suggestions for putting together a new PC for LinuxCNC

Hmmm, that looks nothing like what i have, lol I have a cnc4pc card, but i have bought 3 and they all seem to have failed. or my computer failed on the Pport. But on that Mesa I dont see where you connect to your Parallel cable.

It isn't a parallel port breakout board.

It is an FPGA card (with breakout included) that connects to the Ethernet port on the computer. It would give you hardware step generation (x5), one high speed encoder counter, and 16 isolated 3-32v digital i/o points (6out, 10in) (plus a few more expansion options.)

Oh, does it then eliminate the need for a parallel port? That seems to be my biggest issue trying to find a motherboard for building a new computer.

Yes it would replace the need for a parallel port.
But finding something with a parallel port isn't all that hard. This board has a header where you can plug in a parallel port.
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157513

Does the step config have an option for using ethernet now? I have attempted using a PCI Pport card in the past thinking the on on my MB was bad and had no luck getting Linux to recognize it. I know nothing about Linux other then setting up my machine control.

You can't use Stepconfig to stet up using Mesa hardware. Although some Mesa cards have plugs that match parallel ports, and can be used inplace of a parallel port. They are not configured the same way in Linuxcnc.

Changing from a built in parallel port to one on a PCI card isn't very difficult other than one crucial detail. You must find out what the port address is for the new one and configure it in your halfile.

Oh, okay, is there a wiki or something explaining using the ethernet connection?

Ya, that was where my problem was, i could find the address for the Pport card, but never could get hal to see it, im sure i was probably doing something wrong, just got frustrating.

If you disable the built in motherboard port in the bios, then setup the config to use parallel port 0. (assuming it is a single port card that works with Linux). it should just work without needing to find an address.

I am not aware of any wiki on the subject, but there are numerous threads on this forum where people have been walked through setting up Mesa Ethernet cards.

Thanks for the info, i will do some research and order up some parts.

I am quite happy so far with the Asrock J3455M setup I just bought.

It's an intel processor built in to the motherboard.
The motherboard has a parallel port header (which I'm using with a 7i43) - a header inside the case, not on the back panel.
Quad core celeron.
I haven't tried tweaking latency much as I use the 7i43 and latency does not need to be amazing.

Costs was $65 USD plus ram.