Is your Hardware getting too old for the latest version of your favourite Distro ??

[linuxyogi]

Hi,

Natty (32 Bit)
Athlon 64X2 5600+ Ram: 2GB
HDD: 160 GB SATA
Graphics : Geforce 9500GT VRAM: 1GB

My hardware is almost 3 years old now , leaving that Nvidia Graphics Card which I purchased 6 months back the LCD Screen [http://is.gd/KQxBxW] which is I purchased almost a year ago.

I don't how many more upgrades will be possible with this hardware configuration.

Although technically it is possible to run this PC for next 10 years with lightweight distributions but using that setup as your primary PC is too modest a thing for me.

I will upgrade soon, probably at the middle of 2013. PC hardware is very expensive in India.

I was just wondering, how many more Ubuntu's will this PC run ? :-k

What do you guys think ?

Also please share your own situation.

[mixint27]

my laptop is almost 4 years...

dell inspiron e1505
processor: 1.83
memory: 2 gigs
ati radeon 128mb
hd: 80gb

but i feel ya...im thinking the same thing...

i really dont want to move to another distro. im used to ubuntu already.

i keep wondering if it will run gnome shell. i think not.

[linuxyogi]

my laptop is almost 4 years...

dell inspiron e1505
processor: 1.83
memory: 2 gigs
ati radeon 128mb
hd: 80gb

but i feel ya...im thinking the same thing...

i really dont want to move to another distro. im used to ubuntu already.

i keep wondering if it will run gnome shell. i think not.

Click (http://live.gnome.org/GNOME3Myths#My_computer_and.2BAC8-or_graphics_card_isn.27t_powerful_enough_to_run_GN OME_3)

You can give it a try. Even if it runs I guess it will make your system very slow. I used used for a month. Didn't like it.

[Paqman]

I was just wondering, how many more Ubuntu's will this PC run ? :-k


A lot. It's fairly easy to strip Ubuntu down so it'll run on older hardware.

[Zero2Nine]

Probably Ubuntu will keep some sort of a fallback mode either the one Gnome3 provides or, like now, a classic desktop. And of course there will be Unity2d. So I think in 2013 you should still be able to run all Ubuntus with 'bells and whistles'.

[Zero2Nine]

A lot. It's fairly easy to strip Ubuntu down so it'll run on older hardware.

True but I think he means to run it with all the fancy stuff. When minimal Ubuntu installations or other *buntu versions are an option that hardware should be able to run *buntu for at least 5 years to come I'd guess.

[Dustin2128]

That's not bad at all. I think you should be good for quite a few years to come. Most people have computers with far inferior specs to those, but it doesn't stop even heavyweight distros like ubuntu. Ubuntu natty, for instance, runs fine on an old pentium 4 2.5GHz with 1GB of some weird early RAM and a GeForce 4200 (64Mb).

[el_koraco]

Dude. I have a single core AMD V140 CPU (from the lowest spectrum), a 512 Mobility Radeon HD4000, and 2 GB of ram. If it weren't for the ATI GPU and the associated problems, there's no distro that I couldn't run, old or new. This way, I gotta wait for a bit before the binary drivers catch up.

Plus, if you try the latest KDE and Gnome, you'll see that they continually use fewer resources. Gnome Shell starts with 150 MB of ram here, and the latest KDE is arround 250. Even Unity doesn't go above 300.

[Dustin2128]

Also why are you using 32-bit natty? Your processor is an Athlon64. Assuming your ram slots can handle it, you can upgrade the amount of ram you have pretty far- depending on the age of the motherboard, up to 8-16GB is possible, indeed, cheap, if you have lower clocked DDR2.

[linuxyogi]

A lot. It's fairly easy to strip Ubuntu down so it'll run on older hardware.


True but I think he means to run it with all the fancy stuff.

Actually I am not interested in visual effects at all. I don't like Gnome 3 or unity. That's why

I am running LXDE over my Ubuntu installation & its running really fast ATM.


That's not bad at all. I think you should be good for quite a few years to come. Most people have computers with far inferior specs to those, but it doesn't stop even heavyweight distros like ubuntu. Ubuntu natty, for instance, runs fine on an old pentium 4 2.5GHz with 1GB of some weird early RAM and a GeForce 4200 (64Mb).


Dude. I have a single core AMD V140 CPU (from the lowest spectrum), a 512 Mobility Radeon HD4000, and 2 GB of ram. If it weren't for the ATI GPU and the associated problems, there's no distro that I couldn't run, old or new. This way, I gotta wait for a bit before the binary drivers catch up.

Plus, if you try the latest KDE and Gnome, you'll see that they continually use fewer resources. Gnome Shell starts with 150 MB of ram here, and the latest KDE is arround 250. Even Unity doesn't go above 300.


Look, I have an old Celeron 2.13 with 386 mb or Ram. I am running Xubuntu 10.04 on it.

The only thing I do with it is download large files via torrents.

My web surfing experience is not that good using it. The pages load quiet slow in comparison to my AMD. I wonder why ? Isn't the line speed which determines page loading speed ? I can't really explain but it behaves in a shaky manner.

So, my main PC may run for the next 5 years with maybe Lubuntu or Ubuntu minimal install but isn't a performance drop expected ?

