A year and a half ago, I put together a new music computer:
 
Windows 7
ASUS Z97-A motherboard
Intel Core i&-4790 Devil's Canyon Quad Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1150
Intel 730 Series 2.5" 480 GB Internal Solid State
32 GB G.SKILL TridentX Series 240-pin DDR3 PC3 19200 SDRAM
1000-watt power supply
ASUS GTX750-PHOC-1GD5 G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 1 GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 video card
4 Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST1000NM0033 1 TB 7200 RPM 128 MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
HDSPe AIO sound card with expansion input and output cards
 
I knew it would take me a week or two to install all my music software, which includes a lot of EastWest orchestral instruments, Native Instruments, EZ Drummer and Superior Drummer, etc., and it did. I'm using the latest version of SONAR, by the way. I couldn't afford to get all solid-state drives, so only the primary is solid-state. The sound samples are on non-primary drives that aren't solid-state. I fought the computer for another few weeks trying to eliminate the audio stuttering in SONAR. Turns out there were a couple of things I had to turn off on the Z97-A motherboard that got rid of most of the problems. But all of my previous projects have audio glitches when I try to play them back. Completely new projects don't seem to have the same issues, but I still get occasional audio hiccups. My frustration has been so great that I really haven't done much with music for nearly a year. Even though I'm a computer nerd, at some point I tire of fighting the computer and just want to make music.
 
I've already trouble-shot with various programs that detect where audio problems are, but I've already done everything the programs recommend and still have the problems. Is it because my primary drive is solid state and the rest are normal drives? The Z97-A motherboard is one that's used frequently for DAWs, so I don't think it's the motherboard. Is it my (extremely expensive) RME HDSPe sound card?
 
I may wipe the drive and start from scratch, but I almost lost my girlfriend a year and a half ago because it was so grueling getting everything set up again. I was cranky and preoccupied for weeks. The computer I put together was supposed to be a "super computer," and certainly the most powerful I'd ever built. But it's just not working well with SONAR.
 
I'd like to get back to making music. And in addition to everything else, my plug-ins aren't showing up on the SONAR menus as they should.
 
Advice appreciated, but keep in mind I'm a computer geek and have already done everything possible as far as motherboard settings. I can swap out the motherboard if it's problematic, but I really don't think that's the issue.
 
Thanks,
 
Kevin

eubieQ
Is it because my primary drive is solid state and the rest are normal drives? The Z97-A motherboard is one that's used frequently for DAWs, so I don't think it's the motherboard. Is it my (extremely expensive) RME HDSPe sound card?

FWIW, I use mechanical drives and don't have a problem with stuttering/glitches.
 
Have you tried different driver modes and buffer settings?
 
Do you have an another interface/sound card to test against?

Hello Kevin,
hope you will get soon rid of your  isssues.
You wrote that you are a computer nerd and that we have to keep 
that in mind before answering :
Does that mean that the reason for your issues can´t be 
a simple error which could happen to everybody in this community ?
 
I would like to help, but don´t want to be attacked cause of asking basic question,Ok ?

eubieQ
But all of my previous projects have audio glitches when I try to play them back. Completely new projects don't seem to have the same issues, but I still get occasional audio hiccups.

That is a bit ambiguous. If you were having glitches when you ran the projects the first time, then obviously, the glitches are likely to have been recorded in any audio files that were rendered at that time. If there was no audio recorded previously, then you are looking at an old project that cannot presently create new audio without "glitches." What are your glitches and when do they happen?

All my previous projects, which were recorded before I built the new computer, played back fine on the old computer but stutter on the new computer. And the old computer wasn't nearly as powerful as the new one.

slartabartfast

eubieQ
But all of my previous projects have audio glitches when I try to play them back. Completely new projects don't seem to have the same issues, but I still get occasional audio hiccups.

That is a bit ambiguous. If you were having glitches when you ran the projects the first time, then obviously, the glitches are likely to have been recorded in any audio files that were rendered at that time. If there was no audio recorded previously, then you are looking at an old project that cannot presently create new audio without "glitches." What are your glitches and when do they happen?

No glitches on the old computer. Audio glitches, at least one or two "stutters," when playing back the same projects on the new computer.

eubieQ
The Z97-A motherboard is one that's used frequently for DAWs, so I don't think it's the motherboard. Is it my (extremely expensive) RME HDSPe sound card?

 
Have you tried moving the RME card to a different PCI-e slot?

For that matter, have you contacted RME support? I'm assuming you have the latest drivers and firmware and have tried various buffer sizes and driver modes?

On my latest high powered laptop, disabling C-States in the BIOS made a big difference.

A few things to check.
 
Make sure you have all the onboard Z97 sound card(s) and drivers disabled. Check that your video cards haven't loaded some HDCP audio drivers as well.
 
A reboot always helps too. I have an app or drivers that cause Sonar to be really laggy. I haven't narrowed down what it is yet but the timeline lurches during playback and, if the lag gets bad enough it surfaces in the midi VST's and hiccups in the sound. I have found that restarting windows explorer helps sometimes but usually a reboot is best.
 
I wish I could find which app triggers all the other issues with extra services spawning but no luck yet.