I've posted on AMD's forum about this issue, but I'm just checking here for good measure if there's any kind of remedy in Sonar. I've got SampleTank 3, and MDrummer L plugins.  I'm using them as VST2 because it seems VST3 takes up even more CPU power than VST2.  Specifically, when I look at Sonar's CPU meter, the 1st core of 6, running at 3.8MHz seems to be using 3X's what any of the other cores are, thus forcing me to bump up my latency, but even then core 1 is using WAAY more than I think it should.  So, other than boosting the latency, (which ain't helping much) is there any way in Sonar to better distribute that effort amongst the other cores?  I realize core 1 handles all of the Win7 OS tasks, but that shouldn't cause this much problem.  I'm not a real geek, as far as CPU's go, just enough to make sure I don't blow my MOBO up, so please be kind in your tech speak.
Tanks,
KC

There are many other threads on this topic. Have you disabled core parking? If you google there are various utilities/methods to do this.

The first core is generally busier than the others for a fairly simple reason: Windows itself doesn't multi-thread all that well. And lots of plugins and instruments don't either. Sonar itself is conspicuously well-coded in this regard. But as an end user, there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

> Any Way to Better Distribute Use of Multiple CPU Cores?
 
Yup. Turn off Intel speed step (AMD equivalent is power now?)  and/or Windows core parking.

Similar thread to read here:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/x99-i75930k-sonar-platinum-thread-balance-m3234101.aspx
 

Upgrade to Windows 8.1.

Or windows 10 if stable enough. I agree 8.1 is better at handling core distribution then 7. Hopefully 10 will be better than 8.1.

Yes, wait and get Win 10 for free.
As an example, here is a project running (in Win8.0 or 8.1, I forget when it was)  8 Maschine 2 instances I made while doing Maschine 2 Beta tests.
You can see that the cores are well-balanced. Win7 did not behave like that.
Core 0 has to process all the interrupts and Maschine 2 generates lots of them, but still things look good.
From early adopters, it appears Windows 10 will be even better at audio handling.

You've probably have know this already, but I'll mentioned it anyway, at Sonar Preference, Audio, Playback and Recording, there is a check box for "Use Multiprocessing Engine" to make sure it's checked.
 
Then at Configuration File
look for Thread Scheduling Model, with setting of 2.

Google the subject and learn as much as you can about it. It is something you need know. I would love to see someone come out with a tutorial video on "Things you need to know about computers to use your DAW". I would buy it. And arachnaut, thanks for the reminder about the Windows 7 to 8 move. There was  a lot of talk about how W8 would be better for audio production. If Windows 10 is another step up that would be great.