I found this
 
https://developer.apple.c...hunderboltDevGuide.pdf

Both of the people trying to help you are well known and respected DAW PC builders.  Heed what they are telling you.

I am heeding their words...But I found in past builds, in XP and win 7 that firewire for me and my audio desk solutions I bought into...Do not work as intended here...while usb is in play, and internet are on...or when other cards like uad card is added in to the pot luck....irq resource management with win 7 is or has been iffy with me, and unaddressable...xp does no have the memory capacities I need...I also do video work, and animation is next.
 
All I need is to know this new build, and using TB and it's setup....I have the firewire adapter solution that works better than Pryor builds I made myself with those older systems....
This one I just made Z87 TB quad, is making very good recordings, an dplay back....if not stellar ones...and the midi works, and the usb is working ok...still a bit slow in showing things when I click on those drives...WD My book rendering up the content on them though..perhaps the dongles and ilok and code meter is also bogging down the usb?.
 
I mean no disrespect to anyone , but I thought I would try this out, to its  fullness of possibilities, asking others who might know how to, or more about it,... in setting it up right....and set it up as they say, or try to to see if it is better than pryor experiences...which I have confessed here on these forms I was witnessing,.... and now the things I am experiencing with TB...so others can draw from it as well.....if it is fruitful for others that is.
 
I have all the cards I need..(stated, to do that test they are asking I do)....I do not need to buy another Firewire card, as I have the one they are telling me works, and others I put in to the plié of old.., to gain the same problems in other builds...not saying it will happen here on this build with the z87...but I want to try the TB setup.
 
...And if I put a card into the PCIe x1 slot. well that is another IRQ used and shared..somewhere at random boot ups..Right?....why do that , when what I said about it, and MS win 7 are true...from other Coders words Like Avid, and even MS could not solve when they came in to try to solve the crashing, clicks and pops and drop outs that should not of been happening.....supposedly said by Jim and JCS, Bob, and Alex and others in past experiences told me to follow in....So forgive my fears please.....this troubleshooting cost a lot of bingo buttons.
 
Not mocking them, or disrespecting them, or the technologies that work for some......not going back is a good thing I think for now, so I can get some work done in doing what I bought all this stuff for...and learning how to...use for the intended purpose of making music.
 
Perhaps this Z87 Quad build will work better with firewire adapter this time..??..I do not know that yet? Seems I do know it is working better than previous builds,..... it seems to have no clicks or pops or dropouts at all...the way I am using it now...with the lowest latency buffer settings to the highest...again not sure why...but it is as I say here....perhaps not setting it up right is my solution for that?///lol.
 
Perhaps when I get the New Mac in place and setup in the booth as primary system for recording....I can then fiddle around, and play risk, and use this z87 for internet and such, and the Mac for the recording end of things or vise versa....depending on outcomes of testing this over that...when I have time to do so...and troubleshooting fool again hat put on....and make Bob and Alex frustrated in my muse again with Jim and JSC onboard?...and hate me again for telling the truth, they did not believe...but surely found to be true in the end with my old system and the conflicts and problems that arouse in that mead festing consumption of chaos, and hair loss, and burnout.
 
So thanks for the input, and info, and all that...Blessing and thanks are given....right now , I am testing TB and the adapter....Just that small problem, of little if any harm to the system or software state of working, and the work around works for now....So no worries, Just thinking perhaps I am missing something in the bios settings that might help Sonar find the driver faster, so it is not found un detected when opening or working in sonar ...as it has not happened lately, After the work around....the work around works when ever it happens....So, that is something working out, the not working so perfectly issue, to get it working....no worries yet found with it as such.
 
In the other state of past experiences...I could not even open old projects without crashing, or new ones made...freezing and getting corrupted files, and cpu spiking to extremes with nothing in the project....it is all posted in the sonar forms....if you want a detailed reference point of my experiences following techs here...to look deeper into..starting fresh with them, and installing the drivers...and it started all over again....till that system died...in troubleshooting foolishness....going round in circles...not saying it will happen here and now...but...let us be mindful of....
 
I am now using USB Motu Pre 4 and UAD on the Pro tools x58 Asus work station rig....Still buggy.
 
Not sure why....?...IRQ sharing, and services running in the background that cannot be turned off no doubt.... 
 
And now moved to this system as new trial with TB....and it is working pretty well as it is....So why tempt fait, and go backwards at this point of bliss?...is all I am saying to them?....Let us give it a go as is...it is working...no crashes!....and it is freaking fast with the ssd's....not like the old x58 build....that is now in the garbage pile.
 
So reflection dictates Improvements in technologies?..coding?...drivers?..bios?...conduct?,..and build, and newer chipsets and or new mouse driven bios implementation for the os perhaps has been done some how to make it better for me?.
 
Once the Bios TB is setup correctly....perhaps the OS and software will work perfectly?
 
As this is new to me, and I have no clue about it much....surely every word is my mind to listen to about it....and hang on in anticipation for!
 
