[Cialug] 1GHz Athlon, Linux Mint, poor video

[Kendall Bailey]

Trying to make an old machine usable.  It has 768MB, 1 GHz athlon, loaded
Linux Mint 8.  Everything is working nicely, but flash video is really
choppy.  A couple observations:
- Installer chose a resolution that was too high for the Gateway VX700
monitor.  Result was wavy video.  I set it down to 1024x768, and 60Hz and
the display is nice a crisp now.  Every reboot, it starts out in the higher
res for a few seconds and then switches down by itself.  How to fix it
permanently?
- Don't know what graphics hardware it has (no names on the card).   lspci
shows:
       01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS]
86C326 5598/6326 (rev 0b)
Would a better video card make video playback better?  Might Mint be just
using the wrong driver or settings?

I have an even older/slower laptop that plays youtube OK (it runs Win2000),
so I have some hope.  If a new vid card is needed, how do I determine the
right kind?  No gaming is required, but the kids sometimes need to watch
edu-focused video, so I'm hoping to set this up as a homework machine (it's
the only non-laptop in the house).  Advice?  Should I try Xubuntu? Puppy?
Vector?  Mint is running so nice and snappy otherwise.

Thanks,
Kendall
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