Hello, I had* a i7   (2.8) model  I mac , pretty recent I assume,  however would have the following issue-- and this is using legit Cubase 5 (5.5)
-during project, there was a pause and stop/ drop in sound and I can see the output volume would have 1 ch peek very high and get stuck, it would then stop after few sec and I could press play again..   
I never had this issue on a c2d I mac and previous machines.
Would like to know if this is - an i7 issue, a defective computer over all,  or something with FF800 and these new machines.
-The new i7 machine I returned because I had only a few days to make decision.  I'm still interested in getting a recent machine, and would like to avoid taking risks of buying another i7 and getting this,

HyperThreading maybe?

thankx