Hey guys. My daw finally died. I was going to buy one from studiocat, but my budget won't allow it.
I have 1,000.00. I've decided to build one myself. Need help selecting components. Case, motherboard, operating system, everything. I use a Motu 896HD firewire, and a Mackie pro control. I checked out tigerdirect tonight, but there are allot of choices. Again, I have 1000.00 to spend. This DAW will be used for my trio only. A typical song contains 20 tracks at best, I use EZ drummer, and maybe 2 vsti's in a song, I run sonar producer 8.5.3 Thanks in advance for your help.

I've been searching the forum all morning, and reading similar posts with recommendations. This is mind boggling to say the least LOL...
I'm just looking to build something solid. It's for audio only. No gaming, no internet.
I am definately keeping my motu 896hd which is firewire, and my Mackie pro control (USB) 
 
Need input for:
MoBo
CPU
Memory 8 gis will do it.
Power supply
Case
Video card
Hard drives
Operating system
 
Again. I typically do maybe 20 to 25 tracks total, using sonar producer 8.53. Have no interest in X1. EZ drummer, very rarely use libraries.
 
Thanks again.
 
 

Studiocat's DAWs start only $1059 according to the current pricing on the website, and that configuration can easily handle what your needs are and much more. Do yourself a HUGE favor and save a few extra dollars to get a truly professionally designed/tested DAW... not to mention Jim's YEARS of DAW experience and outstanding support to back it up.

+1 for studio Cat

Some suggestions:

1. GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
2. Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
3. G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
4. Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply
5. LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
6. No Video Card needed (MOBO has Onboard Graphics)
7. Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
8. Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
9. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit – OEM
10. ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS – OEM

Everything above for about $994 at Newegg.

Good luck! 
 

PapaBear

Some suggestions:

1. GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
2. Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
3. G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
4. Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply
5. LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
6. No Video Card needed (MOBO has Onboard Graphics)
7. Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
8. Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
9. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit – OEM
10. ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS – OEM

Everything above for about $994 at Newegg.

Good luck! 
 

+1 for Newegg, they have good people there to help you out with any questions tht you might have.

Thanks PapaBear.. I forgot to mention that I run dual monitors. My Motu 896hd is firewire. Should I be looking at a mobo with a firewire port, or will my TI firewire pci card be fine? Also, what do you recommend for a video card? Thanks again. 

a) The mobo I suggested has a firewire port (1 x IEEE - 1394a - 400Mbps)
b) Radeon HD5450 should be fine (and silent enough)

Just wonderin' Why you don't use a laptop if this is for live work?
My wifes Lenovo Thinkpad i5 with 6 Gigs RAM 500 gig HD W7 premium  cost just shy of a grand and it works most excellently with Sonar. CPU doesn't even move and DPCLAT meter reads under 50 with the wirerless ON.

Cactus, This isn't for live work.