Interesting, I see from the specs that this is a 1.2GHz single core Athlon 64. Here we have a 1.2GHz core 2 solo cpu (which is a bit faster I think), running linux. It plays the Chopin Waltz of the standalone with a cpu load below 70% and all default settings, at 44100Hz / 128 samples.  btw we have updated v3.0.5....  you should also notice a small improvement.

OK..... much better performance with 3.05v2.   At 44.1 kHz it's peaking at 60% but averaging just below 50%.  I'm not going to mess with the OS -it's performing well enough.  Unfortunately I didn't notice a performance boost with my fingers....

You could try to use a 64-bit vista as the 64-bit standalone seems to be 15% faster than the 32-bit standalone. If you reduce the engine rate, you can also try to set your soundcard to 48000kHz, that way the engine would run at 24kHz instead of 22kHz, maybe that will make a difference.

Seems I read somewhere that the hardware doesn't support 64 bit Vista, even though the processor is 64... I've emailed Gateway so we'll see if they respond.  I don't have Pianoteq in from of me, but you are saying that if I setup my audio interface for 48 kHz that the choices in the Pianoteq options will change to 48 and 24, respectively ?
I'll also try the 3.05v2 update............Thanks.

If you reduce the engine rate, you can also try to set your soundcard to 48000kHz, that way the engine would run at 24kHz instead of 22kHz, maybe that will make a difference.

btw we have updated v3.0.5 today in order to fix a small performance regression, so if you are using the "old" v3.0.5 you should also notice a small improvement.

Alas, Athlon 64 is not the best of the crop CPU, really.

You sure about that, Dragon ?  We are talking about the crop of netbooks under 400 clams.  From the reviews, it's supposed to be faster than the current Atom.  The dual core netbooks are due out towards the end of the year, but I bet they will cost more -but be worth it.  When I was comparing netbooks, none of them had this combo of 2 gig of ram, 250 gig hd and 256 meg of dedicated video memory.  But really, netbooks are kind of silly considering for $200 more you can have dual core and DVD in just a bit larger -and heavier- package.  It's only worth it if you need the compactness -and the extra battery life.  A professional geek friend of mine says that it really isn't a netbook since it came with Vista, but rather a low performance mini-laptop.  Oh well.  It'll get a lot of use.

Alas, Athlon 64 is not the best of the crop CPU, really.