Computer spec question

Total noob here. 

I started building a Makerstore CNC machine about 4 years ago and just this week pulled it out and continued building it. 

The chosen controller was a Gecko G540 hooked up to an old Dell Optiex980. 

I tried to turn on the computer last night and it’s dead. 

im a bit worried about buying another as they’re so old now. 

What other options are they to connect the Gecko’s parallel port to a newer computer without a parallel port?

You could try the mesa 7i92 ethernet card. Your BOB should plug into it.
or a 7i76e and redo it all.

rodw's advice is probably the best option: it is future proof and will get you far better performace than a regular parallel port. It is a bit higher cost and will require some configuration changes (quite substantial with the 7i76e).

That said, it is still possible to get motherboards with an internal parallel port header, or you can buy a PCIe parallel port card for your new computer. The biggest issue with these options is that the host computer needs to have very low latency to be able to run the "base thread" that flips the parallel port pins, and it's difficult to know beforehand if a certain computer is good enough (this is not related to raw performance but has to do with how power saving, "management engines" and such are implemented on the board).

Pros: cheap; simple.

Cons: the computer you buy might not work; much lower step rates and much more jitter than a Mesa based system; you will need to run the no-longer-fully-supported RTAI version of LinuxCNC. Also with a PCIe parallel card you will need to set it up which seems to be not always straight-forward.

If you want to go this route, look around and see if you can find a computer with a parallel port header that others have been successful with. I would only go this route if money and/or time is very tight.

Hmmm. I think you misunderstood my first 3 words... Whenever I read the words 'require some configuration', my blood freezes and I feel ill.

I don't have any BOBs, (breakout boards, right?)  I've only got the Gecko G540. I believe the motor drivers are built in, therefore not requiring breakout boards???

I started this project 4-5 years ago and much of my research from that time is now a non-existent memory.

Whatever computer I get will have to be cheap, because its going to be permanently connected to the machine in the shed.

[EDIT:] I just bought an old Dell Optiplex 760 from feeBay last night for under $90AUD delivered, hopefully it will do the job... (and last longer than a few years...)

I can guarantee one thing: once you have your machine up-and-running, you will no longer be a total noob.

How do I tell which version I've got?

I don't think you can see what version of Geckos you have using uname?

('uname -a' shows which kernel version you're running.)