Linux on and old machine...should work ok right?

[DoubleCheese]

Ok, need a bit of help from Linux wizzards on here

My brother has an PC that just doesn't seem to want to work for any length of time. He's tried XP Home and now Linux. Spec wise its:
Epox 9NDA3+ nForce3 Ultra with Barton 2500+
512MB RAM
SB Adigy Sound card
Gigabyte 7600GS AGP card

From what I can tell there are Linux drivers out there for all the components so I'm not sure why he's running into somany problems.
Anyone here with a similar setup that can confirm everything should work ok under Linux, specifically Ubuntu?

Thanks.

 

[DoubleCheese]

Thanks for the replies ....and revelations....redtube huh?
I'll have to hunt down the Audigy drivers and maybe give the other distro's a try.