[LAU] Video Drivers and Audio, ZaReason, and MacMini

Hey all, 1. I am researching to build a new system here and need to make the video decision of NVidia or ATI. My goal is to be able to run 3d games and do my audio work on the same linux installation if possible. I know in the past I heard bad things about the binary proprietary drivers and realtime audio(freezing, xruns, etc). Is this still the case? Does realtime Jack audio have issues with the proprietary drivers, or with composting window managers? There are plenty of reviews on linux graphics performance for nvidia, nouveau, fglrx, and radeon(mesa/gallium3d), but none on xrun stability. Anyone have experience/recommendations? 2. System76 and ZaReason seem to be the two popular companies in Linux PC sales. I would like to avoid Ubuntu so that outs System76. Anyone have good/bad experiences with ZaReason? http://zareason.com 3. Lastly, anyone have any info on multi-booting the Intel MacMini with Linux for audio? I'd rather not get an Apple, but I need to get my linux audio fix and my Diablo 3 fix(someday) and am avoiding Windows. Thanks, Brian