Windows 7 Home Premium x64

Updating the CPU is not going to help all that much. The motherboard probably doesn't allow more than 4GB of RAM and it's probably DDR or DDR2 RAM and not DDR3 which is much cheaper. Also, having a separate video card will also help since the built-in video  probably doesn't have enough memory to deliver adequate performance. You also may not be able to replace just the motherboard because newer motherboards require power suppplies with more leads than older power supplies. Its a lot to think about and not something you just want to jump into without doing a lot of homework. 

I've seen a few people here having problems with the E-MU stuff but I don't have any specific knowledge on that. I don't think that would be causing BSOD though. I'd get the system humming along the best you can before fiddling with that. As far as the RAM once you figure out the exact model of motherboard you have you can look online (again Tom's will be a good resource for this) then you'll be able to see how much RAM (and the type of RAM) the system can handle. Here's how I'd go about it myself. Do the optimization stuff. See if things improve. If not snag some more RAM (at 3 GB it is very likely you will be able to add more). Then take a look at the CPU stuff to see if it will be worth it to upgrade (if it's even possible). Also your hardrives might be causing problems if they are slow or inferior quality. You generally want ones that spin at 7200RPM like these Caviar Blacks http://www.newegg.ca/Prod...x?Item=N82E16822136795 but make sure they are compatible with your board (IDE vs SATA). With all that though you may find it will be more worth it just to build a new system that is more future ready. Getting a modern and reliable interface is very important too but kind of separate from the comp stuff so I didn't put it in the checklist. I picked up a Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 a couple months ago for $300 and it's great but if you do not need the extra inputs you can go for one of the smaller Scarlett's for around $150-200. One more thing is MINIMUM system requirements are just that... the minimum you need to actually run the program. However if you start adding a lot of tracks/effects/VSTs you can start running into problems. You generally want to go for the RECOMMENDED system requirements or higher. Hope this has been helpful.

daveny is absolutely spot on.

I had to do a lot of head scratching when I decided it was time to upgrade my Q6700 Quad Core running XP32 with 4Gb of ram - and as soon as you start to delve into it, you get into the cycle of, to upgrade the CPU requires a new motherboard, which requires new RAM, power supply, while you're there you might as well go for larger hard drives, and more of them, so I ended up buying a brand new machine.

And yes as Daveny pointed out this can be a lot of work if you are not tech savvy. I spent a whole year learning about computer stuff to build my own. You may just want to take it to someone who knows what they are doing or buy a new system outright. Cakewalk has a recommended PC vendors/system list that have been vetted to work with Sonar. If you have the cash take a look at ADK. Check out this page for more info... http://www.cakewalk.com/PCResource/default.aspx

He's in the UK.

So try the likes of Inta Audio, DV247, Carillon, Music-pc.

Wow I never knew there was so much to 'just' upgrading something...... I think I will probably end up buying a powerful laptop when I have the money but for the moment I will try to continue to use Sonar on the desktop with these optimized audio settings. Thanks for the help everyone.

Your processor uses a 775 socket, so any of the Intel Core 2 Duos or Quads should run OK, although to make sure you should identify your motherboard and check the manufacturer's website for compatible processors. This will also tell you how much RAM your board can take.
Plenty of folk round here will advise you to refresh your system to the latest and greatest, which is a great idea but may not suit your budget.


I am running X1 Producer Expanded perfectly well on a quite old ASUS P5 system with a Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz) and 8GB of RAM, with no problems with dropouts. I run it under Windows 7 Pro 64.
Of course everyone uses SONAR differently so my setup may not work so well with someone else's tracking requirements.

on a quite old ASUS P5 system with a Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz) and 8GB of RAM, with no problems with dropouts. I run it under Windows 7 Pro 64.

Quite old? 

Before you spend any money on mother boards and other upgrades......

I did not see anywhere where you mention which sound card you are using. 

The symptoms you described : "drop outs" are typical sound card issues and tend to point to a factory  sound card issue. If you are using X1 with a factory sound card, that could very well be the source of the problems including the BSOD.  Your settings could also be playing a part in the drops. Are the drops on synths or are they on e entire project audio included?  Synths would be latency settings and buffers, audio would be more directly related to the sound card itself. 

If you are running X1 with a factory card, I would highly recommend the purchase of a USB based interface which uses ASIO drivers before doing any other upgrades.

While I do concur that the processor and memory should be no less than the factory recommended minimums, it is very possible to run X1 on a less than optimal computer. I have done this in the past and gotten good results. Some of the processes take a bit longer to do, but the system will usually run OK.  You might not be able to run a project with 8 synths in it and a bunch of audio FX at the same time, but it will run..... just not like it would on a more capable PC.