 8 core my "Media" server with 2 TB Windows storage drives.  That is where I back everything up.
 
I was using the i3 (ASUS motherboard) as the Media server.  Just repurposed both of them and all is quiet now!
 
 

Here's the update. The machine has really gone bonkers now and it's practically a waste of time trying to even listen to MP3's or YouTube on it now. The guy who built it thinks it's the mother board. Whatever it is, I think that computer is soon to be retired and scrapped. It's just not worth it anymore. Something is really wrong with it, and it keeps getting worse, and there is no need spending money doing exploratory surgery when the same money can be applied to a good laptop.
 
This is the new plan. He's going to use one of my MacBooks and start with Logic while waiting for SONAR to come out for MAC. If he can get SONAR to work good on the MAC then I hope his problems are solved. A Windows laptop was discussed and was the original plan, but I cautioned him that there is no guarantee that any Windows laptop will work, but it's practically guaranteed that Logic is going to work on a MAC, and since SONAR for MAC is scheduled for release any time now, he's changed his mind to try the MAC. It's mine and he can use it all he wants for free until he sees if all this is going to work. That's the safest route.
 
We don't want to get into an technical licensing issue, so if any of this is outside the Cakewalk policy, please let us know. For all practical purposes the MacBook will be his, even before he purchases it. He's just getting a 30 day test drive like most other warranties provide. He will put his X3 on it when it's ready for Mac and after he has possession of the MacBook. I'm not transferring anything that has a Cakewalk product already on it. I don't think it matters to Apple if Logic goes with a machine that is sold.
 
If I'm wrong about the licensing, please let me know.
 
Thanks!
DS

JustGotPaid
This is the new plan. He's going to use one of my MacBooks and start with Logic while waiting for SONAR to come out for MAC. If he can get SONAR to work good on the MAC then I hope his problems are solved. A Windows laptop was discussed and was the original plan, but I cautioned him that there is no guarantee that any Windows laptop will work, but it's practically guaranteed that Logic is going to work on a MAC, and since SONAR for MAC is scheduled for release any time now, he's changed his mind to try the MAC. It's mine and he can use it all he wants for free until he sees if all this is going to work. That's the safest route.

I've been running SONAR on a stock HP laptop since 2009. I don't understand your concern.

My concern is that he's had so much trouble that he wants something that is basically guaranteed to work so he can start recording and enjoying this again. He's been fighting this fight for weeks, if not well over a month. He hasn't had the best luck with Windows. You have been running SONAR on Windows since 2009 without any trouble, but he has a relatively new and certainly powerful desktop machine that is buggy and snake-bit. It's just not going to work.
 
I'm running Platinum on a HP also, and it works fine. However, I attempted a trial of one of the SONAR programs on another laptop recently without the same good results. It may just need updates, and I'm still working with it, so eventually it may work fine. But he'll be getting to test a machine to try with no obligations, and if he likes it he can buy it for half of what a comparable new Windows 10 laptop would cost.
 
I know my MacBook runs Logic without a hitch. I'm not much of a Logic fan, but it's rock solid and compatibility is never an issue. I don't see why SONAR won't run fine on this Macbook when it's MAC ready. In that case he will have two good recording programs on the same laptop. He is a very dedicated SONAR guy, and so am I now, but Apple has lots of loops and other fun stuff that I like working with from time to time and I'm sure he will too.
 
We both strongly prefer SONAR, but if he's going to see how he likes Apple he might as well have Logic also to work with now while we wait for the Mac ready version of SONAR.
 
DS

Makes sense!

JustGotPaid
... he wants something that is basically guaranteed to work so he can start recording and enjoying this again. 

This should be the Serenity Prayer for DAW users.

I have a tablet that runs Sonar Platinum. It has a 4 core Atom CPU and only 2 GB of memory running Windows 10 UA. I have a Laptop a Lenovo Thinkpad X220T that has an i7 dual core with hyperthreading and 4 GB memory running Windows 10 AU. (I will be increasing the memory to 8GB soon and upgrade to 64 bit on it.) This laptop is a full fledge laptop and a tablet with pen and touch input.  It runs Sonar very well indeed and my custom built by me desktop running Windows 10 AU 64 bit with a Q6600 and 8GB memory.  
 
All of them run Sonar well. The X220T is good to go for remote recording with a proper multi input USB audio interface. 
 
Nothing wrong with a Macbook but one can get a great laptop running Windows that is a fraction of the cost especially if you go with a refurbished one as I did. 
 
 

A computer guaranteed to work well as a DAW...  
Hmmm... I wonder where you can find something like that?   

I agree with John and Jim, and many others here. I agree with the "great computer" notion of MS Windows. I deplore the world of Apple, but like many, I tried it and it was always an uncomfortable foreign language in an uncomfortable foreign land.
 
Jim, my disclaimer was "basically guaranteed!" Haha. I think Logic on a Mac comes pretty close to that. His frustration level is out the roof...and I was afraid he was going to throw that snack-bit computer off the roof too! He finally gave it to his son the other day and he and some college buddies are going to change mother boards and trick it out every way they can in hopes of making it a gamer. They are a good age to attempt that and will probably do something that will make them all look like a genius.
 
Basically he's going to borrow my MacBook and try Logic while we wait for a Mac-ready version of Sonar to be available. The MacBook is several years old and it will be a friend-to-friend discount just to help him get back to recording. That's the only free route for the interim, and Logic on a Mac is the safest bet I know of when it comes to compatibility. If he can get his paid version of X3 Studio (I think it's called.) to run good on the MacBook I'll sell it to him cheap.
 
Ideally, we both want to be on a Windows laptop with Sonar so we can carry our recorders back and forth when we visit. Portability has always been very important to me, and he sees how convenient it is, and we live 15 miles apart in different towns, so we have to travel some with our song projects.
 
Totally off topic, but do we have any Nashville SONAR users on the forum here?
 
I'll keep you updated, and I appreciate all of these really interesting ideas, experiences, and discussion on all of this.
DS

Jim Roseberry
A computer guaranteed to work well as a DAW...  
Hmmm... I wonder where you can find something like that?   

From StudioCat.com of course and still probably cheaper than a MAC.