In a sense you probably will be beating your head against the wall. First you probably need a better computer. I still have Pentium 4 computer, and if not using any plug-ins it handles many tracks (40 or more probably but I only have used 36), but it is a false 64-bit computer, hyperthread technology 32-bit computer. It has two cores, but early two cores that don't work as well as newer two-core computers, but it works well enough. (It's the cache that gets muddled up with reused hit and misses of programming codes. But it is better than a single-core computer, which is what I am guessing you have. But yours may work well enough as it is, as long as you do not try and add all those plug-ins (which I do not) to make the music (plugins are like drum kits and any other instruments that are not real but used when you do not play the instrument and you have to change the MIDI type output to a wave file on the computer maybe on the fly while it is playing - that takes a lot of computing power - way more than just having the DAW record the output from a instrument with a live wave file recording).
Latency is the lag in recording and listening to the recording when recording more than one track (usually I record stereo or left and right) and trying to record another track. ASIO drivers allow for that latency so what you record and what you listen to happen to be the same timing, or else with WDM/KS or MME drivers you will always have that lag that can amount to more the slower the computer is, but never disappear no matter what audio interface you use or recording you make. It can be very low like 6ms (milliseconds which ain't much but not exactly on) to more like mine with the WDM/KS drivers for Sonar 7 which is going to not be less than 21 ms. It just don't work well to do that while trying to record, so ASIO drivers (with the audio interface) are used so everything comes out together, listening to an already recorded track and adding a new track and tracks and tracks.
As to firewire, yes it still is faster, but if not the new technology (plus not having a firewire input on the computer while having at least a USB2 (not a USB1.1) many ports, it just will not be faster. a 400mB firewire is slower than a 480mB USB2 port. If they were using a 800mB firewire port then that would be faster, but now there will be USB3 pretty soon and that will probably still be faster. A 1600 firewire port would still be faster, but you have to use what you can get. And although there may be standards that they have agreed to, there will always be lag in what is made and what can be made. I have a USB2 audio interface (not a USB1.1 interface which was the first one and is too slow anymore) so my RME Babyface works great with it (although you may get a click or something sometimes - it just happens but it never does it when recording and usually only when listening - they tightened up the drivers so a PCI-e card probably still is faster than any firewire or USB type audio interface. But only have one PCI-e port which I use for my graphic card, and they have a PCI-e not 16 port but a PCI-1 port which may be fast enough, usually there is no one really using it, so again it depends on what you can get. PCI can still work fine, but the choices are limited and not as good as the newer versions of audio interface, especially like a USB2 interface which can plugged in or unplugged into your computer, but I don't disconnect mine so I use it as a soundcard for anything else, like DVD movies or listening to music to youtube videos. Plus the new ones can record all the way up to 24-bit (32-bit rendering) and 192kHz sample rates. Music Creator will not do that, and I don't know if you can get over 44, 100 sample rate (the same rate used for CDs) and 16-bit (CDs) but the newer one may allow that. I use Sonar 7 now, instead of MC4 which I still have on my computer, so I record lately only at 48000 sample rate and 24-bit, but not at 16-bit and 44100 sample rate. Still have to end up at the low end, but I guess it is suppose to give anyone recording the higher up in sample rate (up to 192000 now with newer audio interfaces like mine) more head room. I doubt if I go at anytime over 96000 sample rate - and 24-bit. It takes more harddrive space (a lot) if going up to higher rates, and well Windows Media Player, only works up to 48000 and 16-bit anyway, so even if a DVD is better because a real recording studio or movie studio was used and makes it better, a DAW on a home computer will only do so much, and that will be it. Unfortunately the standard for a CD is still 44100 and 16-bit, even if recorded at 24-bit and whatever sample rate. Youtube videos are even that good and usually more like mp3 files like a lot of people mix-down to, to limit the size of the file or music song.
Well, that's about it, and if I missed anything, well, just know that it all can be researched on the Internet.
If I had a 64-bit computer and newer processor then I probably would consider Sonar newest one (X1b) whatever it is. But then I only have a 32-bit computer and OS system called Windows XP, but it works still for what I do, and that is not use a bunch of plug-in tracks that I think if I read correctly, make the MIDI into a wave file on the fly with instruments plug-ins. I won't record guitar amps either, for I can buy a digital simulator type box that simulates guitar amps and effects and whatever and record direct into the DAW (digital audio workstation which MC3 or MC4 or Sonar 7 or higher is).