[linuxyogi]

Also why are you using 32-bit natty? Your processor is an Athlon64. Assuming your ram slots can handle it, you can upgrade the amount of ram you have pretty far- depending on the age of the motherboard, up to 8-16GB is possible, indeed, cheap, if you have lower clocked DDR2.

Since Hardy I have always used 64 bit versions although I rarely do stuff like encoding videos & likewise.

But installing Windows games via wine on a 64 bit distro is a real pain. I am ATM playing a few Windows games via Wine on this 32 Bit Natty & the installation & running of the Games was absolutely smooth.

Also, people kept telling me that because I only have 2 gb of ram installing a 64 Bit distro makes no sense.

I migrated to 32 Bit mainly because of the wine issue.

[tech-hero]

Hi,

Natty (32 Bit)
Athlon 64X2 5600+ Ram: 2GB
HDD: 160 GB SATA
Graphics : Geforce 9500GT VRAM: 1GB

My hardware is almost 3 years old now , leaving that Nvidia Graphics Card which I purchased 6 months back the LCD Screen [http://is.gd/KQxBxW] which is I purchased almost a year ago.

I don't how many more upgrades will be possible with this hardware configuration.

Although technically it is possible to run this PC for next 10 years with lightweight distributions but using that setup as your primary PC is too modest a thing for me.

I will upgrade soon, probably at the middle of 2013. PC hardware is very expensive in India.

I was just wondering, how many more Ubuntu's will this PC run ? :-k

What do you guys think ?

Also please share your own situation.
I have the same sentiments with you. But we must agree, everything has its own time. Things will be faster and more complicated until it explode back to zero. :)

[Random_Dude]

Plus, if you try the latest KDE and Gnome, you'll see that they continually use fewer resources. Gnome Shell starts with 150 MB of ram here, and the latest KDE is arround 250. Even Unity doesn't go above 300.

KDE is lighter than Unity? I didn't know that. :o

As for the OP, if hardware is expensive, why not try to run lighter versions of Ubuntu?
Xubuntu and Lubuntu seem good options, and you would get basically the same thing under the hood, right? Besides, it should be a smoother transition than changing from Gnome 2 to Unity.

Cheers :cool:

[aeiah]

my pc is older than OPs, but similar:

Athlon x2 3800
2gb ram
nvidia 7800gt
2x180gb hdd
1.5tb hdd

i dont plan on buying another until this one breaks - then i'll get an acer revo and a NAS.

i stopped liking all the fancy stuff a while ago - i like my desktop snappy and functional now, and i find openbox to be best, regardless of the power of my computer. you'd be surprised how easy it is to install ubuntu minimal and
sudo apt-get install openbox synaptic openoffice thunar tint2 conky deluge xbmc mpd gmpc

[BigSilly]

Blimey, my specs not much better than yours OP (below), but I haven't even considered for a moment that it wouldn't be able to run a modern distro for at least the next 2-3 years. I don't much fancy the idea of upgrading yet, not while it does everything I need it to.

[linuxyogi]

@aeiah (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=71962)

Elaborate a bit on the NAS part.

Need to have an idea, then I may go for a NAS setup. I heard that NAS can run on very low end hardware like Intel Atom. True ?

[linuxyogi]

Blimey, my specs not much better than yours OP (below), but I haven't even considered for a moment that it wouldn't be able to run a modern distro for at least the next 2-3 years. I don't much fancy the idea of upgrading yet, not while it does everything I need it to.

I know my hardware will run modern distros for the next 5 years but multitasking will keep getting slower & slower.

You didn't mention which version of Ubuntu you are running. LTSs are quite helpful in running semi-old hardware.


I have the same sentiments with you. But we must agree, everything has its own time. Things will be faster and more complicated until it explode back to zero. :smile:

I agree.

[Paqman]

I heard that NAS can run on very low end hardware like Intel Atom. True ?

Totally. A NAS is just a file server, so doesn't need to do a lot of number-crunching. My NAS runs on a little ARM chip and never breaks a sweat.

[TeoBigusGeekus]

My pc was bought at Christmas 2003:
p4@3gh, 1gb ram (333 or 400mh, can't remember), nvidia 6600gt (128mb).
It runs arch+openbox and I suspect it's much snappier than many of your unity rigs:guitar:

[linuxyogi]

Totally. A NAS is just a file server, so doesn't need to do a lot of number-crunching. My NAS runs on a little ARM chip and never breaks a sweat.

Please give a link to an easy NAS howto. I am thinking of implementing NAS using my old Celeron.


My pc was bought at Christmas 2003:
p4@3gh, 1gb ram (333 or 400mh, can't remember), nvidia 6600gt (128mb).
It runs arch+openbox and I suspect it's much snappier than many of your unity rigs:guitar:

The quality of hardware in terms of reliability has deteriorated immensely since 2003. My LG DVD burner for example won't write to DVD+/- RW Discs withing 15 days of purchase.

[Paqman]

Please give a link to an easy NAS howto. I am thinking of implementing NAS using my old Celeron.


There's no one configuration for a NAS, it really depends on what you want it to do and how you want it to do it. There are some ready-made basic solutions like FreeNAS or a Turnkey Linux Fileserver (http://www.turnkeylinux.org/fileserver). FreeNAS is BSD, whereas the Turnkey applicances are all Ubuntu so you might find one of them more familiar.

