Studio One has a window which shows how much %CPU each plugin is using.  That's really handy in knowing which particular VST(i) to render to audio if you get a dropout.  I'd love to see that diagnostic in CbB.

I'm still running a 32bit Windows system on my main desktop. I have 4GB of RAM of which 3.4GB is available. At the moment I'm mixing a 12 track song, some of which have between 5 to 12 vocal takes. There are 3 synths running, Addictive Drums, Addictive Keys, and True Pianos. Each track has several plugs running, including several on the mix busses. There are no problems with dropouts and I'm using Melodyne to alter some of those pesky vocal tracks.
I think it all comes down to how your system is set up, I've managed to turn off as many background processes as I can find. I do think the processor on my system has a lot to do with keeping up with what needs to be done. It's an old 2010 model intel, but runs at 3.2Ghz and seems to be able to keep up with anything I throw at it.
I now have a new laptop with a 64bit system, 16GB of memory, and it was terrible when I first stated using Cakewalk. It's starting to come good, now that I'm finding and turning off processes that are running at startup.

Had to laugh a little @bit.  The assertion of 'if it's not at 100%, then it has time to do something else.' And that is SO true.
 
I used to tell the engineers where I worked, the slowest thing about their job was them.  (whenever they would say that had to have to bleeding edge of computing power).  To be fair, they were generating CAD (and not solids) drawings.  It's just lines and circles right? (tongue in cheek).
 
Bottom line, I think that any processor built in like the last 6-8 years is adequate for processing power for most of us.  I even recall doing things on a Z80 with 48K memory and it was pretty impressive for what we were working with at the time.  Don't get hung up on the tool.  Be creative and exploit everything you have.  You'll be surprised.
 
Good luck!

Make sure you manually set your computer up for high performance mode.
 With Windows 10, don't click on the settings gear, you will need type in "Control Panel" in the Cortana search box and that will open the legacy control panel, then click on "Power Options" and make sure "High Performance" mode is selected.
 This will insure the DAW is given high priority over any and all background operations.
 
 
An AMD FX 8350 can take a heck of lot more pressure than 63% on any given core(s) and still run cool & quiet. I've seen the meters for cores peg into the red for a split second (until turbo boost kicked in) and SONAR didn't even sputter or drop a beat.
I ran and FX 8350 in my system for over 5 years.. Upgrading to the FX 8370 was so slight it was barely noticeable under "bench test" scrutiny. Under real life noticeable performance upgrade, it wasn't even humanly possible to tell the difference, i.e., it was a waste of money.
 Truth be told I wasn't all that impressed with the extra speed I gained going from the FX 8320 to the FX 8350 either as far as usable brute horsepower and system stability is concerned there is no real intrinsic difference.
 
 Also, make sure your system is also set to "High Performance" in the "AMD Overdrive" control panel, and that your Memory is set to the correct speed and running in "Duel Mode".
You most likely have DDR3 PC 1866 @933 m/Hz installed, don't ever assume that your BIOS automatically selected PC1833. More often than not particularly on older AMD systems (5 years and down) the BIOS defaults at PC 1333 @600 m/Hz or PC 1600 (?)m/Hz.
By manually insuring and correcting memory speed and timing insures best possible over all system performance,  audio and sampler performance, dropouts, etc. and such.
 And on the same token, do not try to overclock PC1333 or PC1600 to PC1833! Most likely result could be boot failure, but if it does boot you shall surely experience stability problems.
 Not that memory has anything, or little to do with CPU stress, I've also found, after splitting up/removing 16 gigs of 32 gigs of memory for a new computer build, I didn't notice any difference in DAW performance as my system running SONAR or CbB never ever came close to using 16 gigs of memory, even running several instances of high quality samplers like Dimension Pro, Rapture Pro, Addictive Drums v1 and v2 all at the same time.
 I've found the CPU meter infinitely less distracting running SONAR/Cakewalk by Bandlab with CPU load balancing engaged. My FX 8370 always stays under 40% peaks even in my most CPU intensive projects, 40 -50 tracks dozens of audio plugins running with a couple of VSTi and DXi instruments actively running, and several more, once I get what I want with the "recording/sequencing" sessions and I am happy with the sound and performances, all tracks eventually get frozen to audio.
 And that's where the project's "mixing" sessions begin, and maybe, if need be, I shall apply dozens more plugins to smooth, polish, and schmooze the project for "Mastering" sessions.
 
 I can't actually say that CPU load balancing makes either run better, it's just visually less distracting.

richardskeltmusic
Studio One has a window which shows how much %CPU each plugin is using.  That's really handy in knowing which particular VST(i) to render to audio if you get a dropout.  I'd love to see that diagnostic in CbB.

yeah it's also sometimes surprising which plug-in is the biggest cpu hog!

 Easiest way to tell how hard a plugin hits your CPU is simply to toggle it on and off and watch your CPU meter. Adding another meter just adds to CPU usage
 CPU usage info is typically contained in the plugin's documentation, and or a quick Google search. Knowing what each FX plugin is designed to do, how it does it, and [typically] where to put it is more than half the battle.
 
