in an audio setup that is not high end wgat is the better order to buy stuff in..

an extra hard drive to use purely for the audio rather than the OS
Ram in amounts over 512megs
CPU power over 1.25GHZ G4

in otherwords would it be better to buy a G4 1.25 and wack a bit more ram in it and another HD or would it be better to go for the Pure CPU power and not worry about the extra Drive and ram over 512megs

Depends on what software/how many soft samplers/synths/plugins you'll be using, but either way you'll want more than 512. 1G of ram at least, 1.5 if you can.

Then the hard drive (because they're cheap and good value for performance ratio). Then CPU. That'd be my suggestion. However, a dual G5 will do circles around a G4. HUGE performance, it's just that the price is a lot higher than the other options.

so for a smallish setup at a home that records maybe 4-5 audio tracks tops one at a time and then some midi which i will convert to audio is it better to run for the G4 with 1 gig of Ram and the extra Hard drive
or would you go for a G5 with 1 gig Ram and no extra drive ?

I intend to use something like Maestro or Traction.. nothing too high for software and am buying my first Mac new so I am running a bit blind alls I have tried is mucking about on a Ibook G4 1 ghz laptop but that had no audio software so I am rather a newbie but have a bit of (not much) experience on PC's

I believe the HD is the most importent thing, keeping you audio safe on another drive, even if you were to say buy as G5 you'll still need that extra HD

If you're recording one or two audio tracks at a time and stacking, you can get a long way even with a G3 ibook with 512 ram on OS9 - and it's silent (very very nearly). Unless you're recording very noisy stuff, a silent computer is necessary so that probably means a laptop.

If you're just starting try using your friend's G4 ibook and get hold of an app free. Then try it out. Ah, you'll need to borrow a sound card and mics too but can't talk about that here.

If this subject were to be switched to the starting out section we could suggest more complete budget priorities, depending on what you want to do.

I've a feeling most people choose everything in the wrong order which is why your question is a good one. To me the cpu is the last thing you should choose. It really depends on what the software will require.

In my opinion a young business man just starting out would look silly with a rolls royce and torn jeans.

This post has been edited by Presto: Mon 16 Aug 2004, 23:02

the processor. you can always upgrade the other components later, but the processor your stuck with!