CMS MAXIMA 4 axis Machine retrofit

Hi to the forum
I will begin retrofit the CMS MAXIMA 4 axis machine X Y Z C (i intent to add A axis as rotary axis in X direction)
After struggling with the Fanuc motors i decide to replace them with Chinese
The machine is a very a well made production machine
I intent to use MESA CARD for the task since i m very satisfied from there performance in my other retrofit with linuxcnc
of a INTERMAC machine
But in this case i have to control step and dir so 5i25 and 7i77 combo is out of the question
Since this will be a production machine i wool like to be careful with details
So first of all what type of pc sud i use? (with 200 euro i can find some old workstation with Xeon or some i5 with 4 giga ram)
And what type of Mesa sud i prefer the 5i25 7i76 or the one with the Ethernet connection 7i76E
Thanks

USE the 7i76E
this will give you a nice modern machining

What size does your maxima have
this Gantry CMS can be huge
and offen they got troubeling double axes so a new liniarencoder is needed

the working dimensions are 3700 mm in X axis 3500 mm in Y axis and 400 mm in Z axis. C axis have continuous rotation.
The machine have one motor on each axis so there is no need for 2.8 edition of linuxcnc

One more questionfor the pc: is it preferable ssd or hdd as memeory

it is Your Personal issue
In Hard Envirerment SSD will be more Stable
if it is in a Shielded Rack beside the Mashine HDD is a best guess as the price is only Half and Double Size

Hi
After long time the pc has arrived. I think that the pc have more then enough capabilities for the job
Also i order the 7i76E mesa from Eu surplus but there is a delay from the manufacture.
i wool like your suggestion for the linux distro. I use debian on the Inermac machine and i m very satisfied
from the behavior . I try to use linux mint in a virtual machine with no success
Is there other suggestions?