aruro9 :
Hello i have an old desktop with pentium 4 3.0 ghz and 1,5 gb DDR ram. I want to use it for web surfing/youtube and i would like to have linux so i can mess in terminal , etc and learn some things. I tried installing ubuntu but it was very very slow, and now with ubuntu MATE its somewhat okay but still slow.I tried Lubuntu with no luck because i was getting boot loop! Also watching youtube videos is impossible because video is freezing and when i press the fullscreen button it goes to fullscrean after 5-10s but still lagging. What can i do to improve its performance? I will have an old graphic card from a friend soon , but i dont know if this will help?. Shall i put more RAM?
motherboard is: Intel D865GBF
That desktop was unusable for like 5 years, i did an internal cleaning and now its like new, the only problem is that is very slow, thats why i need some help!
Thank you!
auro9,
Updating the BIOS and drivers is the very first thing to try. Go to:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/boards-and-kits/desktop-boards/legacy-intel-desktop-boards/intel-desktop-board-d865gbf.html
_and update the BIOS, chipset, storage,and USB drivers -everything.
Then look into the hardware:
Intel Desktop Board D865GBF/D865GLC Product Guide:
Supported Processors for the Intel® Desktop Board D865GBF
I'm not sure if the 865 chipset only supports 32-bit processors or can be made to run a 64-bit P4- 600-series. The GPU is also AGP and that is a disadvantage, although the later AGP sockets can use later 1GB AGP cards .
I still have a P4 system from 2004:
Dell Dimension 8400 (2004) > Pentium 4 630 @ 3.0GHz > 4GB DDR RAM > Quadro FX580 > WD 750GB > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. That system cost $1,900 new. The 8400 system still runs AutoCad 2007, Adobe CS3, and MS Office Pro 2003 really quite well- with very good streaming and video playback, and even Sketchup 8 is OK on small projects.
The key is to have a 64-bit CPU like the P4 670- and those go up to a 3.8GHz- the 672.
Increase the system RAM to the maximum 4GB and add a PCIe GPU of a power reuirement that your system can use and I think you could have reasonable results.
Overall, I'd say you'd be way ahead in effort, performance,a nd future upgrades to find something like this:
Dell Precision T3500 W3503 2.4GHz 4GB DDR3 RAM - DVD-RW - No HDD Sold for $24.95 +$30 shipping
And that can over time become a really useful system- there are 4 and 6-core CPU's up to 3.86GHz, it can use 24GB DDR3-1333 RAM, 2X PCIe x16 GPU's, and so on. I bought one for $53 and out of the box, in two hours:
Precision T3500 (2011) (Original) Xeon W3530 4-core @ 2.8 /3.06GHz > 4GB (2X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > GeForce 9800 GT (1GB)> WD Black 500GB
[Passmark system rating =
1963, CPU = 4482 / 2D= 609 / 3D=
805 / Mem= 1409 / Disk=1048]
CPU: $60
RAM: $43
GPU and drives left over from other upgrade
Results:
Dell Precision T3500 (2011) (Rev 2) Xeon X5677 4-core @ 3.46 / 3.73GHz > 12GB (6X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > Quadro 4000 (2GB) > PERC 6/i + Seagate 300GB 15K SAS ST3300657SS + WD Black 500GB > 525W PSU> Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > 2X Dell 19" LCD
[Passmark system rating =
2751> CPU = 7236 / 2D= 658 / 3D=
2020 / Mem= 1875 / Disk=1221]
That's a system that I can use 2D and 3D CAD, Sketchup, MS Office, Adobe CS6- Photoshop , Illustrator, After Effects, and so on and will reasonable results with an SSD. You can install a PERC H310 RAID controller- about $50 used and the disk system will be 6GB/s (as I did on a Precision T
5500).
Cheers,
BambiBoom
Modeling:
1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)>
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559] [6.12.16]
Rendering:
2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Revised) > 2X Xeon X5680 (6-core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz), 48GB DDR3 1333 ECC Reg. > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z313 > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (27", 1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3844 > CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3550 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)