I generally trust the OS to do it's job here and let it manage the processes, rather than override the defaults. I would only consider doing something like this if I was desperate for CPU power (however I would consider upgrading my hardware first).
 
What's more important is disabling the windows services you don't need or want (plenty of info out there in googleland), plus disabling the junk apps that startup with windows + getting rid of unnecessary tasks (or scheduling them better) in the task scheduler.

Cheers...

Really what you are doing is something similar but more granual (and more of a manual approach) to Performance Options (Right click My Computer -> System Properties -> Advanced) and then changing the best performance setting here... However it is recommend you keep it at default (programs).

R3V3RB
...By switching the priority of "Bitbridge.exe*32" to a Higher priority than "SONARPDR.exe"...

 
I went to alter the priority setting for BitBridge and found that it was already set to "High" by default.

My SONAR has "Below Normal" by default...
But as I wrote, all that is like VIP queue to overloaded plane. It will not flight faster and it crash if too heavy.But in case you are the only passenger, there is no reason to pay for priority queue.

Geo524

R3V3RB
 
Geo524 :-
It may be possible that you are not running your OS with "administrator privileges". Do a Google search for that term in order to find help rectifying that.

Thanks R3. I had to turn user control off. Is there a way to save the priorites once I've changed them? The priorities default to normal after closing Sonar. Thanks.

Hi,
Yes. As I mentioned, you will need to download the small app called Prio. Here is a link:-
 
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager/
 
Once you have run the installer it simply adds a few files to your system which then gives you more options from Task Manager including the saving of settings. It doesn't need to run as a program all the time either so once its installed those changes are made and thats that, without using system resources.

Please remember increasing the priority only improves matters if it is competing with another process, and that process it is competing with may actually slow down your DAW as it's priority may (effectively) be reduced.... This is not a magic button that suddenly makes certain applications quicker. The app should come with a warning label. The OP was very comprehensive, fair and balanced though (nice post in that respect). I still would avoid.
 
Cheers...

FWIW, I have SOANR running on an older computer (Q6600 4GB running W7 64bit) that for some reason would occasionally stutter (not crash, not audio engine die or a dropout.... just stutter). The stutter would be in random places but always at least once for each play/record of the project.
 
This was not a particularly heavy project. 2 Audio tracks and two or three PC modules.
 
After changing SONAR High vs. Normal, the stutter went away. I did not try above normal.
 
Of course I did not use the mentioned app (yet) and after closing and opening  SONAR (reset back to Normal) the stutter would return.