[el_koraco]

KDE is lighter than Unity? I didn't know that. :o


Kubuntu is even switching its default compositing from OpenGL to Raster. Not sure about the other KDE distros. So it will be even lighter. Mutter does about 150 MB on cold boot on my machine. The overhead on Unity is due to the rewrite of Compiz. I have Compiz running at about 200 MB on cold boot on Maverick.

[aeiah]

@aeiah (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=71962)

Elaborate a bit on the NAS part.

Need to have an idea, then I may go for a NAS setup. I heard that NAS can run on very low end hardware like Intel Atom. True ?

if i get one ill probably just get a netgear readynas duo. they run on a port of debian. all id have running would be NFS, deluged, and a daily rsync for snapshots of important stuff.

but yes, they'll run on anything since they only do fairly non-intensive things. the biggest thing to consider is the power consumption rather than the speed of the cpu

[linuxyogi]

There's no one configuration for a NAS, it really depends on what you want it to do and how you want it to do it. There are some ready-made basic solutions like FreeNAS or a Turnkey Linux Fileserver (http://www.turnkeylinux.org/fileserver). FreeNAS is BSD, whereas the Turnkey applicances are all Ubuntu so you might find one of them more familiar.

Read this one http://is.gd/wGDkIp. Actually I back up my data using single layer DVDs.

I just dont want to buy any more DVD's. I don't have any more space to keep them.

I will try Turnkey first in case there's complications I will just install TinyCore Linux & install NFS.

[akand074]

Nope. Mine is not :D

I think 3-4 years is the max amount of life for a primary computer before you should upgrade. Otherwise you won't be able to take advantage of new hardware and new software to increase your productivity. On a secondary/other computer you can use it as long as you can keep it alive and useable. Some people don't care though.

[qamelian]

my laptop is almost 4 years...

dell inspiron e1505
processor: 1.83
memory: 2 gigs
ati radeon 128mb
hd: 80gb

but i feel ya...im thinking the same thing...

i really dont want to move to another distro. im used to ubuntu already.

i keep wondering if it will run gnome shell. i think not.
I'm running Gnome 3 with Gnome-shell on a Compaq Presario laptop that's older than your machine by about 3 years and only has 1 GB of RAM. It has a 128 MB Mobility Radeon 9000AGP, and runs Gnome-shell just fine. :)

[zer010]

I've already run into an issue when I wanted to try Unity. Apparently, Unity/Compiz didn't want to play nice with my gfx card (specs in sig). It's strange because I ran Compiz with effects just fine in 10.04. I now just use Xubuntu 11.04 and everything runs smoothly. I'm thinking of going to Lubuntu just to slim down a little more.

[aeiah]

Nope. Mine is not :D

I think 3-4 years is the max amount of life for a primary computer before you should upgrade. Otherwise you won't be able to take advantage of new hardware and new software to increase your productivity. On a secondary/other computer you can use it as long as you can keep it alive and useable. Some people don't care though.

3-4 years? pah. i cant think of an app that my 6 year old desktop has trouble with that would increase my productivity. but then i just use mine for music, movies, internet, photos and word processing

[Random_Dude]

I think 3-4 years is the max amount of life for a primary computer before you should upgrade. Otherwise you won't be able to take advantage of new hardware and new software to increase your productivity.

Unless you run very heavy stuff for working purposes I don't see any reason for upgrading a PC if it's not broken. Or are you defining "productivity" as in "videogames"? :p

[snowpine]

My "summertime" computer is a 600mhz pentium 3 with 384mb ram. It is happily running the latest version of my favorite distro (crunchbang) and I know that it has at least 2 more years of support before I have to upgrade to the next release. By that point the computer might be worn out--the CD-ROM drive and keyboard are already dead, next to die will probably be the hard drive or power supply. :)

IMHO any well designed computer should have a lifespan of at least 10 years. :)

[ilovelinux33467]

Nope, Fedora with KDE runs extremely fast on my ~4 year old desktop and my ~1 year old laptop.

[mamamia88]

i still run debian quite comfortably on my netbook

[scouser73]

No, I bought a new PC in January so I'm okay for now.

Intel® Pentium® E5800 3.2 GHz
4 GB DDR3
500 GB SATA 3G (7200 rpm)
Ethernet 10/100BT integrated network interface
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD (up to 1.26 GB) VGA
High Definition Audio 5.1
1 external optical drive bay; 1 internal HDD bay
2 PCI-Express x1; 1 PCI-Express x16; 1 PCI
10 USB 2.0
2 audio
3 analog audio
500 GB External HDDs x 3
1 TB External HDDs x 2
2 TB External HDDs x 2
Samsung 32 inch HD ready Freeview LCD TV which doubles as the monitor.

[akand074]

3-4 years? pah. i cant think of an app that my 6 year old desktop has trouble with that would increase my productivity. but then i just use mine for music, movies, internet, photos and word processing


Unless you run very heavy stuff for working purposes I don't see any reason for upgrading a PC if it's not broken. Or are you defining "productivity" as in "videogames"? :p

If you have to wait, ever, for any reason, your productivity is damaged because you aren't doing anything during that wait time. But I mean, when I say "main computer", I mean really doing a lot (you could say power user). i.e moving through plenty of tabs at a time, encoding the odd video, doing work etc.

