I am getting hangs in sonar X3 GUI while music plays on.
Just thought i'd find out what the situation is with video cards, since i am getting some video hangs while using Sonar X3 and some plugins with real time displays.  I have a GeForce GT240 in a 2013 i7quadcore2.6GHz. and that's all i have needed.  But that's ancient in video card years.  Could it be the 2013 video card or my 2013 PC that can't keep up?  Either or neither?
 
 
 

There are very few plugs that do anything that could remotely stress the video card, it seems really unlikely that that's it. It's easy to tell if it's the CPU - check the meters. Does it happen in all projects or only those with lots of tracks and plugins?
 
It sounds more like there is some other problem, perhaps a background program or a faulty driver. What do you mean by "hangs"? Does audio drop out too? Does the program crash? Or does the display just stall for a while?

Thanks, Sanderxpander.  So i guess it's not the video card.
 
It's funny - the audio continues, while the Sonar GUI screen stalls and response from mouse/key clicks is greatly delayed.  Eventually it gets so far behind my clicks that i have to abort the program.  It happens even in an empty project but for one audio track, no other plugins but 'Neutron'.  I suppose it could be a problem with Neutron.  I do get slow GUI response at other times in general. 
 
The eight CPU meters in Sonar are all bouncing in the bottom 1/4~1/8 of the scale.  Until i load Neutron - then the meters freeze with the rest of the GUI or go blank.  This is why i'm wondering if i should upgrade something - if it isn't the video card, great - could it be my PC?.  I have access to another PC exactly the same but with less 'stuff' on it - i could try that PC or just go for a nice new 2016~17 PC if that will improve Sonar X3 and beyond performance.  It would be great to know how others are getting along with their olderish 2012-13 mid-priced PCs / win7, or is it time to get current hardware? 
 

I'm running a 2009 computer with first generation i7 and it's doing very well.  I doubt it's your processor.  What about your audio converter?  Which version of windows are you running?  Try checking if you have the latest drivers.  Best of luck.

Even a first gen quad core i7 shouldn't behave like this. I have read that there are issues with Neutron, specifically the "track assistant" function, but while I got it a while back I've been too busy to use it much. IIRC using the VST3 instead of 2 solved the problems. Or perhaps the other way around, it's worth swapping and checking at least.

You don't say what interface you're using or what drivers. Also, do you happen to own other DAWs like Ableton Live, StudioOne, Reaper or Audacity to see if they display similar problems under similar conditions?

QuadCore
Thanks, Sanderxpander.  So i guess it's not the video card.
 
It's funny - the audio continues, while the Sonar GUI screen stalls and response from mouse/key clicks is greatly delayed.  Eventually it gets so far behind my clicks that i have to abort the program.  It happens even in an empty project but for one audio track, no other plugins but 'Neutron'.  I suppose it could be a problem with Neutron.  I do get slow GUI response at other times in general. 
 
The eight CPU meters in Sonar are all bouncing in the bottom 1/4~1/8 of the scale.  Until i load Neutron - then the meters freeze with the rest of the GUI or go blank.  This is why i'm wondering if i should upgrade something - if it isn't the video card, great - could it be my PC?.  I have access to another PC exactly the same but with less 'stuff' on it - i could try that PC or just go for a nice new 2016~17 PC if that will improve Sonar X3 and beyond performance.  It would be great to know how others are getting along with their olderish 2012-13 mid-priced PCs / win7, or is it time to get current hardware? 
 

My pc is the equivalent of your pc's grandad and it works fine for me now since I ditched the vst2 dlls, so unless something in yours is failing then I don't think that pc "age" is your issue. 

I have an ATI 6250 card w/1GB running 3 HD monitors. I think I paid $50 for the card.
This is more than enough for Sonar if you are not doing music for video.
Drawing the Sonar screen even on 3 monitors is a trivial task for even a basic video card.
I used the same video setup in an 8 yr old Core2 Duo 3Mhz E8400 for most of the Sonar X series.
 
The following are some things we need to know before trying to answer.
Which audio devices are you using?
Have you disabled any audio devices (e.g. HDMI) associated with the GT240.
Are your drivers current for both audio and video?
Are you using ASIO mode for audio?
What are your buffer settings?
How much RAM do you have?
Are you streaming  sample data from Kontakt or other sample players?
If so are the samples on a separate HDD?
Are you recording to an external HDD?

From what the OP describes I think there's something glitching in the video system. While the card may have enough raw power there could be issues with the drivers. I recall something about Sonar needing a certain version of Open GL for proper performance. It's definitely worth digging deeper.

Thanks y'all.  Not the PC getting old - great!
 
microapp, thanks, here's the answers:
What are your buffer settings? - 512 samples, playback I/O cashing 2048, record I/O cashing 2048 (is that OK?)

How much RAM do you have?  - 12G
Which audio devices are you using? - RME UCX - Win7 64Pro.
Are you using ASIO mode for audio? - Yes
Are you recording to an external HDD?  - No. I run Sonar on c: drive and record to extra internal g: drive.
Are you streaming  sample data from Kontakt or other sample players? - No. happens on virtually empty project.
Have you disabled any audio devices (e.g. HDMI) associated with the GT240. - Not that i know of - hasn't been a problem.
Are your drivers current for both audio and video? - Not yet  (usually my last resort as it has rarely helped me)

Maybe i just have too much going on in the background - but I'm not sure how to find stuff and shut it down, or what i may need to keep running.  Or maybe it is the plugin - I'm trying the VST3 install of Neutron, latest version.


 

ampfixer
From what the OP describes I think there's something glitching in the video system. While the card may have enough raw power there could be issues with the drivers. I recall something about Sonar needing a certain version of Open GL for proper performance. It's definitely worth digging deeper. 

Thanks, ampfixer. 
I'll take a look at this. However, so far i find no results when looking for 'Open GL' in a Sonar forum search.
I have a feeling you might be right - i've had a number of crashes while streaming net video with FireFox.