New, Updated SonarTest

What rack mounted case did you use?

Laptop performance questions - I'm considering using an HP Athelon 64 3400+ 1 meg cache (model zv5255us)

How much slower will the laptop performance be than a similar athelon 64 3400 desktop? Have any results been submitted to help make a good guess?
The 512meg ram is slower - only PC2700 333 mhz, and I plan to use an external firewire drive and firewire M-audio 410. Can 1.5ms latency be achieved? It would be great to have the portability and the performance if it can be done...

ORIGINAL: skylab@loopiest.com

Laptop performance questions - I'm considering using an HP Athelon 64 3400+ 1 meg cache (model zv5255us)

How much slower will the laptop performance be than a similar athelon 64 3400 desktop? Have any results been submitted to help make a good guess?
The 512meg ram is slower - only PC2700 333 mhz, and I plan to use an external firewire drive and firewire M-audio 410. Can 1.5ms latency be achieved? It would be great to have the portability and the performance if it can be done...

The Athlon64 notebooks do very well as compared to the desktops. My only advice is that you be sure to look at the Compaq offerings as well. Same exact machines (same company)... different case... lower price.

-S

ORIGINAL: rgfors

Okay, I've now posted three different results with three different computers. My first post was with a 3.2ghz P4, the next was with a 3.2ghz P4 Extreme Edition and my new computer is as follows:

2) Opteron 250s
(2) Zalman 7000A coolers
Tyan S2885 dual-Opteron motherboard
4GB OCZ CAS2 PC3200 registered DDR (8x512MB)
ATI Radeon 64MB DH AGP Video
HighPoint 8-way SATA RAID controller
Plextor 712 series DVDRW
120GB 7200rpm 8MB system drive
(2) 160GB 7200rpm 8MB SATA samples/loops drives
(3) 160GB 7200rpm 8MB SATA audio drives in RAID5 array
(3) SATA drive sleds for audio drives
Antec 550W quiet power supply
4-space rack case (26” deep)
WinXP Pro

You left out one of the most important items, the sound card you're using.

I don't have an internal sound card, I use the Tascam FW-1884.. Sorry for omitting this tidbit!

Hi All, and Scott...

System:
Laptop HP Pavilion zt3340EA
Centrino 1.6 ghz
512 MB DDR
1 60 GB HD (same hd for win and audio)
M-Audio Firewire 1814
Mobility Radeon 9600

results (WDM) :

46.4 ms 65-66%

34.8 ms 68-72%

23.2 ms 52-79%

11.6 ms 56-60%

5.8 ms 69-71%

2.9 ms 68-79%

1.5 ms DROPOUT

results (Asio) :

46.4 ms 63%

34.8 ms 64-65%

23.2 ms 67%

11.6 ms 56-57%

5.8 ms 55-70%

2.9 ms DROPOUT

1.5 ms DROPOUT

Djoni

tomorrow will send the results of SonarTest on my new Atlhon64 daw.

This Dual Opteron Shuttle-like machine looks promising...
IWill ZmaxDP

Here's a pre-review...
IWill ZmaxDP Preview by Hexus

Super quiet to boot!

-Jink

hi Scott ,

watching your graph I can't understand which is the fastest between Athlon FX 51 and Athlon 64 3400 , they have the same color and the same picture

thanks

bump!

Not sure if Im doing mine right, but its hovering at about 50%. Im using ASIO drivers. and my soundcard is the Maudio 2496

Im running a P4 2.5Ghz
1 gig ram
win2k
80gig HD
Sonar 3 PE

sampling rate in S3 is 44100 at 16bit. My latency says 8.7msec in sonar

If I click on the ASIO tab..i get to my Maudio software, and then gives me the option to change DMA buffer size (set to 384 right now)
lets me pick from:
64
128
256
384
512
768 etc...etc..

anyone have any ideas they can help me with for proper settings?

thank you
trybal

If I click on the ASIO tab..i get to my Maudio software, and then gives me the option to change DMA buffer size (set to 384 right now)
lets me pick from:
64
128
256
384
512
768 etc...etc..