Then again, I have a problem when it comes to power... I just can't get enough... haha. But I mean just about everything you do (even basic stuff) runs quite a bit faster on a new computer than an old one, which allows you to do more and a shorter period of time, hence better productivity.

[mamamia88]

If you have to wait, ever, for any reason, your productivity is damaged because you aren't doing anything during that wait time. But I mean, when I say "main computer", I mean really doing a lot (you could say power user). i.e moving through plenty of tabs at a time, encoding the odd video, doing work etc.

Then again, I have a problem when it comes to power... I just can't get enough... haha. But I mean just about everything you do (even basic stuff) runs quite a bit faster on a new computer than an old one, which allows you to do more and a shorter period of time, hence better productivity.

true but does spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on new hardware justify opening your browser or word processor a few seconds quicker?

[snowpine]

I waste a lot more time every day reading Ubuntu Forums than I do waiting for my browser to load. :)

[Random_Dude]

But I mean just about everything you do (even basic stuff) runs quite a bit faster on a new computer than an old one, which allows you to do more and a shorter period of time, hence better productivity.

True, but that depends on what you do.
If you are a person that only works with plain text files on a text editor, then why to you need a computer with less than 3 years? It doesn't matter if emacs or vim opens 1ms faster.
Of course, if it involves 3D rendering and that kind of stuff, then a good computer helps.

I think people should try to use their computers longer. If you use Linux you can just install a more minimalist distro. There's already far too much computer waste. :(

Cheers :cool:

EDIT: @snowpine: +1

[Dragonbite]

Hi,

Natty (32 Bit)
Athlon 64X2 5600+ Ram: 2GB
HDD: 160 GB SATA
Graphics : Geforce 9500GT VRAM: 1GB

My hardware is almost 3 years old now , leaving that Nvidia Graphics Card which I purchased 6 months back the LCD Screen [http://is.gd/KQxBxW] which is I purchased almost a year ago. I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 on a Desktop Pentium 4 (2.5 GHz, 2.5 out of possible 4 GB of Ram) and it works fine for what we use it for (documents, communication and web development). Come this time next year we'll see whether we look to go to 12.04 LTS, depending on the state of Unity and whether it would work on this machine. If not then look at using KDE or a different distro (but that just leads towards Gnome 3 which isn't that much different).

The nVidia card is able to give me 3D, though it won't run Unity or Gnome 3 off of a live CD/USB. Combined with the large (20") monitor, these are the biggest advantages the desktop has over my laptop.

My laptop (Dell D400) is at 1.6 GHz on Pentium M w/1GB of Ram and is running 11.04.

It's biggest issue is its Intel video (855). The Intel drivers for it have regressed since last year on all distributions and other than Fedora, will not run any desktop effects. Even Fedora, the only one providing 3D, is showing a flickering issue in 15 and won't run Gnome 3.

Due to the graphics regression, it is basically a ticking time-bomb with each release feeling like a "does it still work, or is this the end?".

It runs Unity 2D and Classic mode fine and applications open up in a reasonable amount of time. Other than power-control issues (the system seems to run a little hot) it still runs nicely.

Most of what I do, I can do on my Chromebook (Cr-48), but there are times when I need to do more than it can handle at this time. I could install Ubuntu on it, and when I did it was the only system that could run full Unity.

I do think my time with the laptop is limited, due to hardware issues (specifically the video). The desktop has quite a bit of life in it at this point I think it will last at least one more LTS upgrade. I use LTS' because this is the family computer and needs to be more stable than what I usually cause...

So in the next couple of years I'll probably see about a new laptop, and currently if we do get a new desktop it will be running Windows and some Windows apps for my wife.

[Sylos]

Short answer - yes!

Longer answer :

Sadly this last upgrade for my 2ghz Athlon, 768MB Ram, and Geforce fx5200 has been a bit savage. I have upgraded from Karmic to Lucid and the poor ol girl is feeling the burn a little. I've installed LXDE and log into that which is helping a little but she just cant keep up the multitasking speed these days. For most purposes she does still manage but browsing is a little slower these days and the number of tabs I can have on chromium has reduced before problems arise. It also struggles trying to transcode media to send via PMS to my PS3 - although streamin info to be decoded by the PS3 still works ok.

I suppose for day to day tasks it is limping grimly onwards trying to keep a smile on but we all know the reality. The bigger problem is for my musical endeavours on Ubuntu Studio. Multi tracking si going to get steadily less and less...well...multi i guess.

It would be nice to think the old girl might be destined for a safe and tranquil pasture somewhere - idly shunting the odd data packet from machine to machine but the sad truth is she's either destined for dismemberment and ebay (and whos gonna want most of her anyway) or just a trip to dump. I bought that machine in 2003 and we have had good times (particularly since I removed windows). When she is gone - I shall raise a glass in mourning of her passing.

[linuxyogi]

Short answer - yes!

Longer answer :

Sadly this last upgrade for my 2ghz Athlon, 768MB Ram, and Geforce fx5200 has been a bit savage. I have upgraded from Karmic to Lucid and the poor ol girl is feeling the burn a little. I've installed LXDE and log into that which is helping a little but she just cant keep up the multitasking speed these days. For most purposes she does still manage but browsing is a little slower these days and the number of tabs I can have on chromium has reduced before problems arise. It also struggles trying to transcode media to send via PMS to my PS3 - although streamin info to be decoded by the PS3 still works ok.

