Giving 64Studio box as multitrack gift. HW setup questions?

[blob]

EDIT: found this, which answers part of my question but please help with rest

Basic MIDI use >= 400MHz CPU with 128MB memory
Audio recording with minimal DSP plug-ins >= 800MHz CPU with 256MB memory
Soft synths >= 1.0GHz CPU with 512 MB memory
Mixing and mastering with heavy DSP >= 2.0GHz CPU with 1GB memory

from http://www.64studio.com/install_guide_2
end edit.

I'm picking up a spare computer just before xmas that I'd like to set up with 64Studio (perhaps Ubuntu Studio but getting more errors w/ it) and give to a musician friend. Not trying for anything fancy, but want guidance on options and a reality check: will inexpensive options give poor results?

Intended Use:
(mostly) single live instrument at a time, composing rather album oriented multitrack recording. Seems like this is not that taxing a use so I'm hoping it might be fine. AFAIK the person this is for is not much of a keyboard/midi etc user but I could be wrong. Since my main constraint is money (of course), and it is a major one, I figure they can add more/better cards as desired, including upgrading MB, so I'm looking for a very basic initial setup. Focus will be recording guitar/bass, with hydrogen, synths, etc. there to be used.

Questions:
1) is hw fast enough? already answered by RTFMing. See note at top.

2) Existing onboard sound must be awful, will a cheap PCI soundcard work? What would you suggest at minimum? What do I need to consider?

3) USB2.0 would be no problem for multitrack recording, right? Or would a Firewire PCI card be pretty necessary? Seems like there isn't really that much data produced.

4) Plugging in an instrument: clearly a huge range of choices/prices but looking for cheapest to start them off:
-cheapest seems line out from preamp, guitar amp or guitar fx processor to sound card line in. Am I missing something? I know straight guitar out to sound card line in has issues with the low signal level so I assume gobs of noise. Will these other routes work?
-$30 Alesis GuitarLink or other 1/4inch to USB converter cables ($30-$90): do these work w/ linux or do they require funky win only drivers or other problems? Any recommendations?
-$100 on up (and up, and up...) USB/firewire line/midi boxes, spiffy lots-o-inputs soundcards, etc. These are simply out of my range right now, but they'll get them if they want them along the way.

Hardware in question:
older Compaq Presario S4000nx
Celeron 2.4 GHz socket 478 chip (this is a 32bit chip, so will use that version of 64Studio)
1G 2100 DDR memory (conflicting specs: may be maxed, may be able to add another 1G
80G HDD I figure will be used for OS
External 1TB drive external HDD which supports USB or firewire, though the motherboard lacks fireware as is (does have USB2.0). 2 free PCI slots on the MB so I could add a firewire if necessary.
"Soundcard" is feeble onboard AC '97 with line in, line out, microphone.

I'm proficient with linux, enough to learn whatever I need as I go, but this use is new to me. I have US and various 64Studio versions on different partitions on my own machine to test so w/ software at least I can play around a bunch before asking for help. My recording experience is limited to analog era stuff: owned a Tascam 388 (real to real 8 track) until I traded it for rent back in my college days. Oops.

Sorry for the long first post. Any/partial answers appreciated.
Thanks!

[Jan]

Going from your preamp to the soundcard is the way to go, IMO. I do that with my Marshall JMP-1 and with a little plugin tweaking in Ardour the sound is fine.

My soundcard is a Behringer UCA-222, a USB 2 interface. Cheap, but it does the job pretty well. I thnk this is a good interface, if you have a very limited budget (I have, too). What I found useful on this is that it was not only simple plug & play on 64 Studio, but with the separate Headphones output and the general output of the UCA-222 I can have two speakers and my headphones simultaneously, which is very useful I think.

[blob]

That's great advice - I still had a tab with the behringer unit specs open from my late night online window shopping. It seemed like the cheapest decent way to go IF it works, and Jan's answered that

So it works as a full sound card? Guess I never thought this through and assumed a sound card is found inside in a PCI slot... just like my dear mother calling the monitor "the computer" and the computer "the hard drive". And I'm admitting this publicly? oh well

Thanks for the help!

[Jan]

That's great advice - I still had a tab with the behringer unit specs open from my late night online window shopping. It seemed like the cheapest decent way to go IF it works, and Jan's answered that

So it works as a full sound card? Guess I never thought this through and assumed a sound card is found inside in a PCI slot... just like my dear mother calling the monitor "the computer" and the computer "the hard drive". And I'm admitting this publicly? oh well

Thanks for the help!

You're welcome!