Those buffer settings are effectively your latency settings.

At 44.1kHz:
64 = 1.5ms
128 = 2.9ms
256 = 5.8ms
512 = 11.6ms
...etc.

Basically to run the test, disable the audio engine, change the buffer size in the M-Audio panel, re-engage the audio engine and record the CPU meter.

For best results run this on a fresh boot with minimal background programs running.

what do i want my dma buffer set yo? the lowest number possible without drop-outs and/or pops/clicks?

getting very confused

AMD MP 2000+ Dual
3GB PC-2100 Reg/ECC (CAS2)
Asus A7M266-D MB
M-Audio Delta 1010 (ASIO)

Windows XP SP2
Sonar 4 Pro
M-Audio Delta series drives 5.10.00.0046 (latest)

Multithreaded On:

46.4 msec- 26%
23.2 msec- 31%
11.6 msec- 39%
5.8 Msec- 53%
2.9 msec- 83%
1.5 Msec- It's dead Jim!

Multithreaded Off:

46.4 msec- 42%
23.2 msec- 48%
11.6 msec- 57%
5.8 Msec- 78%
2.9 msec- It's dead Jim!
1.5 Msec- It's dead Jim!

After giving up on the laptop idea (adding memory was going to be too expensive), I went ahead and set up a desktop with a 19" lcd for a lot less:

Athelon 64 3400+ 1 meg 2.2ghz
ASUS K8V-SE Deluxe (MSI K8N Neo Platinum was sold out)
Seagate 160 UATA boot/system drive
Seagate 160gig SATA audio date drive
MadDog 64 meg 4x agp video card
Memory: 1 gig (2 x 512 mB) OCZ Value 3200 (after returning OCZ platinum 3200)

This test also compares OCZ Value memory with speeds of 3-4-4-8 against OCZ platinum with speeds of 2-3-2-5

The conclusion first: The results were almost identicle, except that with the value memory I noticed the CPU meter would occasionally jump to a higher level, though it wouldn't stay there. There's a subjective element to this test as to whether to report these high spikes or not. Since there wasn't a significant difference I went with the value memory and saved about $150 for better or worse.

Latency __ OCZ value _ OCZ platinum
1.5 _____ 66-72 _____ 66-71 (both types had high spikes of 79 and 78)
2.9 _____ 43-55 _____ 44-53
5.8 _____ 37-40 _____ 36-40
11.6 _____ 32-33 _____ 31-33
23.2 _____ 28-29 _____ 28-31
46.4 _____ 26-28 _____ 26-27
92.9 _____ 25-26 _____ 25-26
349 _____ 25-26 _____ 25-26

I added the high latency test of 349 to show that there appears to be a base level of cpu activity regardless of latency settings.

The spikes were present in the very lowest latency settings, above 5.8mS I didn't see any

Has anyone done an objective comparison of S3 and S4 using Scott's test?

There seems to be conflicting reports about whether S4 uses less/more/same resources as S3. I dont' want to upgrade my software just to find myself needing to upgrade my hardware too. I like some of the new S4 features but I would hate to sacrifice latency, # of tracks, softsynths, etc. just to have them.

Thanks.

I was just thinking that it would be nice to compare S3 vs. S4 with the SonarTest to see how the new audio engine does.

ALL YOU S3 AND S4 USERS POST NUMVERS FROM BOTH VERSIONS.

Ahem, I would post my 1.33GHz Thunderbird results once I redo my system. But I don't think anyone really cares about my relic

ORIGINAL: Sid Viscous

Athlon 64 3000+
ASUS k8V motherboard
1024 Corsair 333 2.5 3373 memory (not approved for motherboard)
Windows XP SP1
Firewire drive
Layla 24
Way to much **** running background that I don't feel like turning off.