I suppose for day to day tasks it is limping grimly onwards trying to keep a smile on but we all know the reality. The bigger problem is for my musical endeavours on Ubuntu Studio. Multi tracking si going to get steadily less and less...well...multi i guess.

It would be nice to think the old girl might be destined for a safe and tranquil pasture somewhere - idly shunting the odd data packet from machine to machine but the sad truth is she's either destined for dismemberment and ebay (and whos gonna want most of her anyway) or just a trip to dump. I bought that machine in 2003 and we have had good times (particularly since I removed windows). When she is gone - I shall raise a glass in mourning of her passing.

I am facing similar situation with my Celeron. And I still dont understand how the come the pages load slow in Chromium/Firefox on my old PC. Its using the same DSL connection as my main PC.




I have an old Celeron 2.13 with 386 mb or Ram. I am running Xubuntu 10.04 on it.

The only thing I do with it is download large files via torrents.

My web surfing experience is not that good using it. The pages load quiet slow in comparison to my AMD. I wonder why. Isn't the line speed which determines page loading speed ? I can't really explain but it behaves in a shaky manner.

[BrokenKingpin]

I was just wondering, how many more Ubuntu's will this PC run ? :-k

Slap another 2 GB of ram in that thing and you should be good to go for another 5 years I would think.

My main desktop is a quad core, 6GB of ram, Nvidia 8600GT. The only thing lacking on this is the video card, other than that it should be fine for a long time to come.

I have a few older computers, such as a 7 year old laptop. The latest version of Ubuntu is getting fairly slow on this thing, but running LXDE on it brought it back to life, and can still do all my daily tasks on it.

[compmodder26]

Unity is quite fast for me on my 5 year old Thinkpad T60 with Core Duo Processor (1.8 GHZ), 1 GB RAM, and Intel integrated graphics. Graphics performance is very smooth. Unity idles at around 236 MB of RAM. It never even touches swap.

[Sylos]

I am facing similar situation with my Celeron. And I still dont understand how the come the pages load slow in Chromium/Firefox on my old PC. Its using the same DSL connection as my main PC.

I had a bad experience with a celery processor - it couldnt handle playing youtube vids etc. Not sure how much you know about processors (I know very little) but heres what I found from the experience; The celery processor probably has a reasonable speed stated (mine said 2.6ghz) and it will no doubt run at around this speed. The problem often lies in the caching. With mine, it had a lame little 128k cache which meant that it couldnt swap info from RAM to processor quick enough to keep up with flash videos. The irritating thing was that it was only using half of the RAM according to the system monitor. Anyhow, in my limited understanding that could be what is happening in your case - maybe it just cant feed the info in and out of the CPU quick enough.

Just a thought..

[linuxyogi]

I had a bad experience with a celery processor - it couldnt handle playing youtube vids etc. Not sure how much you know about processors (I know very little) but heres what I found from the experience; The celery processor probably has a reasonable speed stated (mine said 2.6ghz) and it will no doubt run at around this speed. The problem often lies in the caching. With mine, it had a lame little 128k cache which meant that it couldnt swap info from RAM to processor quick enough to keep up with flash videos. The irritating thing was that it was only using half of the RAM according to the system monitor. Anyhow, in my limited understanding that could be what is happening in your case - maybe it just cant feed the info in and out of the CPU quick enough.

Just a thought..

I had a Celeron (1.7Ghz) before this one (2.13Ghz) it was my first PC. It had 128k cache which means it belonged to Intel's Willamette family of processors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron#Willamette-128

I never face that problem of the CPU not utilizing the entire RAM. This Celeron however is a Prescott & performed pretty well upto Hardy. The main issue is the lack of RAM IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron#Prescott-256

[akand074]

True, but that depends on what you do.
If you are a person that only works with plain text files on a text editor, then why to you need a computer with less than 3 years? It doesn't matter if emacs or vim opens 1ms faster.
Of course, if it involves 3D rendering and that kind of stuff, then a good computer helps.

I think people should try to use their computers longer. If you use Linux you can just install a more minimalist distro. There's already far too much computer waste. :(

Cheers :cool:

EDIT: @snowpine: +1


true but does spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on new hardware justify opening your browser or word processor a few seconds quicker?

Not necessarily just intensive stuff, but also when it comes to processes waiting in queue, i.e. the program/task doesn't even run as it waits for other things to finish. Even on my current main computer I have those wait times occasionally. Because it's more than just threads and frequency when it comes to the processor. Updated instruction sets and chipset designs and technology built right into the processor can make processing multiple processes much more efficient.

It all depends on the type of user you are, but on a main machine that you do just about everything on and spend over half the day on, you definitely benefit from a newer computer. People who use Apple products would have to encode any video before putting it on their iPod (if not already in the correct format), uploading pictures/videos uses a lot more CPU than most people are aware (on top of internet bandwidth), etc. Intel's 2nd gen i3/5/7 series have a tech called Quick Sync built into them that was designed specifically for uploading and it dropped the time to upload a number of files from over 3 minutes to about 21 seconds. Basically what I'm saying is, it's not just 3D gaming and high end video encoding, but a lot of basic tasks benefit greatly. High end stuff like that you get a high end computer anyways, I'm talking about new even low/middle range computers vs old low/middle range you see huge performance boosts.

