Buying a new iMac... how much power do I need to run GarageBand well?

Hi All
I am about to get a 27" iMac but am weighing up the options for the processor and memory (and maybe hard drive too). Neither my wife nor I are into gaming or high end graphics stuff, so we do not need an i7 with 16GB ram... but is the bassline 27" iMac powerful enough to run GarageBand with no problems?
I have not really used it much before as our laptop is about 6 years old and it really struggles running GB, hence I have not been keen. However as I am a musician and am about to get a new computer... I am keen to find out just how much power I'll need.
At this stage, I want to play around with GB and dop some aranging, not sure how many tracks this will end up equating to as my experience grows... but unless I really get into it, I am unlikely to progress to Logic or similar... but if I did, would I need more than the baseline?
So in short... do you guys think the 27" iMac i3 with 4GB RAM will cut it for someone who is getting started but wants to spend a reasonable amount of time in GB? Why/why not?
Thanks

TuningPeg wrote:
In order to fully understand what you just said to me... I had better find out what an 'Addictive Drum AU' is. I am quite teh newbie when it comes to digitally recording, either from a real instrument or a virtual one.
I am assuming that the Addictive Drum is fairly intense when it comes to the CPU? Are there many other virtual instruments that are hard on the CPU? For an average user I am assuming this will not pop up to often, correct?
Garageband is not a 'closed system' in that you are stuck with what it offers. You have the option to use 3rd party software to enhance your productions. AU stands for Audio Unit, a coding standard around which many 3rd party developers use to integrate with Mac products. As you develop your own habits and tastes with your productions, you might decide that the options GB offers you are not to your liking. This is where these sorts of products come in. They are very easy to use with GB. Addictive Drums is a Drum program that is actually lightweight on your system compared to others. The only reason I had 8 instances (one loaded on 8 individual MIDI tracks) was because of a limitation GB has. It suited my workflow to do it this way.
There is a huge range of AU's available, Native Instruments being a company that does a very good set of products. Some are indeed very CPU intensive, others are not. You have to do your research by asking questions on various forums and seeking reviews etc.
The term 'Average User' really means nothing in my honest opinion. Depending on your preferred genre of music and how you go about hooking into this slippery slope of hobby home recording, you may bump into a variety of limitations either in GB itself or limitations because of your machine. Because RAM is easily replaced by the owner and hard drives are easily obtained for extra storage, CPU is the thing your are stuck with from day one. Programs are getting bigger and they are relying on lots of number crunching. Amp simulations are a good example of CPU intensive software. It is easy to find yourself spending $60 here and $99 there on all sorts of cool Software, and before you know it you have quite the quiver full. I am not a heavy GB user, in that I don't run 30+ tracks on my projects. I am a 12-16 track average user most of the time. However, the reason I upgraded to my iMac recently was because I had one piano AU, yes just one, that stopped my 2 year old macbook in its tracks when using another recording program. I had all the RAM that GB could use, an excellent hard drive and a very good sound card, but the computers lack of grunt made working with it tedious and sometimes frustrating. You more than likely have a budget to work with when getting your machine. The advice I would give any personal friend who was getting their first computer for recording is to get the most CPU you can for your budget. You could be staring at this machine for the next 4-6 years. Typically RAM and hard drives get cheaper over time should you need them, relatively small prices to pay in the long run.

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diaphones wrote:
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Message was edited by: kostby

How much power?

within the next few weeks, i will likely be making the move to the world of mac and subsequently, to logic pro. my only real big question at this point is just how much power will i need? i will definately be going with the intel processor but how many tracks can i work with at the 512mb minimum requirement or how much more ram would i want to upgrade to? i am currently looking into the imac or macbook due to price and mobility.

Buyig rams fr A vendor and not fr apple to use on A mac.
Is A real riskyie situation.
1 not all memory works on all mac.
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the time it take to get from 1 memory to the other it go CRASH CRASH.
Say you went back to the shop
LOCAL VENDOR.
NOT MAC.
They will tell you all type of RUBBISH some vender that is I had to make out like i am some real yard man ganster cause the boss man was,nt having it.
Wow lucky for me, for 1 of the first time IT fealt great. cause they see I was JAMAICAN and I was in no (ramping)/ meaning -PLAYING.
I WHEN AS FAR AS MAKING OUT LIKE I WOULD SMASH THE WHOLE SHOP IF THEY DID,NT SHORT
THE BAD MEMORY OUT, ITS NOT WORTH THE HASSLE.
EIGHTER GO TO APPLE.
ARE TAKE SOMEONE WITH EXPRIENCE ON MAC, AND IT WOULD ALSO BE BETTER TO TAKE A MAC WITH YOU THEN TEST THE MEMORY.
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