Now at 64bit, now a big latency problem...............................

There is not enough information about the X3 and interface configuration to offer any suggestions. The changes from 32bit to 64bit OS and DAW are not enough to introduce any latency. There may be plug-in delay compensation in the project too.

I this an off the shelf machine or one that you built (or had built) explicitly for audio work?  This sounds like it might be a driver or bloatware issue, but I think we need some more information.

There are several ways latency can exist, including: hardware issues, driver issues, presence/absence of an audio interface, interface settings, Sonar settings, plugin latency, ...
 
Please elaborate on situations where you are experiencing latency problems:
 
1.  All projects, or certain projects?
 
2.  Does the latency go away if you toggle effects off, by hitting the 'E' key on your computer keyboard?  (you can turn them back on by hitting 'E' again).
 
3.  What are your current settings for: Audio interface Sample Rate and ASIO Buffer Size, and Sonar Sample Rate, Driver Mode, Record Bit Depth, and what is the current reported Sonar Total Roundtrip Latency?
 
Let's start with the above - I look forward to diving into this with you, as your computer looks like it should be able to cruise along nicely, we should just have to ferret out the causes of your current latency and make some adjustments.
 
A couple of thoughts:
 
I suggest trying the following settings, as a reasonable starting point: Audio Interface - Sample Rate of 48 k, ASIO Buffer Size of 128.  Sonar: Driver Mode ASIO, Sample Rate 48 k, Record Bit Depth of 24 Bits.
 
I always recommend that for recording purposes (it is different for mixing/mastering), that you try to get the settings to the point of Sonar reporting a Total Roundtrip Latency of around 10 milliseconds, or just under that a little bit.  (when you finish recording and move on to mixing/mastering, you will likely need to bump that ASIO Buffer Size way up to as high as 1024, due to expected latency from some mixing and mastering plugins that by design induce lots of latency to do what they do.  That's OK during mixing/mastering, but not for recording, where you need a low latency to properly be able to record without lag).
 
SOOOOOO, I would ask that after you respond to my earlier requests for information, that you go ahead and get things set to my recommendations, and then try them out in a new project, where you do some recording of midi and audio, but don't yet add effects - to see how the basic processof tracking is working at those settings.
 
IF all is well, you can expand the test to introduce some plugins, BUT make sure you understand if any particular plugin you want to use is going to spike your latency or not, prior to adding them.  Certain plugins, such as Perfect Space and Boost 11 (and there are more).
 
I will check back on this post throughout the day, and will do my best to help you get this all squared away.
 
Bob Bone
 

Jim - I would like to add to your list of where latency comes from - external to Sonar, background services / device drivers can also spike latency, such as Wi-Fi adapters, some antivirus software, even laptop battery management - these can all wreak havoc on latency.
 
Bob Bone

robert_e_bone
Jim - I would like to add to your list of where latency comes from - external to Sonar, background services / device drivers can also spike latency, such as Wi-Fi adapters, some antivirus software, even laptop battery management - these can all wreak havoc on latency.
 
Bob Bone

Jim R. is right.
 
Most of the other things that screw up audio processing do not manifest as latency (the lag time from an input to a processed output), but rather as dropouts (distortion due to interruption of the audio stream) or in severe cases stalling of the processing altogether. Although these problems may require you to set an unacceptably high buffer to avoid distortion, it is the high buffer that is the cause of the latency in those cases.

scook
I don't understand how these external processes directly the affect latency. How do these processes slow the audio signal?

Bob is talking about DPC Latency.
Your DAW does need low/consistent DPC Latency to effectively run heavy loads at low Audio Latency settings.
 
DPC Latency spikes affect the data flow... which would manifest as glitches (at best) and drop-outs (at worst).
DPC Latency spikes themselves don't determine audio latency... but they can affect performance at a given latency setting.  Assuming substantial load, the lower your audio latency... the more critical it is to have low/consistent DPC Latency.
 
Hope that sheds some light...

I respectfully disagree.
 
DPC Latency spikes (DPC means Deferred Procedure Call, by the way) can and do occur outside of Sonar, even if their occurrence is only noticed from within Sonar, per some of the things I listed in my earlier post.
 
I did not say and am not saying Jim was wrong.  I only added those items to his list, because they too can cause latency issues that manifest themselves in several ways within Sonar.
 
The original poster indicated problems with 'latency', and did not specify whether or not that meant specifically a 'lag', versus other types of issues with latency, such as dropouts/crackles/distortion.
 
Bob Bone
 
 

scook - apologies - I am not understanding your questions very well.  (and now I know why).
 
I just removed a giant bunch of text from this reply, because while I had been typing my response to what slartabartfast had posted, Jim and then you had posted, but I had not seen those yet, because I was typing my 'I disagree' post - to slartabartfast's post.
 
Sooooo, when I had finished typing and hit Submit Post, Jim's post and then yours appeared in between, and I never saw them.
 
Sooooooooooooo, you took my 'respectfully disagree' to mean me disagreeing with YOUR post, when in fact I was disagreeing (respectfully, nonetheless) with an EARLIER post by someone else.
 
S0000oooo, I do NOT disagree with you, Jim also cleared up what he was referring to (audio latency), versus my points, (DPC Latency), and I DO agree that nobody can help the original poster until he explains more about the nature of the issues, AND provides more information about his system and current settings, as well as things loaded into his project and all of that.
 
Sooooooooooo - we cool???????
 
Bob Bone :)

Thanks everyone.  I switched to ASIO as opposed to WDM/KS and it seems to have helped allot.  Does everyone hear prefer ASIO ?  Also I seem to have some software synths cutting off notes during playback.  Any suggestions?  
 
Thanks again,
dan 

Yeah, notes can randomly not play and such, with the 'new' default of 250.  It used to be 500, and lots of folks have adjusted that back to 500, with good results.
 
Bob Bone