I'm not saying everyone should get a new computer every few years (even though I've completely replaced mine 3 times in the last.. 3-4 years..? oh wow.) but that they are likely to get pretty significant performance boosts if they do. On another computer that you only use lets say at work, or school or an hour or two a day as a secondary system, then you aren't multi-tasking much, you aren't using it to do your uploading/encoding/editing, you aren't watching your HD videos while doing other things in the background etc so you probably wouldn't notice the biggest difference. But I mean, my mother is barely on a computer, just organizes pictures she took and browse the web every now and then, she had a very old computer and had one at work before I gave her my first computer of the 3 where I took out the Core2 Quad that I gave to my cousin and put in a core 2 duo with 4GB of RAM and she couldn't believe how much faster it was. She said she couldn't even bear her work computer as it felt so slow and that Core 2 duo was years outdated already, the i7s had just been out for almost a year. So you do see a huge difference, you usually don't realize it until you actually compare the two. Those of you who have super old computers, I bet if you tried using a brand new computer for about a month then go back to your old one just doing the basic stuff you always did, I bet most of you wouldn't be able to bear it anymore.

I could be wrong... this has just been my personal experience. Again, all I'm saying is that I would highly recommend an upgrade every 4 years for people who live on their computer like me.

[jerenept]

My computer has a really old 1.8 GHz Sempron, 1GB RAM and 256 MB shared with a GeForce 6600. KDE (with and without desktop effects) and Unity 2D fly on it . Unity Compiz is kinda slow.

[Dustin2128]

My pc was bought at Christmas 2003:
p4@3gh, 1gb ram (333 or 400mh, can't remember), nvidia 6600gt (128mb).
It runs arch+openbox and I suspect it's much snappier than many of your unity rigs:guitar:
That's a good build for '03 considering that the 6600GT was released in '04 ;). @OP, those specs could handle new distros for at least the next 4 years.

[BigSilly]

My computer has a really old 1.8 GHz Sempron, 1GB RAM and 256 MB shared with a GeForce 6600. KDE (with and without desktop effects) and Unity 2D fly on it . Unity Compiz is kinda slow.

My dad's is a Sempron 2200+ (1.5Ghz) with 768Mb RAM and a Geforce 6200. Xubuntu 11.04 is very fast and smooth on it.

Obsolescence is just a state of mind. ;)

[akand074]

Obsolescence is just a state of mind. ;)

Haha, or no longer manufactured ;)

[snowpine]

They just don't make obsolescence like they used to...

[TeoBigusGeekus]

That's a good build for '03 considering that the 6600GT was released in '04 ;). @OP, those specs could handle new distros for at least the next 4 years.

OMG!!!! They ripped me off...

Seriously now, the machine was tip top for its time - and still is now 8)

[Khakilang]

My main computer is about 5 years now.

Intel Dual core 1.8GHz,
2GB RAM, 80GB hard disk,
nVidia 9300GE display card
Ubuntu 11.04 64 bit with Unity

And my daughter's IBM Thinkpad G40 notebook
Pentium 4 2.6GHz
512MB RAM
160GB hard disk (just upgraded)
Ubuntu 11.04 32 bit with Gnome classic

Both still going strong. But I don't whether it can take future Linux distros and how long it will last. Until than we are happy with it.

[mixint27]

I'm running Gnome 3 with Gnome-shell on a Compaq Presario laptop that's older than your machine by about 3 years and only has 1 GB of RAM. It has a 128 MB Mobility Radeon 9000AGP, and runs Gnome-shell just fine. :)

you just made me feel better about upgrading. :D

[Dustin2128]

My main computer is about 5 years now.

Intel Dual core 1.8GHz,
2GB RAM, 80GB hard disk,
nVidia 9300GE display card
Ubuntu 11.04 64 bit with Unity

And my daughter's IBM Thinkpad G40 notebook
Pentium 4 2.6GHz
512MB RAM
160GB hard disk (just upgraded)
Ubuntu 11.04 32 bit with Gnome classic

Both still going strong. But I don't whether it can take future Linux distros and how long it will last. Until than we are happy with it.
Upgrade the processor to maybe, pentium D 3.5GHz, and you'll be set for a few years.

[bruiz]

My notebook is relatively new but it really is aging on me, fast. I have an acer aspire 4741, running on core i3 2.13, 4gb of memory, 1GB nvidia 310m and with 500 gb of hd capacity. And even with that specs, I don't think this is keeping up with the best out there. I am very used to ubuntu already, even if I was a windows die hard just some months back. I am not the comfortable with moving to a newer distro.

[Rasa1111]

Nope. Mine is not :D

I think 3-4 years is the max amount of life for a primary computer before you should upgrade. Otherwise you won't be able to take advantage of new hardware and new software to increase your productivity. On a secondary/other computer you can use it as long as you can keep it alive and useable. Some people don't care though.


lolwut?

Thats ridiculous.
this whole "consume consume consume" just because you "can" and just because 'there is something newer', is insane.

