Hi Guys,
 
I've been using Music Creator since the days of MC4 & love it. I'm ashamed to say I'm still using WinXP... it's one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of things - my PC needs are simple & it does everything I need up to now so I haven't been in a hurry to upgrade my OS or PC. Time's getting on though & I think it's about time I got a little more up to date with my hardware & software. Here's my query...
 
I'm on a very tight budget and I have the opportunity of a pretty good deal on a Windows 7 machine - refurbished with a fresh install of Win7. It meets all of the requirements for MC7... almost!
 
Processor speed = 3GHz
Ram = 4GB
HDD = 500GB
The only fly in the ointment is the processor - it's fast enough (the minimum being stated as 2.6GHz) but it isn't Intel i5 or AMD A10 APU. It's an Intel Pentium Dual-Core 3GHz.
 
My question is "does this matter a whole lot?"
 
I can live with the DAW running a little slow, if that would be the only drawback - I'm used to WiinXP, remember
 
But if it's going to be freezing & locking up due to the processor not being fit for purpose, then there's little point in me getting the PC - it's primary use will be as a recording machine (as well as the obvious email/web browsing stuff), so I want to make sure that it will run MC7, even if it does run a little slow.
 
Thanks in advance for your help with this, chaps.
 
John.

Should work fine.  You probably need to worry more about your audio interface.  I've used a lot less without issues.
 
Glen

Thanks mate. I'm OK with the audio interface (I think) as I've been told I can use ASIO4ALL to smooth things out & the worst case is that I'd need to get a USB ASIO interface - prices I've seen on those don't look too scary.

CPU/RAM/HDD requirements for Cakewalk products are performance/convenience related.
For example I use Sonar on Intel Centrino, 2GB RAM, 128GB disk. That system can run 2-3 software synth plus several audio tracks without glitched.
 
But the audio interface is rather important. Using ASIO4ALL (on internal audio) I can get it play stand-alone piano VSTi at the level I still can play, but mentioned 2-3 synth inside Sonar are usable live with proper external interface only.

Thanks for the reply. I've just ordered the PC - it's a refurbished Dell Optiplex with a 3GHz Intel Dual Core processor & 4GB of RAM. The music I make is pretty basic: instrumental classic rock & blues stuff - as long as I can run a drum VST (currently using Studio Instruments, which I believe comes bundled with MC7), then I just record "real" bass & guitars onto audio tracks. I occasionally use a Hammond Organ or piano VST too & create two buses - one for everything but the bass, and another "master" bus. I add a little room reverb to the "everything but the bass" bus & feed that into the master bus along with the output of the bass audio track, which just has a little compression on it. This is so I don't get reverb on the bass, which I don't want. I also add a little analogue tape sim to the master bus. So I guess that my needs are pretty limited - I'm not going to be using more than 2 or 3 (maximum) VST instruments & only use minimal (2 or 3) effects across a whole tune.
 
The audio interface is (hopefully) taken care of - I run my guitars & bass through a VOX Tonelab ST which can be used as an audio interface, although I'm not doing it that way at the moment: I currently just take the audio out from the Vox & go into the Line In on the Soundblaster. I've seen single input ASIO USB interfaces for as little as £30 so even if the Vox doesn't want to work as an ASIO interface, I should be able to work round it at minimal cost.
 
Thanks again for the advice, chaps. And apologies for asking what may have seemed like stupid questions (just in case I did) 

I'm running an old (8+ yrs) PC DAW with XP Pro 32 as the OS with the i5 Intel quad-core and 4G memory. 
 
The specs are not carved in stone. Some of the newer OS's might present some issues but mostly, things are good. You should be able to run MC7 on an older machine.
 
The advice about an interface is SPOT ON.   If you're running ASIO4ALL, you should seriously consider getting an inexpensive Audio/midi USB interface that runs native ASIO as opposed to the A4A wrapper.  My interface is a Focusrite Saffire, running ASIO and that thing is perhaps 12+ years old and works flawlessly.   I started on a laptop and built a DAW running XP Pro 32..... MC4, MC5, MC6 and finally doing an upgrade to Sonar X1 when Cake made a sweet offer to me.   All of them ran and run perfectly fine on that machine.
 
The internal sound card and the MME driver wrapped in A4A isn't the best way to do things. Spend the money and do yourself a favor..... get a nice interface.  You will never regret doing that.
 
 

Once again, thanks for the info. Any advice on a sub-£50 interface? There's a lot around on eBay but I don't know which are suitable & which aren't. Until a couple of days ago I'd never even heard the term "ASIO" so I don't even know if it's a given that any USB interface will be ASIO by default or whether it's something I have to seek out as a specific requirement.

£50 is not much - ~$60USD and my threshold for recommendations for an audio interface for use with MC or any DAW software is between $100USD and $150USD - usually closer to $150 (about £135 before VAT).
 
here are some of the entry level ones I'd recommend.  these are in USD in a US based internet store, but you can find the same manufacturer and model in the UK.
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/c695--USB_Audio_Interfaces?params=eyJmYWNldCI6eyJQcmljZSBSYW5nZSI6WyI0Il0sIkJyYW5kIjp7IjEiOiJNLUF1ZGlvIiwiMiI6IkxleGljb24iLCIzIjoiU3RlaW5iZXJnIiwiNCI6IlJvbGFuZCIsIjUiOiJMaW5lIDYiLCI2IjoiQmVocmluZ2VyIiwiNyI6IlByZVNvbnVzIiwiOCI6IkZvY3Vzcml0ZSJ9fX0
 

JohnRobson
The audio interface is (hopefully) taken care of - I run my guitars & bass through a VOX Tonelab ST which can be used as an audio interface, although I'm not doing it that way at the moment: I currently just take the audio out from the Vox & go into the Line In on the Soundblaster. I've seen single input ASIO USB interfaces for as little as £30 so even if the Vox doesn't want to work as an ASIO interface, I should be able to work round it at minimal cost.

If you plan to continue with Tonelab, try to get it running directly (drivers from Korg site). In the Internet there are reports it works fine with Sonar and ASIO4ALL. Please do not expect zero latency (I mean adding software guitar effects live), but some reverb/delay can be usable. For recording it should be better then Soundblaster (or any other analog connected to Tonelab interface). Interfaces under $100 are not going to improve your setup, they do not have good ASIO drivers nor converters quality.

Welcome to the forum.
I looked up the Tonelab and it says it can be used as an interface and has ASIO drivers.
But there is no link to download the ASIO drivers on their support web site, just links to their manual and a MIDI driver for Macs.
Last noted support was for Vista and later.