I have enough Firewire cards to build a tank.....So no worries there....when the hat is put on for that fun roller coaster ride on this system, I will take notes for it again for it to be or not be, or just come and see what others have done to get it working....as there are many here and other places I know of with more than enough info on firewire cards on pcie buss slots and such....but thanks for the words to spur thought of doing if all else fails now.
 
 

Ok...here is the deal of my intended setup thoughts...First make it simple, make it work, then add the UAD PCIe 1x card. so I can finally use those plug ins I bought into...way back in time...which I have never got to use, because of Troubleshooting and crashing on all my older x58/79 builds trying to do so with.
.
If I put a firewire card into one of those two slots on this board, as suggested I do,...Both slots share something on this board....
So the one that is most likely to be trouble free, I want to reserved for the uad eventually if I need it at all?...well I bought it for helping in master and mixing , to help reduce cpu loads when using plug ins ...for in future, to put that UAD card into service.
 
It is not rocket science....it is solving a issue before it occurs....The more cards you put into any system, the more IRQ issues will arise in shared states.=  making it unstable.....I build systems as well....But audio systems are difficult, and thus some builders have tricks and tweaks?, under secret formula rendered?, or parts used?, which I do not follow in or of that method....and thus, I have had trouble with in doing, when Buying MBs...or video, mouse, or controller cards....with my limited funds over time.
 
I have turned off all redundant Devices on this MB in the bios of this z87 quad....Just the HD audio stuff is on for Midi playback, GM XG GS sounds and the midi inputs are assigned to (sometimes I turn that off,  to see if it was confusing Sonar, and it was not)..Allen and Heath is set in MS control panel as Primary sound device, System sounds are disabled, and I have tried to make the HD onboard sound system Primary....same issue in Sonar,......and the necessary setups I usually do turning off speed step, and such virtual tech In Bios have been done as well.....
 
So in last ditch thoughts....I walk back to the TB Bios setup...to see if that is done correctly??/ before I add in that UAD card.
 
So a method of my madness...has now been revealed....Hope Jim and Jcs and others can now address things more to that TB bios setup...than the other firewire solution...for now?
 
Sorry to be a pest.....But I have a dream...I might just ditch the UAD card. and buy into the firewire rendition, and put a adapter to TB on that..and use my mastering plug ins I bought from them UAD folk..perhaps?

I have very similar DAW specs. I built it back in February and after a few minor hiccups, I have it running like a top. I do run a very lean machine for audio use only and I have no AV apps installed either (I have a dedicated computer for web surfing). I use the onboard video (no extra video card), which is all you need for DAW work. I disabled all devices from the BIOS that I did not need for DAW work (extra USB ports, extra SATA ports, HD audio controller, Realtek LAN controller, etc. to free up IRQ's and resources). I do have a dedicated FW800 PCIe card (Sonnet Allegro), a UAD-2 QUAD PCIe card and a UAD-2 SOLO PCIe card installed. I also use an Apollo QUAD connected directly to one of the dual Thunderbolt 2.0 ports (BTW, the Apollo works flawlessly whether using the TB port or the FW800 PCIe card). Do you have the latest ASUS release updates for BIOS (1802) and Intel Thunderbolt driver (1.4.0.1)?  It looks like ASUS has just released a new "beta" BIOS update (2003). My advice is to disable all unneeded devices from the BIOS and make sure you have the latest MB related updates installed. HD audio controllers are notorious for creating issues with external audio devices and contributing to DPC latency issues (I've always kept it disabled in my DAW builds). Try disabling it and see if it helps. I was having high DPC issues with Win 8.1 Pro x64, but after I went back in and disabled a few more unneeded devices in the BIOS, it is practically non-existent now. You may have to go to a barebones DAW setup and start building up from there (adding devices one by one to see what works and what doesn't) and just experiment via trial and error, which is basically what I did over the first few weeks to see what worked and performed best. 
 
This is what I currently have connected to my DAW's external/internal ports:
External:
Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse combo: USB 2.0 port
Edirol UM-1S Midi Interface: USB 2.0 port
Frontier Tranzport Wireless DAW Controller: USB 2.0 port
iLok 2: USB 2.0 port
Apollo QUAD: Thunderbolt 2.0 port
 
Internal:
UAD-2 QUAD PCIe: PCIe 1x slot
UAD-2 SOLO PCIe: PCIe 1x slot
Sonnet Allegro FW800 PCIe: PCIe 1x slot
 
 
Full Thunderbolt DAW Rig specs:

-Win8.1 Pro x64
-Intel i7 4770k (3.50Ghz)
-ASUS Z87 Deluxe/Quad (BIOS 1802)
-16GB RAM (Corsair Vengence 1600 DDR3 8GBx2)
-Primary Display: 24" ASUS VH242 LCD Monitor 1920x1080 32-bit ("millions")
 -Internal SSD: (1) Corsair M500 240GB SSD (OS/Apps)
-Internal HD:(2) WD 500GB SATA (Samples)
-Internal HD:(1) WD 1TBGB SATA (Storage/Projects)
-External HD:(1) IDE to USB 2.0 enclosure
-ASUS DVDRW OEM SATA
-iStarUSA D400 Server case
-Corsair 600W CXMOD PS
-MS Wireless Keyboard/mouse combo
-Frontier TranzPort (v1.5.0.0)
-Edirol UM-1S MIDI Interface (v2.0.0.0)
-iLOK 2
-(1) Apollo QUAD w/TB I/O, UAD v 7.7 
-(1) UAD-2 QUAD PCIe
-(1) UAD-2 SOLO PCIe
-(1) Sonnet Allegro FW800 PCIe
 
Good luck,
 
Billy Buck

THANKS Billy Buck for all that info....
 