ASIO:
42.7 - 31%
21.7 - 32%
10.7 - 39%
5.3 - 47%
2.7 - 65% (as low as it can go)

WDM:
42.7 - 36%
21.7 - 39%
10.7 - 46%
5.3 - 46%
2.7 - 44%
1.3 - 48%

I like these results. Maybe I should build one just like this?

Stich

Scott , don't you have the chance to update this test with the new processors ( Athlon 64 3500 , 3800 , Pentium 4 3,4 ...) ?

Why don't S4 owners A/B the test with S3 to see what kind of perfomance changes are reflected in the new audio engine of S4.

I only say that because of peoples' claim of increased perfomance with S4.

That's a great idea. Scott, any chance you'd consider setting up a SONAR 4 graph?

yes it's a good idea !

As someone on the fence about the S4 upgrade, I'd be very interested in seeing this comparison.

Jon

Which one 939 or 754. Is the Dual Channel memory that big a thing or should I go for a faster 754 cpu.

I too am looking at an Athlon64 platform after the new year and was curious myself about 754 vs.939. I will be upgrading after the new year when prices drop after the holidays.

There was mention of getting the Clawhammer for its larger 1MB L2 cache and NOT the Newcastle with a 512KB cache.

According to an article on Tom's Hardware Guide http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040601/index.html, socket 939 offers on chip memory management AND the HyperTransport buss speed goes to 1Ghz as opposed to socket 754 with a HyperTransport buss speed of 800MHz. This is supposed to make up for the smaller 512KB cache of the 3000, 3200, 3500 and 3800. With the addition of the 4000 and FX-55 the cache seems to go back to 1MB http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041019/index.html. The FX-53 is also getting phased out. I'm surethe new 4000 and FX-55 will drive the price of other chips down. The question is about price performance:

Is socket 939 indeed better than socket 754?
With the discontinuance of the FX-53 does that appear to be a bargain?

What say you DAW builders.

bump

Is socket 939 indeed better than socket 754?

In general benchmarking... yes. In Sonar... no, unless you have 1MB of L2.

-S

bumpity bump

System specs below!!

46.4 ms 27%
23.2 ms 29%
11.6 ms 33%
5.8 ms 46%
2.9 ms 56%
1.5 ms 0%

Is there somebody with this motherboard http://www.tyan.com/products/html/thunderk8qs.html Im just curious whats the specs with 4 opterons 250 ???

dave,
if you know anything about home studio i could use some help seeing as you are in th T.O. area.
check out my posts under the member name "ejmac".
thnx,E.

I don't see any tracks? Just track names, no midi or audio files. Is this correct?

Yes, the test is entirely based on real time input monitoring.

Putting a new system through some paces.

I hope I did this right.

MSI Neo2 Platinum (939)
Athlon 64 +3500 (2200mhz)
1gig Corsair twinx 3200xl ram (dual channel) set 2325
Windows Pro
Sonar 3.1.1 PE
STAudio C-port with ESI 8.2rc5 drivers

Buffers set at 64, drivers autorate (defaults to 44.1 16 bit) WDM. ASIO panel won't allow latency less than 5.8ms though results are about the same to that point.


46.4 25%

23.2 27%

11.6 30%

5.8 39%

2.9 50%

1.3 53% (first test of four stopped audio engine, seemed to settle down after that)

Hi all !

Some initial results with my new DAW - specs are:-

- 3200+ .09 Winchester CPU - actual stock speed of 10 x 200 = 2000mhz
- Corsair 2 x 512 XL DDR set to 2/2/2/5
- Asus A8V DLX Rev 2.0 Board
- ASIO driver
- Delta .48a Drivers for a Delta 66
- HTT 1000mhz
- Command 2T - Disabled - 1T
- all other BIOS settings set to Default / AUTO


46.4ms - %27
23.2ms - %29
11.6ms - %32 <-> %33
5.8ms - %39 <-> %40
2.9ms - %53 <-> %55
1.5ms - %79 <-> %81

As I tweak and O/C, I will update

Thx,
Tim

My IT department just built us two new machines to compare. They have an Intel-only policy, so we got a P4 3.4 GHz, and a dual Xeon 3.2 GHz machine. The machines are pretty similar: 2 gig ram, Delta Audiophile 2496 soundcard, PNY NVidia Quadro FX330 64MB video, 250 GB SATA hard drive.

