Testing cpu & ram for recording

[Butch-1]

I was wondering if my PC had enough CPU & RAM to record a demo for my band.. I only have a 633 cpu and 193 megs of ram, Win ME
I inserted a song on track-1 and inserted a different song on Track-2
then recorded me talking on track-3 and everything seem to playback allright.. so am I right in thinking I can record a demo with no Problems as far as getting all the tracks down ?

 

[dobro]

If it plays back okay, then you're good to go. If you start getting stuttering and dropouts, then it's a pain in the bum to listen to, but when you save the session and do the mixdown and dither it down to CD quality, it'll play just fine.

The whole thing about using a computer to make music is when you're mixing - does your machine have the capacity to play back big sessions smoothly so you can hear what's going on without interruption and annoyance? Even smaller, slower machines can usually play a number of tracks without problems.

 

[ozpeter]

As far as I'm aware it's a perfectly valid test to record say 16 tracks at once, even if you've only got a stereo soundcard with a CD playing into its inputs (for instance) - then see if you can play those 16 tracks back at once (lowering the master fader somewhat!). Then start adding realtime effects (if your version has them) - get a feel for what will be possible - you'll probably only be able to run one or two instances of "FullReverb" but plenty of eq.