On Nov. 12th, I sent two separate messages thru the Cakewalk Customer Service contact page, one on correctly reinstalling decade-old Cakewalk projects and one on the concern of the posted system requirements when I'm considering an upgrade to SONAR X1.  I got a response within 2 days on the old project reinstallation question, in fact it was very detailed and helpful.
 
I didn't receive a response to the inquiry I sent in on Nov. 12th regarding the posted system requirements for SONAR X1, so I sent the same message on Nov. 18th, with a little preamble stating I hadn't gotten a response yet to the message sent in on the 12th.  So now here it is Nov. 23rd, and I've yet to receive a response to either the Nov. 12th or 23rd messages sent into Cakewalk Customer Support on what I believe is an important question to know the answer to before making the upgrade purchase.
 
Cakewalk Customer Support has done very well by me since the early 90's when I began using Cakewalk and then Sonar.  They've always been helpful and quick to answer, but it seems that there might be a little avoidance going on here, which I really hope isn't the case.  So here's the message I've sent in twice (with the addition of the posted system requirements info), and maybe someone from Cakewalk Customer Service will help me by answering my questions on SONAR X1 system requirements, so that I can determine whether to move forward with the upgrade purchase or whether or not I need to start thinking about a computer upgrade first.  I look forward to a response.
 
Nov. 18, 2010 - CWCS-16593
 
Hi,
 
So you got me... I received the SONAR 8.5 to X1 upgrade flyer in the mail and I've been checking it out and I'm very interested.  The main issue is, I'm getting the impression from the system requirements listed on your site, that neither my desktop or laptop would meet the requirements.
 
My desktop has: Intel Core Duo - E6550 @ 2.33Ghz 2.00 GB 32-bit Vista (2-year old Dell)
 
My Laptop has: Intel Core Duo - T4500 @ 2.30Ghz 2.00 GB 64-bit Windows 7 (6-month old Dell)
 
Your site lists - Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.67 GHz
 
So, will either of these machines work with SONAR 8.5 or X1???  I look forward to your response.
 
Thanx,
 
JIM

I would venture to say that it probably will run, but the size of your projects may be limited depending on your computer power. Meaning, you may not be able to have a large number of tracks or lots of fx and soft synths running.

But that's just an opinion and not any kind of official word...

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series. Get Sonar 8 Power - Today! Go to: http://www.garrigus.com/

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Its Sonar. Sonor is a drum manufacturer. 

Thanx!  I changed the O to an A. 
 
Take care,
 
JIM

Hi Jim,
System requirements for X1 can be found here:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/X1-System-Requirements.aspx

Pretty sure he already knows the listed requirements. I believe he was asking opinions on how his system would fare with X1, as several of us are wondering.

Yes, that is really the point of my question.  So, Moderator Mike, if you wish to let me know whether or not either of my machines will meet the requirements or not, it would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry, I was only trying to be helpful.
Will these two machines work? Yes, they will both function. The problem with giving a definitive answer on this is that while a dual core with 2GB of ram will function, it's going to be relative to what you are doing. If you plan on using multiple virtual instruments you may find yourself tapping your resources quickly. There are also some plugin fx that require alot from your system thus multiple instances will tap you out quickly also. So, short answer-yes you can run X1 on these machines. But I would also take in mind that having more cores and more ram will give you more room to work with as far as instruments and fx go and also lower latency.

Hi Mike,
 
I'm really planning on doing demos that'll include recorded audio, samples and some midi.  These tracks wouldn't probably include too much if any virtual instruments or fx.  Would using the resident drum kits/sounds in SONAR X1 cause me any overload or lower latency?   I appreciate your response and look forward to this tidbit of clarification. 
 
Thanx,
 
JIM

I would say that using one instance of Session Drummer 3 should be ok for you. I would advise in your situation though freezing the Session Drummer 3 track after you've gotten your sequences down as this will free up your resources for the rest of the tracks.
I was actually running 8.5 on a dual core2 with 4GB of ram and it did ok for the most part, it's just when you start having alot of  midi tracks and fx running you'll experience higher latency and then lockups. Audio tracks in themselves are not really resource "hogs" so as long as you keep the instruments (midi tracks) to a minimum or freeze said tracks after you are done writing them and if you're using fx and you find the system lagging freeze these also then you should be able to work. I do want to stress that even though these machines will run, it would be in your best interest to look into a newer machine with more than a dual core. I would also bump up the ram in the dual core you are going to use as this will help out alot!
I hope this helps and have a great holiday!