The P4 3.4 GHz is on an Intel D915GUX motherboard and here are its numbers:

ASIO drivers, Hyperthreading and Multiprocessor engine:

23.2ms 24%
11.6ms 29%
5.8ms 38%
2.9ms 53%
1.5ms 82% with occasional dropouts

Without Multiprocessor engine:
23.2ms 28%
11.6ms 33%
5.8ms 42%
2.9ms 58%
1.5ms 90% with occasional dropouts

Dual Xeon 3.2 GHz, Supermicro X6DVL-G motherboard:

ASIO drivers, Multiprocessor engine:
23.2ms 18%
11.6ms 21%
5.8ms 27%
2.9ms 38%
1.5ms 70%

Without Multiprocessor engine:

23.2ms 30%
11.6ms 35%
5.8ms 44%
2.9ms 61%
1.5ms dropout

New DAW:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB L2 Cache Clawhammer Core
MSI K8N Neo Platinum 754 Socket nForce3 250GB Chipset
1024 400DDR OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel
WinXP Professional SP2 with Sonar 4.0.1PE entered as DEP exception
Jaton nVIDIA GeForce MX4000 Video Card, 128MB DDR, Dual VGA
80gb Seagate ATA-100 7200rpm OS/pgm drive (Partitioned 40/40)
160gb Seagate SATA 7200rpm audio drive
Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52x32x52 CDRW
Antec Sonata case 380W Silent Technology power supply and cooling
2 16 Channel Zaolla analog cables in and out of converters
2 16 Channel Apogee AES/EBU cables in and out of DAW
1 Lynx AES16 digital interface w/ AD-16/DA-16 Apogee converters
1 RME Digiface PCI digital interface for ADAT optical transfers
2 UAD-1 powered DSP PCI cards v3.7
1 MOTU MIDI Express XT (USB interface)
1 Mackie Control Universal
2 Mackie Control Extenders

Results:

44.6 = 31%
23.2 = 55%
11.6 = 60%
5.8 = 72%
2.9 = 90%
1.5 = Won't engage

---

OS tuned with http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php
No audio cards are sharing any IRQ
Tried many of the BIOS tweaks mentioned by others using this MOBO

Seems like I should be able to achieve better results.

Any suggestions?

SteveD, I went through some real headaches with a new laptop with AMD 64 3400 until I figured out that the power savings options were keeping the processor from operating at full speed. Have you checked to see if this may be the case? A quick check would be Start -> right click My Computer -> Properties -> System Properties -> General and see what the processor speed says.

Thanks Jeff,

No problem there:



Power management is set for "Always On" for both monitor and hard drives.

There are no device errors. Everything looks perfect.

Just seems like others are getting better results with similar systems.

Thanks again for the reply.

ORIGINAL: SteveD

New DAW:
...
WinXP Professional SP2 with Sonar 4.0.1PE entered as DEP exception
...
OS tuned with http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php
No audio cards are sharing any IRQ
Tried many of the BIOS tweaks mentioned by others using this MOBO

Seems like I should be able to achieve better results.

Any suggestions?

I don't suppose you could just do a simple XP SP1 install with no tweaks and try it? Just a WAG.

Two Things....

1) Is the link at the to beginning of this thread the newest test, even though it says Sonar3test?

2) For Scott ...you have worked with Duncan Sheik?

