Hi,
 
I ran Sonar X1&X2 on an old (2009ish) Dell laptop with a Celeron processor and never had any major problems, However it was getting a bit long in the tooth so I decided to "upgrade" to a Dell 17R with Intel I7 processor thinking it would be bulletproof but to cut a long story short it is a piece of **** so I have sold it on and I am going to build a PC for Sonar X3.
 
I am not in any way expert in computers but I have built one or two minimum spec. units for family.
Here is a list of the components I have penciled in for the build, Does anyone know of any reason I should not use any of the components listed or offer any advice before I spend my cash.
 
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 Motherboard (AMD 990FX, 4x DDR3 RAM, SATA 6GB/s, ATX, USB 3.0, MemOK!, Network iControl, Multi-GPU Support, Socket AM3+)
 
AMD FX8350 Black Edition 8 Core Processor (4.0/4.2GHz, 8MB Level 3 Cache, 8MB Level 2 Cache, Socket AM3+, 125W, Retail Boxed) - AMD
 
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL9 XMP Performance Desktop Memory Kit Black - Corsair
 
Kingston Technology 240GB Solid State Drive 2.5-inch V300 SATA 3 - 
 
Western Digital 1TB internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue (3.5 inch) - Western 
 
Asus ATI Radeon HD 5450 Silent Graphics Card (1GB, DDR3, PCI-Express) - Asus
 
Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit - Corsair
 
Thanks for any advice from any of you who are in the know 
 
Also I was planning on going with Windows 7 as I really didn't like Windows 8 on the "upgraded" laptop.
Any reason why I should persist with Windows 8? Does the version matter (home edition, Windows pro etc)?
 

I am by no means an expert but have built my own systems for a while too. I think most pro audio manufacturers (software and hardware) tend to recommend Intel, so I've always gone with those. Q6600, i7 3770, i7 2670QM I've all used with good success.
 
Not for speed per se but chipset compatibility. I'm sure many people are happy with their AMD systems too. Also, I believe generally Intel chips and NVidia video cards tend to run a little cooler (and quieter) than their AMD counterparts.
 
Just my two cents.

I am not familiar with AMD or Radeon, but definitely endorse ASUS MB and ASUS-built graphics cards. I do not see any glaring issues with the items you have there.
 
Here is a nice benchmarking site that is often useful to price shop, as the current price point is listed down the right margin. They have tabs for CPUs, video, etc. that comes in handy.
 
 

I used to be an AMD fanboy, but now I am a bandwagoner on Intel. Intel has really been kicking AMD's butt the last few years.
 
Also, Cake partners with Intel as well, so that is something to consider.
 
All of the other components look solid for a DAW. Oh, are you getting a silent/dampened case?

I have used both AMD and Intel systems, and both work fine - if built and loaded properly.
 
I do suggest you search the forum for Sabertooth issues - I saw it pop up in the last couple of days in a couple of different threads.  
 
I have to run out the door, or I would do the search for you:
 
Google terms: site:cakewalk.com forum sabertooth
 
The above should find what I mentioned.
 
Bob Bone
 

amd running very strong here.
I use 2 of them, one an 8 core bulldozer, the other a 6 core phenom 2
intel used to be all I ever used till I started building affordable pc's using AMD Cpu's.

Famous brands preferred for all components of stable system. From motherboard to power supply unit. I prefer Gigabyte for motherboard and videocard, Intell i5 or i7 CPU, Chieftec for Power Supply, Samsung RAM, Seagate HDD. 

If you're considering ever flipping in another hard disk and booting hackintosh, Intel, Gigabyte and NVidia are safer bets too.
If you're not, I have no other opinion on or experience with the listed parts :)

Thanks for all your input guys,
 
I have done some more research and can go the Intel route for not much more expense using an I7 4770K and gigabyte D3H MOBO. 

Sanderxpander
If you're considering ever flipping in another hard disk and booting hackintosh, Intel, Gigabyte and NVidia are safer bets too.

This is one of the reasons I might go with Intel as I was interested in the whole Hackintosh thing a while back but since dropped it, Have you done this yourself?
 

hockeyjx
 
All of the other components look solid for a DAW. Oh, are you getting a silent/dampened case?

 
I hadn't given much thought to the case but have since opted for a coolermaster dampened case, cheers.
 
Thanks again everyone, Anyone any thoughts on windows 7 vs 8 debacle, I really dislike the feel of Windows 8 but I'm guessing the new way of working with Windows is not gonna go away.
 
 
 
 

I had no problems with stability of Windows 7 64 and have no plan to use Win 8 at near time.