lol, I know the mentality, Thom.
My home machine is also my MP3 player, as my nickname is "Cheap Bastage." This machine is my only supply of music for the whole apartment.
Thinking through the various devices ... the video card is a relatively elderly piece of gear. Seems that it's running an Intel chipset, which has been reliable under Linux in other machines. The network cards are LinkSys and 3Com -- I'd be a little surprised if either of those was causing problems. I hate to admit it, but you're probably right -- the sound card is onboard the MB, and it's something like a Matsugawa Special, or something similar.
I'll do some troubleshooting and report back. If it turns out to be the soundcard, can anyone recommend a Linux capable card? Thanks for the help.
Dan