Sorry for the terrible dumb question... but how do I measure the cpu percentage. I have xp pro 100% updated and have heard there is a cpu monitor somewhere but I can not find it. Is this the app that you guys are using? If so please tell me where to find it, or tell me where to get it etc. I would love to try this out. I have already downloaded the test and am awaiting the final piece...hehe

jam

10 ms -> 66-67%
8ms -> 77 -79% , computer almost crashed.. and RED signal in the CPU meter

49.9ms--> 41-43%


Configuration :
Intel Celeron 2.8Ghz
80 Gig HDD
512 MB Ram
E-mu 0404 Sound Card, ASIO

Sorry for the terrible dumb question... but how do I measure the cpu percentage.

Read Sonar's CPU meter at the lower right corner.

-S

1) Is the link at the to beginning of this thread the newest test, even though it says Sonar3test?

Yes.

2) For Scott ...you have worked with Duncan Sheik?

I am acquainted with him through a friend of mine who went to school with Duncan's bass player. The audio sample you likely heard is from a live 24-track recording i did of him in Modesto, CA.

-S

WinXP Professional SP2 with Sonar 4.0.1PE entered as DEP exception

Sonar 4.x should be fully compliant with DEP and so should not need to be excepted.

Also... your scores at low latency should be better than they are based on other socket754 Athlon64 results I've received.

-S

ORIGINAL: tarsier

ORIGINAL: SteveD

New DAW:
...
WinXP Professional SP2 with Sonar 4.0.1PE entered as DEP exception
...
OS tuned with http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php
No audio cards are sharing any IRQ
Tried many of the BIOS tweaks mentioned by others using this MOBO

Seems like I should be able to achieve better results.

Any suggestions?

I don't suppose you could just do a simple XP SP1 install with no tweaks and try it? Just a WAG.

Thought of that, but it's a new WinXP Pro install. They all come with SP2 now. I didn't see a way to prevent SP2 from getting installed.

Scott, Is there a way to do this?

Well, Duncan is one of the few artists that I have gone out of my way to meet (years in a band will get you cynical to that kind of thing). He may be my FAVORITE, which in my overly-critical mind, is the pinnacle of accolades!!! But I digress.

Anyway thanks for putting together the test and, I may pester you about Duncan later :)

Thought of that, but it's a new WinXP Pro install. They all come with SP2 now. I didn't see a way to prevent SP2 from getting installed.

Scott, Is there a way to do this?

There should be no reason to do this with Sonar4. It should be fully compliant and it should not need to be excepted. DEP is a good thing... so unless you are having an issue that can't be worked around, let DEP do its thing.

-S

ORIGINAL: Scott Reams

Thought of that, but it's a new WinXP Pro install. They all come with SP2 now. I didn't see a way to prevent SP2 from getting installed.

Scott, Is there a way to do this?

There should be no reason to do this with Sonar4. It should be fully compliant and it should not need to be excepted. DEP is a good thing... so unless you are having an issue that can't be worked around, let DEP do its thing.

-S

That's what my research has lead me to believe as well. Thanks for the confirmation Scott.

Do you agree I should be seeing better results?

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB L2 Cache Clawhammer Core
MSI K8N Neo Platinum 754 Socket nForce3 250GB Chipset
1024 400DDR OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel

44.6 = 31%
23.2 = 55%
11.6 = 60%
5.8 = 72%
2.9 = 90%
1.5 = Won't engage

BTW: Merry Christmas everyone!

ORIGINAL: Scott Reams

Read Sonar's CPU meter at the lower right corner.

-S

I do not see that cpu meter, or the disk meter they talk about either. I see help on the left sid, mouse position in the middle, then audio running then mute (in yellow) two blank boxes, then 44.1khz 16bit, and disk space. How do I bring the cpu meter up?

