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**jglen490** · Sep 25, 2018, 02:41 PM

Just for future reference, while lshw is useful, there is a better and more compact way to display your system specs. Install and use the inxi command line app, then copy and paste the output into a CODE box using the "#" link in the thread input box or reply box.

A good, basic inxi query is

Code:

inxi -Fxz

Your CPU is kind of dated, and if your RAM is small that can all contribute to slow response - on any process.

**MadMage999** · Sep 25, 2018, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by jglen490 View Post

Your CPU is kind of dated, and if your RAM is small that can all contribute to slow response - on any process.

True this. That CPU is super old.

I picked up some Phenom II X4 3.2GHz on ebay for less than $100 each for the whole system (HP 6005 Pro Tower). I've actually gotten deals like 2 for around $120, but you may not need more than one. In any case hardware is cheap especially if you know what to look for.

These 6005 Pro are old school but have old server CPUs so they still rate pretty well for their age, equivalent to an FX 8320.

--EDIT--

Or just buy a new system, you can get amazing performance for a few hundred dollars.

--EDIT 2--

This is assuming you don't have a lot of budget. I don't know why else you'd run a dual core system, but I don't mean to make assumptions.

You can find some really creative system builds on pcpartpicker for new systems, and it's useful for designing your own and getting the best deal, for each piece of hardware it finds the lowest price from a long list of sellers.

**NoelW** · Sep 25, 2018, 03:55 PM

I have 16 gig of ram so i will update the cpu at this point. many thanks

**GreyGeek** · Sep 25, 2018, 06:24 PM

16GB is a good amount of RAM. You have two GPU's, Your NVidia is the best one.
Your CPU is from 2010 and is a dual core 64 bit Athlon running at 3.2GHz max with a bus speed of 2GHz. It does NOT have hyper-threading.

A newer CPU *may* have more cores IF your mobo supports them (will it allow an i3, i5 or i7 upgrade? the odds are NO) , but most CPUs don't have clock speeds any faster than what you have now. Your requirement of retaining your RAM limits what you can do. Volkgren has an excellent comment on the following article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/...r3-system.html

I am running an 6 year old Acer V3-771G with an 8 core i7 and 16GB of RAM. My greatest improvement in speed came when I took out my SATA HD and replaced it with a Samsung EVO Pro SSD. My cold boot to login is 15-20 seconds and from login to a working Plasma Desktop is 3 seconds. On a spinning disk my OS gave me about 1.5 minutes to login and about 30 seconds from login to a working desktop.

SSD's are at commodity prices right now on various online stores. IF the SSD doesn't speed up your box the way I think it will you can always use it regardless of which CPU/mobo you settle on. Either a 250GB or a 500GB SSD gives plenty of room, for $100 or less! You can always buy a USB Caddy for your interior HD and use it as an external USB drive for storage/archive. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073W3ZF9N

It's what I did and it works great!

**NoelW** · Sep 26, 2018, 12:54 AM

noel@noel-desktop:~$ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: noel-desktop Kernel: 4.15.0-34-generic x86_64
bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.12.6 (Qt 5.9.5)
Distro: Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
Machine: Device: desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A97 EVO v: Rev 1.xx serial:
N/A
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1604 date: 10/16/2012
CPU: Dual core AMD Athlon II X2 260 (-MCP-)
arch: K10 rev.3 cache: 2048 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm) bmips: 13870
clock speeds:max: 3200 MHz 1: 2500 MHz 2: 1900 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210] bus-ID: 01:00.0
Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
drivers: nvidia (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
OpenGL: renderer: GeForce 210/PCIe/SSE2
version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 340.106 Direct Render: Yes
Audio: Card-1 NVIDIA High Def. Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-34-generic
Network: Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9227 Wireless Network Adapter
driver: ath9k bus-ID: 06:05.0
IF: wlp6s5 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 1320.3GB (13.0% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD10JPCX size: 1000.2GB
ID-2: /dev/sdb model: HITACHI_HTS54323 size: 320.1GB
Partition:ID-1: / size: 916G used: 160G (19%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 28.6C mobo: N/A gpu: 0.0:43C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 0
Info: Processes: 160 Uptime: 3:01 Memory: 1352.5/16002.5MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56
noel@noel-desktop:~$

**benny_fletch** · Sep 26, 2018, 07:27 PM

If you can find one for the right price I would recommend upgrading to a Phenom II processor, they are hands down better than the Athlon II. I know this from experience, I started with an Athlon II in my current box but eventually upgraded to a Phenom II and there is definitely a jump in performance. The biggest benefit you would see (depending on the model you purchased) would be going from a dual core processor to a quad core processor. On top of that the Phenom II came with L3 cache to allow those cores to work better together (where as the Athlon II did not have this).

Although, I would have to agree with GreyGeek, the best upgrade I ever did to my box was install an SSD. You can find a 128GB/250GB SSD for under $60, sometimes even less if you watch the deals.

Is your computer dated (or mine for that matter)? Yes, definitely to today's standards, but I have to say my system runs well enough that it is hard to justify spending money to replace it.

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