NEW Router / Plasma / Laser / Vision System Design - Which Mesa Combination?

I have designed the table to be able to use all these different tools.I have started welding the table and getting all the mechanical components together. While i wait for all that to come in i have three types of motion controls im considering. Not likely the tried old stepper, BLDC with encoders 1000ppr, DC servo disc with 2000ppr. Id perfer using the DC servo disc since i have the drivers and higher resolution. The drivers run on PWM and DIR(high low). The closed loop system will improve my accuracy and reduce costs.

Room for growth - I was hoping to implement later this project into a 5 axis router with a z 3 axis spindle. So this is a side note for consideration.

Which mesa combination will get me at least up and runnning with a 3 axis setup ?

I considered the 5i20 with 7I52S i am not a EE so be kind. I am a hobbiest learning.

If you want to use Mesa card with a plasma system, I would suggest a Ethernet connected card like a 7I80HD
( It is also much less expensive than the 5I20 which is a older card mainly sold for replacement purposes )

Some options are the 5i25 or 6i25 with a 7i76 for steppers and a THCAD for torch height control.

My plasma build with configuration files.

JT

Thanks for the replies. Is the Ethernet 7i80hd hard to setup. Do you need to upload firmware (is that hard)? I was going to go the easy route since it seems the 5i cards are pretty straight forward to get up and running. This is why im asking for you opinion to see what is the best route overall.

As im looking at the 7i80 how do you setup the ethernet card im not great although i have alittle dummies for linux know how on linux. I suppose that you set an ip and then some protocol from cpu to ethernet. So there is nothing else between the ethernet card (normal in case) and the ethernet anything card correct? Best bet would be to have two internet cards one for internet and the other for motion control.

Quick reading on the 7i is some what non-real time control? Is it better to go with a 7I76-6I25 PLUG-N-GO KIT which is a more real time system or am i not reading correctly? I like the idea of having a single wire to equipment but do not want to get into trouble with real time issues of the PID and closed loop system because of latency. Maybe not an issue either way?