Also I downloaded the test (a cwp file). Sonar siad no audio was with the file and asked to create it. I said yes and sonar brought it in but nothing plays when I hit play. It runs for about a 1/2 sec then stops. It does not say dropout in red at the bottom.

hope I and try this...lol

jam

Hardware:
hp Pavillion zd7030us (Laptop)
3.06 Ghz Intel P4 HT
x86 Family 15 model 2 stepping 7
System BIOS f.30
512 KB Cache
2048 MB RAM
OS Windows XP Pro/Media Center Edition (all of that disabled on my audio only partition)
OS Version 5.1.2600
SP 1

80 GB Hitachi 5400 RPM Internal Drive
300 GB Maxtor Firewire Outboard Drive Coupled thrugh PMCIA Firewire Card

Audio Hardware:
MOTU 828 mkII FireWire Interface
MOTU midi timepiece AV

Test Results:

With MP on in SONAR:
2.2ms dropout
2.9ms 61-71%
4.4ms 49-54%
5.8ms 46-51%
8.7ms 37-41%
11.6ms 33-37%
17.4ms 30-33%
23.2ms 29-32%
34.8ms 28-30%
46.4ms 27-29%

With MP off in SONAR:
2.2ms dropout
2.9ms dropout
4.4ms 54-60%
5.8ms 47-49%
8.7ms 39-43%
11.6ms 36-37%
17.4ms 32-34%
23.2ms 30-32%
34.8ms 28-29%
46.4ms 27-28%

All testing performed using MOTU's current ASIO driver. OS has been stripped down and tweaked to the max. Right now, I'm not even using a Swap (Page) File
Hope this is helpful...

Thanks, enjoy, and Happy Holidays!
Doug

ORIGINAL: SteveD

New DAW:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB L2 Cache Clawhammer Core
MSI K8N Neo Platinum 754 Socket nForce3 250GB Chipset
1024 400DDR OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel
WinXP Professional SP2 with Sonar 4.0.1PE entered as DEP exception
Jaton nVIDIA GeForce MX4000 Video Card, 128MB DDR, Dual VGA
80gb Seagate ATA-100 7200rpm OS/pgm drive (Partitioned 40/40)
160gb Seagate SATA 7200rpm audio drive
Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52x32x52 CDRW
Antec Sonata case 380W Silent Technology power supply and cooling
2 16 Channel Zaolla analog cables in and out of converters
2 16 Channel Apogee AES/EBU cables in and out of DAW
1 Lynx AES16 digital interface w/ AD-16/DA-16 Apogee converters
1 RME Digiface PCI digital interface for ADAT optical transfers
2 UAD-1 powered DSP PCI cards v3.7
1 MOTU MIDI Express XT (USB interface)
1 Mackie Control Universal
2 Mackie Control Extenders

Results:

44.6 = 31%
23.2 = 55%
11.6 = 60%
5.8 = 72%
2.9 = 90%
1.5 = Won't engage

---

OS tuned with http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php
No audio cards are sharing any IRQ
Tried many of the BIOS tweaks mentioned by others using this MOBO

Seems like I should be able to achieve better results.

Any suggestions?

It seems to me that your machine isn't working up to it's potential as a matter of fact my AMD64 3000+, according to this test puts up much better numbers. Your results are a disappointment to me because I was looking at the 3700+ as an upgrade option for my 754 setup. Please post if you should unravel what is wrong with your setup.

Best Of Luck
Poni

ORIGINAL: Poni

ORIGINAL: SteveD

New DAW:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB L2 Cache Clawhammer Core
MSI K8N Neo Platinum 754 Socket nForce3 250GB Chipset
1024 400DDR OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel
WinXP Professional SP2 with Sonar 4.0.1PE entered as DEP exception
Jaton nVIDIA GeForce MX4000 Video Card, 128MB DDR, Dual VGA

Results:

44.6 = 31%
23.2 = 55%
11.6 = 60%
5.8 = 72%
2.9 = 90%
1.5 = Won't engage

---

OS tuned with http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php
No audio cards are sharing any IRQ
Tried many of the BIOS tweaks mentioned by others using this MOBO

Seems like I should be able to achieve better results.

Any suggestions?

