Debating whether to get X2, and today I finally noticed the system requirements.  Holy Rip Van Winkle!
 
CPU stuff used to be easy; a 1.8 GHz was better than a 1.2 GHz, and you didn't need to know a whole bunch more.  But now there's dual and quad and umpty-core chips, and who knows whether B is better than A, in actual practice.
 
Here's what I'm reading.  The X2 requirements say (on the Intel side):
Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.67 GHz
 
I would probably want to use my laptop, which has this:
Intel Core i5-3210M 2.50GHz
 
Superficially, it looks like my laptop processor isn't up to the task.  But a benchmarking site rates those chips this way:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200  score:  1844 (higher is better)
Intel Core i5-3210M  score:  3823 
 
In other words, based on whatever the benchmark tests, my laptop chip SMOKES the Core 2 Duo.  If the benchmark number matters, my other option (an AMD desktop machine) looks like it should be OK as well:
AMD Phenom II X2 545  score:  1981
 
Any thoughts?  Would I be able to use X2, if I got it?  Or should I just stick with Sonar 4 (seriously, I did buy 6 and 8.5, but I somehow never get around to those; just keep banging away on Old Reliable #4)?

You don't mention anything about your o/s, but if you are running Sonar 4, then I suspect that it's Windows XP. Sonar X2 is supposed to work in XP, but the X2a update won't install unless to upgrade to Windows 7. Cakewalk no longer supports XP.
 

I'd download the X2 demo and try it out, and if problems arise, then I'd give 8.5 a whirl, as it's a similar experience to S4 but improved in many aspects.

Kev999
You don't mention anything about your o/s, but if you are running Sonar 4, then I suspect that it's Windows XP.

Correct; the current installation is XP.  The potential target installation, laptop or desktop, would be under 64-bit Windows 7.  What got me concerned was the minimum CPU specs.

Spencer
I'd download the X2 demo and try it out.

Good idea!

X2a won't run on XP32, so moving to Win 7 64 is a fine idea.
 
X2a runs fine on my i5 laptop and I have 6Gb of RAM installed, I'd say this is the minimum you can get by on these days