My main machine is 5 years old (Thinkpad Z61t) 2GB RAM/ dual core 1.83GHz, and runs faster and better than most laptops i use that were bought 6-12 months ago.

This things runs anything I can throw at it, and it does so beautifully.


Otherwise you won't be able to take advantage of new hardware and new software to increase your productivity. yeah, right.
:rolleyes:

[Quadunit404]

Definitely not. My laptop is only a few months old (manufactured October 2010) and has all the latest crap like Intel's Core i5, nVIDIA GT 330M, 4GB DDR3 RAM and so on. It's gonna be modern for the next three or so years.

[Dustin2128]

@Rasa
With those specs, he's probably referring to high, high, high end video editing and 3D modeling stuff. I'm with you on the whole anti-consumerism thing, but by keeping all my old stuff for continued use, I'm sometimes called a hoarder :lolflag:.

[TeoBigusGeekus]

When is it time buy a new computer? (http://www.ninjapirate.com/newcomputer.html)

[Dragonbite]

@Rasa
With those specs, he's probably referring to high, high, high end video editing and 3D modeling stuff. I'm with you on the whole anti-consumerism thing, but by keeping all my old stuff for continued use, I'm sometimes called a hoarder :lolflag:.

This consumerism sounds an aweful lot like the arguments used against Microsoft's hardware requirements for each new version of Windows!

Even though my system is degrading even under Linux, it is still very usable and the 12" screen is becoming more of a factor in looking for something newer than everything else (save the video).

[Random_Dude]

When is it time buy a new computer? (http://www.ninjapirate.com/newcomputer.html)

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

[akand074]

lolwut?

Thats ridiculous.
this whole "consume consume consume" just because you "can" and just because 'there is something newer', is insane.

My main machine is 5 years old (Thinkpad Z61t) 2GB RAM/ dual core 1.83GHz, and runs faster and better than most laptops i use that were bought 6-12 months ago.

This things runs anything I can throw at it, and it does so beautifully.

yeah, right.
:rolleyes:

I find that hard to believe if you're comparisons are under the same conditions. Can you watch a 25GB 1080p movie? Can you do it while you have some other things running in the background? How long does it take you to encode a small video before putting it on your phone/device. How long does it take you to upload pictures onto the web. There's no way even basic tasks run as well on that system vs new gen hardware.

People over react about the whole "consumerism" thing. First off a new system every 4 years is a pretty significant amount of time to call it consumerism. Second of all I don't think most people who cry "consumerism" have any idea how their economy and market works.

[Dragonbite]

I do! It means I have less money for pizza and beer on Fridays! :popcorn:

[Dustin2128]

This consumerism sounds an aweful lot like the arguments used against Microsoft's hardware requirements for each new version of Windows!

Even though my system is degrading even under Linux, it is still very usable and the 12" screen is becoming more of a factor in looking for something newer than everything else (save the video).
Exactly, in my opinion, most people don't need more than a pentium 4, if that much. But have you tried 7 on a pentium 4? Good luck. The reason why computers still come with 250GB hard drives is because your average person does very little on their actual computer- it's mostly web browsing. I'm thinking of writing a virus to take control of all the unused CPU/GPU power in the world and forming an AI. It's that bad.

[jerenept]

Exactly, in my opinion, most people don't need more than a pentium 4, if that much. But have you tried 7 on a pentium 4? Good luck. The reason why computers still come with 250GB hard drives is because your average person does very little on their actual computer- it's mostly web browsing. I'm thinking of writing a virus to take control of all the unused CPU/GPU power in the world and forming an AI. It's that bad.

The guys at Stanford (http://folding.stanford.edu/) would prefer you got permission before doing that.

[Dragonbite]

Exactly, in my opinion, most people don't need more than a pentium 4, if that much. But have you tried 7 on a pentium 4? Good luck. The reason why computers still come with 250GB hard drives is because your average person does very little on their actual computer- it's mostly web browsing. I'm thinking of writing a virus to take control of all the unused CPU/GPU power in the world and forming an AI. It's that bad.

I actually did try to run Windows 7 on my Pentium 4. It was a pain in the :-$. This is the same system that is running Ubuntu 10.04 with desktop effects with no problem.

I am also running a Chromebook (Cr-48) which is an Atom at 1.6 GHz and 2 GB of Ram and it is plenty for what I need. It's the web-centric that causes me to have to use something else, not the hardware.

[Dustin2128]

The guys at Stanford (http://folding.stanford.edu/) would prefer you got permission before doing that.
I know about F@H, but I don't exactly think the people I'm talking about have it installed.

[radar920]

I was walking out to my car the other day and their was what looked like a fairly decent computer sitting by the dumpster, I tossed it in my car just to see what parts i could get out of it. When i brought it inside and opened it up the only thing missing was a hard drive. I just so happened to have one laying around(who doesn't?) and popped it in. Cha Ching! Gateway with an AMD64 dual core 2.6ghz, 2g ddr2. I had 2g ddr2 laying around soi tossed that in also. I was shocked at the condition of this pc, no dust or anything inside either. One mans trash is another mans treasure!

