Rockbox I7 Desktop versus MusicXPC M6 Laptop

[Annabelle]

I want to try to invest in the desktop equivalent of my music machine. The current one I have is a MusicXPC M6 Laptop, and it seems that twice a year, my laptop seems to be doing that blue screen thing. What happens is, I go to record in Sonar, and after a few minutes of recording, the whole machine shuts down then restarts itself. Then, it gives me the message, "Microsoft Windows Dialog. Windows has just recovered from a serious Error." Someone told me that this is a thermal issue. Can you explain what that means? What the heck is up with this blue screen thing? What do I do next? I was wondering, should I get the Rockbox I7? I heard about your computers through Maurice McConnell, a sales representative at Guitar Center in Eugene, Oregon. 541-689-1820. This computer I'm looking for is a desktop, with an Intel 8Core Processor, and I believe the price is $1999. Here are the specifications of my current studio configuration.
Hardware:
Computer: MusicXPC M6 Laptop
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
CPU Speed: 2.5 GHZ
Ram: 4GB
Internal Hard Drive: 250GB
Lacie D2 Quadra External Hard Drive (1TB)
Roland Fantom XR Sound Machine Kawai CP150 Digital Piano
Akai MPK49 MIDI Controller
Radikal Technologies Sac2.2 Mixing Machine
MOTU 896HD Audio Interface
SPL Pass EQ
Focusrite Red3 Dual Compressor And Limiter
Lexicon MX400XL Effects Machine
Furman PL8 Power Conditioner
Canon MF6500 Copy Machine
Viewplus Tiger Professional Braille Printer
EasyBraille Portable Braille Display
Software:
Windows XP Professional 2003 32bit, with Service pack 3
JAWS (Job Access With Speech) 10.0.1178U Screenreader
Sonar 8 Producer Edition
Caketalking 8 For Sonar 8
Sibelius 5.2.5 Music Notation Software
Sibelius Access 1RC Accessibility Scripts
Lime 9.0 Music Notation Software
Goodfeel 3.1 Braille Music Translation Software
Tiger Professional Braille Translation Suite
Native Instruments Kontakt 4
Eastwest Play Virtual Instruments
Spectrasonics Sample Libraries
Spectrasonics Trilogy
Spectrasonics StylusRMX
Atmosphere Deluxe 7.0

[Justin]

Sorry, we don't carry that brand of computer, so I can't make a direct comparison for you.

We do have our own line of Windows workstations. You can check them out here: http://www.sweetwater.com/creation_station/

Our i7 model is the RackXT. It's a little different than the one you were looking at. Ours is based on the Intel X58 chipset, theirs uses the P55. The X58 runs on different CPU socket, and supports 3 channels of RAM. (P55 supports 2) We also found that there were a few USB audio devices that didn't play well P55's and don't seem to have the same issues on the X58.

It's also rack mounted, instead of a tower.

If you're not sure which computer you need, perhaps you should call in or e-mail and speak with one of our sales team, they can get an idea of what you have in your studio and help make a recommendation based on your workflow.