These lines blur in modern DAWs.
 Plugins designed for being "inserted" into the front of a channel are typically easy on the CPU. With SONAR and CbB, these are already included and "inserted" within the built into a very flexable ProChannel. A selection of Compressors ranging from Opto, FET, and tube, and add on the killa CA2A, all compression needs are fully covered, 4 different graphic EQ types, Tube saturation, and 3 different console emulation preamp modules, and each can be moved to changed to the desired place in the signal path on the strip.
 
Plugins designed for special FX like delay, flange, chorus, reverb, will hit the CPU hard to harder are typically placed in the channel's FX bin, and if you want to use any of these heavier hitting power hungry Plugins across multiple channels, you can save a lot of CPU power by running one instance of the FX plugin on an Auxiliary Buss and blend the channels from an Aux. Send.
 Or, for using any heavy CPU hitting plugin on one channel with custom tweaks, freeze the channel immediately after working on it. Believe me, you don't want to forget about it and have too many heavy hitting plugins running on too many channels, NO DAW or CPU can handle that!
 
Very high quality "Buss" Plugins and mastering bundles designed to be placed on the master buss and or used for well, MASTERING  are seriously HARD on CPU's.
 Yes you can of course use them on tracks, and these are the plugins you definitely and absolutely want to freeze the tracks ASAP.
 
Also take note that YOU CAN'T FREEZE BUSSES! All plugins running in the buss section stay running and hot
Stack too many of these heavy hitting CPU hungry Buss and mastering plugins on top of each other in the master FX bin before the final channel tweaking mixing is done.
 Running CPU hungry mastering plugins and mastering suites like Ozone on the master buss(es) before finishing recording tracks and MIDI sequencing and mixing is finished is the most common novice mistake and causes the most high latency issues and stress on the CPU.
 If you absolutely have to add another track or tweak any channels in the mix, simply shut off the FX bin on the master buss(es) that your master plugins are assigned to!
You don't need them running until you get your channel and track mix down and project right and tight.
 They use up so much CPU power they are the last processing you need to run and tweak to perfection before exporting.
 
 I've always had the habit of freezing all tracks that I'm not actively working on. I do this in practice not as much to save CPU cycles, but to make collaboration go smoother. Most artists I collaborate with don't have computer workstations nearly as powerful as my main studio machine, nor do they have the same DAW, audio plugins, and instruments.
 
 
Projects that playback flawlessly on my main powerhouse workstation would send my i7 laptop into something like an epileptic shock upon launch, and freeze up both Windows and Splat and may require holding the power button down for a Kamikaze shutdown. 
 
Freezing tracks also adds another level of security to avoid accidentally changing plugin parameters on a track or channels I'm not focused or working on. VERY easy to do with a Behringer X Touch where simply touching a fader selects a different track, or Mackie DAW controllers, and it's almost certain to happen by letting someone else put their hands on your DAW controller to try it out or tweak the mix.
 
 Leaving plugins running that you aren't actively working with is simply a waste of CPU power and even electricity by making your computer to work harder than it has to.
 The harder your computer works the hotter the CPU gets, and the hotter the CPU gets the less efficient and stable it gets, and while all AMD FX CPU's and many Intel I series can be set to shut down the system well before it becomes unstable or thermal meltdown occurs, can yours? Do you even know what the thermal threshold is?
 It's kind of like what your electric meter and fuse box does when you leave all the lights TV's, stereos, AC, and appliances running in every room of the house. 
Than you plug in one more thing and get angry when you blow a fuse. 
 
 Crashing Windows or any DAW itself by pushing your system over the edge in the middle of a work session is the best way to corrupt and or completely destroy an entire music project.
 
Common sense should tell all of us that if you are using a high powered boutique channel strip like the Shepps Omni Channel by Waves or an Eventide UltraChannel channel strip it would be a great idea to shut down the Cakewalk Channel strip. I have all  3 of these, and they are all excellent each for their own reasons, Cakewalk being by far the most CPU friendly.
 And while it's more then OK to use an EQ from one, a compressor from another, running all FX at once on multiple channel strips at once can not only double or triple the length of your signal path, degrading sound quality, it puts unnecessary strain on your computer resources. 
 
 ALL plugins designed with multiple FX modules built in (such as iZotope's Ozone), linear phase EQ's, multiband compressors, should typically only to be used on the output busses and or for mastering, and plugins such as, convolution reverbs should be assigned to run on their own buss channel and fed from multiple channel aux. sends, not separate instances on each channel's FX bin, these are ALL CPU hogs, and any plugins that require high CPU usage will show up the CPU meter in SONAR or CbB.

I use zero to very few plug-ins. Not a great engineer.
Having lost my long-time DAW computer recently, and lacking funds for a new one, my brother the programmer gave me his old box. Windows XP 32-bit with 1 gig of memory.
There is an audio only project I have that sometimes hit ~45% on playback on the old computer, but barely tops 15% on the new(er) machine.
Weird.
But, the old computer used a Focusrite Saffire, and I had set it to give preference to background services, as Steinberg recommended when using ASIO*, while the new computer is still set for programs.
Plus, I'm using an equally ancient E-Mu 0404 PCI audio interface instead of the Saffire.
So it can't be a valid comparison; I just know it runs better, or seems to.
 
*Not recommended by Cakewalk anymore.