It seems to me that your machine isn't working up to it's potential as a matter of fact my AMD64 3000+, according to this test puts up much better numbers. Your results are a disappointment to me because I was looking at the 3700+ as an upgrade option for my 754 setup. Please post if you should unravel what is wrong with your setup.

Best Of Luck
Poni

Hi Poni,

I know that this DAW is currently under-performing. It should be coming in second to the dual CPU in performance. Just look at the current statistics to this thread on page one.

I mean there are guys here with laptops cleaning my clock. Maybe I've clobbered my PCI bandwidth in some way. Maybe I need to remove all PCI cards and my firewire external hard drive... and all USB devices... everything except my Lynx sound card and take Scott's test again, and if it's performing properly... start adding cards and devices to find the problem.

I've already tried most of the BIOS tweaks already recommended by others using my MOBO.

Maybe I've installed something improperly... but I don't think so. There are NO hardware errors, and the system is STABLE. SOLID. Operates perfectly. Just not like an AMD Athlon 64 3700+ cpu should.

I WILL get to the bottom of this and post my findings.

In the mean time... I'm all ears if anyone has something I should look for. For example, I'm wondering if using the special MOBO fan connections which works with temperature monitoring is stealing performance. I doubt it though.

Hmmm...

Steve when I first got my system going my memory would run at 2 x 166 instead of 2 x200 until I did some tweaking of my memory settings in the CMOS setup. There is a small utility at http://www.cpuid.com/ called CPU-Z that may give you some clues at what may be going wrong.

Good Luck
Poni

jamminji,

You are looking for them at the very far right bottom. Here is what they should look like

WireRage... Thanks for the pic. Yep that is where I am looking and my screen stops at the disk space {E} xxxxMB

I don't see the disk space 60% or the cpu and disk meters to the right of that. I tried changeing the full screen to window screen and expanding the window but it won't expand any larger. I have the X close program at the top right so I think I am as far right as I can go.

What about the test not playing and saying no audio do you want to create it?

thanks

jam

WireRage... Thanks for the pic. Yep that is where I am looking and my screen stops at the disk space {E} xxxxMB

It sounds to me like maybe you are running Sonar at a resolution lower than is indicated by the system requirements. Make sure your Windows resolution is at least 1024x768, and that Sonar i running fullscreen. You may also need to turn off Large Fonts.

-S

Sounds like Scott has hit the nail on the head but as far as the create file that is normal for it to ask you that.

Back on topic here are my results.

P4 533 FSB
FIC VCE319 MB
2 x 512 333Mhz RAM
SATA 10K RPM HD
AGP NVIDIA GeoForce2/ Mx400
PCI NVIDIA RIVA TNT 64
Terra Tec EWS88D-ASIO
WIN XP SP2
S4 PE

2.9ms-75%
4.5ms-58%
5.8ms-50%
7.6ms-45%
11.6ms-38%

Steve,

Something definitely wrong going on there with your setup. Your system should easily outperform mine, an Athlon XP3200+ Barton (previous generation chip) and yet my numbers are way better (for example, I show 65% at 2.9ms compared to your 90%).

Try stripping your system down to the bare essentials (remove the UAD1 cards, USB devices, etc), and run the test again. If necessary remove one ram stick, or swap slot positions - basically strip your machine down piece by piece until you've isolated the problem.

Keep us updated, and good luck,
JD

ORIGINAL: Scott Reams

WireRage... Thanks for the pic. Yep that is where I am looking and my screen stops at the disk space {E} xxxxMB

It sounds to me like maybe you are running Sonar at a resolution lower than is indicated by the system requirements. Make sure your Windows resolution is at least 1024x768, and that Sonar i running fullscreen. You may also need to turn off Large Fonts.

-S

Very odd... I am running at 1024x768 and normal fonts and full screen. I thought that might be it too but did not know if 1024x768 was good or not. I guess it is....hmmm

any more suggestions?

jam

also I missed/don't see the post about why the test file wont play and asks to creat audio?