Hi Paul
You missed an important bit of data off your post: Which version of eCS?
Versions prior to 1.2R do *Not* install to 64bit systems so would be limited to 32bit cpu based systems.
Later versions install but the level of "ease of install" will vary according to such variables as support for ACPI - which needs a Software Subscription in order to download ongoing updates.
Probably your best starting point is the hardware list on
www.ecomstation.ru click the Hardware link about halfway down the page.
Also worth bearing in mind is that ongoing hardware development makes any list of "currently working hardware" out of date fairly quickly.
I'm currently running eCS2.0RC5 without any great problems on the following, now slightly dated, hardware:-
Asus M2N mainboard with nVidia nForce430/MCP61 chipset, AMD64 AM2 4400+ cpu(s) - requires ACPI for SMP
"onboard" sound, nVidia HDA + AD1988 - uniaud114RC6 + uniaud32.sys from here
http://download.smedley.info/uniaud32-1.9.2.zip"onboard" nic, nVidia nForce430/MCP61 - choice of the GenMAC "windows driver wrapper" or "native" nVeth driver from hobbes
"onboard" SATA2 and IDE - handled by the current "Danis Drivers": 2 Samsung HD080HJ drives, LG GSA-4167B DVD Burner, LG GDR8164B DVDROM
"onboard" USB Controllers handled by the IBM USB drivers.
Of note here is that as ACPI is working fairly well my Internal USB cardreader with 4 slots now gets those 4 slots reserved by the system. This means that when configuring the USBMSD driver line those 4 drives have to counted as 4 then add on however many other drives you think you may need.
The /REMOVABLES: parameter value changed from 5 to 8 here to avoid a problem: With /REMOVABLES:5 I could only attach 1 *External* USB drive; when a 2nd drive was attached the system ignored it. With /REMOVABLES:8 the problem is resolved, I can attach 4 *External* USB drives.
PCI-e ATI X800 graphics - SNAP 3.1.8 driver running a Dell 1707FP 17" lcd monitor at 1280 x1024 @ 60Hz
Ancient M$ USB Trackball and a Logitich PS/2 Keyboard.
I think that covers it - forgot the almost obsolete floppy drive; easy to forget when so rarely used :-)
Regards
Pete