I have the bios 1802 update waiting next to install...(but to set up the TB in the Bios properly, will be somewhat the same problems being faced when done, like they are now?.)...So a bit more of that info please, might help in getting it right....?...and I will do the update, if it fixes things?...They say don't fix what is not broken....Not sure it is here yet as so...one step at a time, as you say, is what I am doing...And it is working Great in comparison to the older builds....So...Yah, back to setting up the Bios TB settings....and then a check to see if something there is helping, then the newer bios....not really wanting to test Bata for Asus...But that may help if the 1802 is buggy?....You seem to have that snuffed, and state something along the lines as myself in having things working....With PC TB flawlessly....That is what I want, and I am getting there almost to that bliss....lol...ok not going to buy Apollo (not enough inputs for me), but they do offer a Firewire UAD external box...that might be my cup of tea, or glass of mead to salute next?
 
Again thanks for the help people, You are the best at what you all do for so many....Blessing and cheers to all!

Also Billy claims he is using wi fi....Seems I read that wi fi is not something to use when working with audio...So is TB helping Billy achieve this ?...also filling up all those pcie slots with all the uad cards and others...wow....now that must mean something is newer in something with these boards...as something like that in older builds would be a nightmare to resolve irq issue in my mind....
 
win 8.1?...not ready yet to relearn the ins and outs of that...or pop another bingo button on yet....win 7 64bit Professional retail, and ultimate ,is about as far into this at this time, I think I need to go....?
I do not need touch screen, or use of applets....I also believe that a more robust video card solution with dedicated memory helps reduce MB memory issues....So I think my solution is of merit, and is working to some degree...although I  may be wrong.?...time will tell I guess...

Sir Les.....(but to set up the TB in the Bios properly, will be somewhat the same problems being faced when done, like they are now?.)...So a bit more of that info please, might help in getting it right....?...and I will do the update, if it fixes things?

 
I pretty much have kept the TB BIOS settings at their defaults. I tried experimenting with different settings and I did not see any difference in performance or stability so I reset them back to their defaults. Other than having the latest ASUS TB driver (the one that came on the ASUS driver CDROM did not work with my Apollo using TB)  it is pretty much stock settings.
 
 

...but they do offer a Firewire UAD external box...that might be my cup of tea, or glass of mead to salute next?

 
If you have a choice between a UAD PCIe card or an external FW Satellite,  you should always get the PCIe. Much better performance and stability. The only advantage the FW Satellite gives is portability. Now should UA decide to release a TB Satellite (highly likely in the near future and probably featuring an OCTO option), then that would make it the choice du jour for UAD-2 DSP (offering both performance and portability)!  
 
Cheers,
 
Billy Buck
 

Thanks Billy again for the input...I am seeking, but not getting, I will now go and do the bios update....with your affirming  of it being something with that?.....I still think I have to use the legacy selection in Bios to make the A & L zed work though.....I am waiting on some input from them at A & L on that.... I will post the info when they , if they reply to my ticket....so others may find something in that of use in setting up shop with TB 2 ports on PC.
 
Have a wonderful day all....and stay tuned in!.....

Sir Les
Also Billy claims he is using wi fi....Seems I read that wi fi is not something to use when working with audio...

 
I actually have WiFi disabled. I have the Intel LAN enabled (disabled the Realtek LAN), as I do connect to the internet
via hardwire to get DAW related updates and authorizations (ASUS website, DAW app updates, plug-in updates, UAD, Toontrack, Native Instruments, Slate, IKM, etc). If I am web surfing I have another computer (with active AV installled) for that.
 

 
win 8.1?...not ready yet to relearn the ins and outs of that...or pop another bingo button on yet....win 7 64bit 

I was using Win 7 Pro x64 on my previous DAW (which is now my dedicated internet computer). But I want to eventually go to touch screen (using SONAR X3e of course) and since I was able to get an OEM version of Win 8 Pro x64 for $69 online (with a free upgrade to v8.1), it was a no brainer for me to use it for my new DAW build. Truthfully, I actually like Win 8.1 better than Win 7, especially since 8.1 brought back many of the Win 7 features (Start menu and such) and it has been super stable and has worked with most everything that I had been using previously in Win 7. Most importantly, my Apollo has been working flawlessly on it. So I think I made the right decision to future proof my system until the next decade! I typically build a DAW to last 6-7 years (I am on my third DAW build since 2000).