Priority D Magic, spend 0 SP on Magic, cram in 5 Essence worth of 'ware, buy up Magic post Char gen isn't optimal. Just isn't. You stay so far behind on PP for a long time because of Foci.
Priority D Magic. Spend 5 SP on Magic, Cram in 2 or 3 Essence worth of 'ware. Spend a bunch on Foci to bond with post char gen gets you a superior result. Highly recommended.
Heck, Priority D Magic, Spend 5 SP on Magic, skip the 'ware, load up on Foci, gets you a better character.
Announcer voice: "Foci! Much better than whatever you're doing!"
Fastlawyervoice "ExceptforusedMuscleToner"
I will grant you that starting at 0 Magic and buying up is long term most efficient, but by the time you've surpassed the bioware adept that started with 3 or 4 Magic, the Conjurers and Spellcasters have long since broken the game. When you're talking about 10 to 15 Karma worth of efficiency gain at around 200 Karma, this just simply isn't a real balance issue. Or it's about 99th on the list of balance issues.
Eventually every magic character hits a wall where you have to Initiate to raise Max Magic, then raise Magic, and repeat. This is slow and steady progress. Starting with Magic 0, you're basically at the wall already. If you've got a Magic attribute you can bond Foci. That is the lowest Karma cost for increasing Magical abilities, whatever they are. Next up is initiation, and if you don't have to raise magic to Initiate you can Initiate faster. Once you've maxed out Initiation grades and Foci, you're at the wall. This is normally about 200 Karma in, depending on build specifics.
I would suggest the 3rd most optimal power curve isn't cheesey. It's probably some goofy concept character that wants to "Grow into their Potential" or some such.