I am getting:
Intel Core i7-5500U Processor, 12GB Memory, 1TB HDD, Touch Screen, Win 10....
But it is only a 2.4GHz, 4MB L3 Cache processor... 
Not the recommended 2.6GHz processor speed? How will this affect me?
Also does the 12GB Memory make up anything at all for the lack of processor speed?   
And lastly how do I know if it has ASIO hardware? 
Thanks for the help in advance
 
 

Is 2.4Ghz the turbo speed?
If not, you can prob force it to turbo by setting min/max processor performance to 100%.
Do this in the hi perf power plan, then you can switch between balanced and hi-perf plans.
If you are stuck at 2.4Ghz you still should be able to handle at least small to medium projects.
For tracking audio on even large projects, you should be good (with outboard audio anyway).
 
If you are intending to use the onboard audio, I would be more concerned about that. ASIO depends on device drivers and not hardware (the audio chipset). I finally had to give up and use ASIO4ALL(!) on my I7 laptop with the Conexant chipset because it has no ASIO driver. If you will use external audio I/O then no worries. Laptop audio is not consistent and really depends on your chipset drivers. You may or may not find an ASIO driver for your audio chipset. Mine had WASPI drivers but Sonar did not play well with it. I wound up with WDM drivers and ASIO4ALL which actually works very well surprisingly. If all else fails, you can use MME driver but this is 16-bit audio only.
Install Sonar and see if it finds ASIO. If not, check the manf's website Realtek, Intel, etc. Try WDM and WASPI if available.
You will just have to experiment.

Also,
The 5500U is a two core chip (IIRC) even tho it is an I7, so in Sonar you will see only 4 cores(threads) in the perf monitor and not 8. One reason I got a LT with the 4900.
Whether this LT works for you depends on what kind of projects you work with. Don't expect to load 32 instances of Kontact, 100 MIDI synths or something like that.
For std rock or metal (10-20 tracks or so) with a few synths and addictive drums, it should be fine.

I encourage you to consider picking up some sort of purpose built audio interface, rather than trying to use the laptop's internal sound chip.  Otherwise, your laptop's CPU will have to do all the work of converting data from and to digital and analog, and when you work with multiple tracks in a project, that can quickly and easily overpower the capability of most any CPU.
 
Some folks use ASIO4ALL, but lots of folks have major troubles when that is installed on their computer, and in any case, it still makes your CPU do all the work of the data conversions.
 
A dedicated audio interface will have its own circuitry to deal with all of those data conversions needed for dealing with multiple tracks in Sonar, freeing up your CPU to do other things.  Your audio performance will be SIGNIFICANTLY better using an actual audio interface, rather than the on-board sound or ASIO4ALL.
 
About $150 usd gets you a pretty nice audio interface, and is WELL worth it.
 
One more thing for you to consider.  MANY laptops have WiFi drivers/hardware that really spike the DPC latency, and the easy fix for that is to turn of the laptop WiFi just prior to launching your Sonar session, then after closing Sonar back down when finished, then turn the WiFi back on.
 
Bob Bone
 

same as bob said, look in to a cheap audio interface / a break away box with usb capability's.
it will save you headaches.
if you only intend to mix using sonar then you can get a way without using an audio interface.
tracking however, the latency will drive you bananas.
 
 
also if your buying a laptop out of convenience, its totally understandable but if you want to really use this machine for digital audio exclusively, ask yourself if a desktop is a better option.
i know in todays technology, a desktop seems like a step back but its really the best way to go for digital audio.
expansion is key.

What Chuck said.