konradh - That's a bummer! I feel for you.

I don't think the issue is with the software, at least the products. What you've listed are solid products and what you're experiencing is obviously unfortunate but is not normal. The symptoms you describe are totally abnormal for those products.

Whatever route you take for redoing your hardware and installs thereafter, I suggest you also keep a series of back-ups of your successful system versions with a product like Acronis. You might already do that. But with something like that it's fairly painless to roll back to a previous install state on a very complicated system in case something you install starts screwing everything up. That's a "by the way" suggestion. Doesn't help your current status unfortunately.

Are there more than one? Jim the one that builds DAW computers and is a very respected fellow here.  My problem is I can't remember how to spell his last name. 

Jim Roseberry from StudioCat...

Beepster
I'd be PO'd if I ordered a fancy DAW system and they let a rookie build it unsupervised. Letting him have a crack at it AGAIN afterward would be unforgiveable. I was looking at those Creation Stations before I decided to just build my own. Glad I didn't go that route.
 
And I think John means Jim Roseberry from StudioCat.
 
Hope you get it sorted. That sounds like a nightmare.

I built my own rig too, and although I don't have V-Studio 700, I didn't have any issues 
....BUT....one thing I learned before I proceeded was how very easy it could be to ruin an IC board component or even the MoBo itself simply by ignoring the anti-static precautions:
ie: not wearing an anti-static wrist band, or simply grounding one's self to the chassis regularly before sticking their hands in there.
 
Now I do highly doubt that would be it, but they don't warn us about that for nothing.
 
My point is, that if some 'monkey' who does this all day, day after day for Sweetwater got lazy & complacent, then he could have easily let his work ethic slip, [as evident everywhere these days], and caused some unforeseen, but hard to trace damage.
 
At this point, and after that kind of money, I'd definitely call Jim Roseberry.
 
I'd also consider trying a new hard drive at the very least and start fresh, but I'd call Jim first.
 
That rig should still carry a warranty as well.
Even my MoBo came with a one year warranty even though I built the rig myself.

Most here including me think it is definitely a hardware issue. I had a similar issue years ago when building a new system for SONAR 8 and after a week of trying everything in the book, it turned out to be a motherboard incompatible with my ECHO Layla. All other hardware was fine and once I replaced the motherboard, it was as fast and stable as can be.
 
I would think Sweetwater would be knowledgeable enough to be aware of those kinds of concerns before building their systems, but who knows. I've since researched the hell out of every hardware component combination before building a new system. 
Good luck. Sounds like a sweet setup worth saving.

What about downloading another [demo] DAW ?
And see if you still have the same problems, before any major PC overhaul, and more cash spending.
Just a thought....
 
 
Garry

Garry's got a good idea. Download Reaper and give it a try.  It's fully functional for 60 days I think and only a 9 meg download.  If you're still having problems then you can rule out Sonar as the culprit and you haven't spent a penny.  Then you can focus on other areas that might be causing problems....process of elimination.

apguitar
Most here including me think it is definitely a hardware issue. I had a similar issue years ago when building a new system for SONAR 8 and after a week of trying everything in the book, it turned out to be a motherboard incompatible with my ECHO Layla. All other hardware was fine and once I replaced the motherboard, it was as fast and stable as can be.
 
I would think Sweetwater would be knowledgeable enough to be aware of those kinds of concerns before building their systems, but who knows. I've since researched the hell out of every hardware component combination before building a new system. 
Good luck. Sounds like a sweet setup worth saving.

It was a bridged PCI board, wasn't it? I had the exact same thing happen to me with my ASUS MOBO and my Layla. I actually did get it working with some optimization tips from Cake support but by that time I had just bought a new interface anyway because I figured I might as well have ALL my gear up to date and I liked the USB angle if I ever wanted to move the interface to my other systems without ripping everything apart. The layla is now back on my old system but I have the drivers installed on the new one in case I ever want to make use of the 8 outs (my new interface only has two monitor outs and a headphone jack). One cool thing though is supposedly I can daisy chain the Layla to my new unit and get an extra 8 inputs which brings me up to 16 (18 if I count SPDIF).
 
It was a very dark day though when I realized after all my research that my motherboard wasn't the perfect fit for my set up. No where had I ever read abotu the bridge vs. native PCI problem and even if I had the specs on the ASUS don't mention this aspect at all. Sneaky.

@jimusic... lol. You should have seen me building my rig. I was so paranoid I was gonna break something I spent far more time double checking myself and my procedures than actually building. Open MOBO box, touch case, pull MOBO out of static bag set down on non conductive surface, touch case, reposition case, touch case, pick up MOBO by edges and dry fit, touch case, pick up screwdriver, touch case, etc...
 
At least my OCD tendencies came in handy for a change. I actually STILL touch the case or the steel legs on my desk or the coax poles on my power bar before powering up. I do get quite a bit of static in here though so it's not me just being crazy... mostly. ;-)
 

Hi Konrad,
 
First, step back and take a deep breath.
Technical issues can be annoying/irritating/etc.
 
You could test the RAM and run stress-tests on the existing build... but it sounds like this has been done before.
Since you're having such strange issues (likely hardware related), I'd recommend swapping out the motherboard, processor, RAM, and the PS.  Not cheap... but it would ensure you're starting from a solid foundation.
Once assembled, test the RAM prior to loading the OS.
Once the OS is loaded/configured/tweaked, stress-test to ensure the build is rock-solid.
Now, load the audio interface/hardware... and then load Sonar and other DAW software.
Make sure the VS is not connected to a USB3 port.
 
Step-by-step... you can resolve any PC related issue.