Yep....

I agree, always buy as much computer and processing power as you can afford.

Having said that....

Often when people come in asking about performance related issues and say they're getting clicks, pops, hesitation, stuff out of sync, the first thing I think about is the sound card. It's generally at the root of those sorts of problems.

You can't generally get good performance out of factory (stock) sound cards and their drivers. Most of the folks here and on other music recording web sites are using third party external sound cards and ASIO drivers. Just about any computer will run the software just fine, but you do need to have a soundcard/interface that's up to the task.

I have run and still have a laptop that is pitifully under-powered by today's and PG's minimum requirements. YET.... with my Focusrite interface and ASIO drivers, I get absolutely great performance in spite of the fact that is s duo-core, running Vista for the OS and I think it has either 1 or 2 gig at most for it's memory.

My standard desktop DAW is similar.... 4GB, i5 chip, XP pro/32 and it's a rock solid workhorse.

You will get better performance out of an old bare minimum computer with a nice aftermarket recording interface than you will with a state of the art computer with a factory standard soundcard chip set.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.