[Dustin2128]

I was walking out to my car the other day and their was what looked like a fairly decent computer sitting by the dumpster, I tossed it in my car just to see what parts i could get out of it. When i brought it inside and opened it up the only thing missing was a hard drive. I just so happened to have one laying around(who doesn't?) and popped it in. Cha Ching! Gateway with an AMD64 dual core 2.6ghz, 2g ddr2. I had 2g ddr2 laying around soi tossed that in also. I was shocked at the condition of this pc, no dust or anything inside either. One mans trash is another mans treasure!
oh my god! Why do some people have all the luck? :(

[athenroy]

Lets see, I have an HP desktop with nVidia 7100 video. I'd say 4 to 5 years old. I tried the Open SUSE sample ISO with Gnome3 from the Gnome.org site and the video tore up as it was loading, couldn't see a thing. Today I tried Fedora 15 also with Gnome 3. The video finally loaded after warning that the nouveau driver was pointing at the wrong table or something to that affect. Anyway, I ran 1 app., tried a second and it locked up, even the clock stopped! So, yes I think there is a lot of truth to that. Considering Linux was always noted for working on old and minimal Hardware. Now, to run a full distro you about need and accelerated video card, 512M RAM minimum and a 1 G processor.

[linuxyogi]

I was walking out to my car the other day and their was what looked like a fairly decent computer sitting by the dumpster, I tossed it in my car just to see what parts i could get out of it. When i brought it inside and opened it up the only thing missing was a hard drive. I just so happened to have one laying around(who doesn't?) and popped it in. Cha Ching! Gateway with an AMD64 dual core 2.6ghz, 2g ddr2. I had 2g ddr2 laying around soi tossed that in also. I was shocked at the condition of this pc, no dust or anything inside either. One mans trash is another mans treasure!

Hey, thats mine. It was stolen. Give it back to me :D

[brianconway]

Click (http://live.gnome.org/GNOME3Myths#My_computer_and.2BAC8-or_graphics_card_isn.27t_powerful_enough_to_run_GN OME_3)

You can give it a try. Even if it runs I guess it will make your system very slow. I used used for a month. Didn't like it.

I have the same laptop and tried a USB install of 11.10 that failed dramatically (same with a live CD install).
I really want to install this version without the GUI. Any suggestions?

[thetruckinglife]

I was walking out to my car the other day and their was what looked like a fairly decent computer sitting by the dumpster, I tossed it in my car just to see what parts i could get out of it. When i brought it inside and opened it up the only thing missing was a hard drive. I just so happened to have one laying around(who doesn't?) and popped it in. Cha Ching! Gateway with an AMD64 dual core 2.6ghz, 2g ddr2. I had 2g ddr2 laying around soi tossed that in also. I was shocked at the condition of this pc, no dust or anything inside either. One mans trash is another mans treasure!

you lucky dog, i would be happy to just find a nice video card :roll:

[mips]

Hi,

Natty (32 Bit)
Athlon 64X2 5600+ Ram: 2GB
HDD: 160 GB SATA
Graphics : Geforce 9500GT VRAM: 1GB

My hardware is almost 3 years old now , leaving that Nvidia Graphics Card which I purchased 6 months back the LCD Screen [http://is.gd/KQxBxW] which is I purchased almost a year ago.

I don't how many more upgrades will be possible with this hardware configuration.

That hardware is fine, you can run anything on it for some time to come.

Even on my system Unity feels very slow but that's not because of my hardware but due to the OS itself. I don't like Unity/Gnome3 and have switched to XFCE which feels very fast in comparison.




Actually I am not interested in visual effects at all. I don't like Gnome 3 or unity. That's why

I am running LXDE over my Ubuntu installation & its running really fast ATM.

Same, even with XFCE I have desktop effects turned off.





[I]Look, I have an old Celeron 2.13 with 386 mb or Ram. I am running Xubuntu 10.04 on it. or Ubuntu minimal install but isn't a performance drop expected ?

You biggest issue here is RAM, you don't have enough of it. Try and upgrade the ram by another 1GB or to 2GB if you can and you should be fine. Instead of running XFCE on it switch to LXDE or a plain Openbox + Tint2 setup. It will fly!

My laptop is about 7yrs old, has a 1.4GHz Celeron cpu (which I overclocked to 1.87 GHZ) with 1.2GB of ram and Arch + Openbox + Tint2 + Conky installed and it still works fine.

[mauvebic]

My video card (radeon Xpress 200) ceased to be supported a year after i bought the computer.

Oddly enough, i can still install the drivers in any version of windows. Funny how things turned around, these days you need the latest and greatest hardware to run linux, while windows still supports my old hardware lol. Then again you have to pay for windows, so their devs feel obliged to fix their bugs.

The opensource ATI drivers never measured up to the proprietary one, despite what they say. Numerous threads here and at VLC forums and Xorg forums never produced a solution to get rid of the tearing. But after seven years of using linux i've gotten used to being lied to when they say "its better!" when it obviously is not.

[kio_http]

Common people! To consider that hardware old is very stupid. Even on Windows it still supports so many games. Unity and GNOME 3 are new that is the only reason they feel slow. For me a 2003 Computer with a Pentium 4 2 Ghz and Geforce FX 5800 runs Xp, Vista win7, and Kubuntu just fine.

Just because the Core i7 has been released and is extremely fast doesn't mean that you should throw a core 2 duo or Pentium Dual Core to the trash and that they can only run win 98!

[Dragonbite]

My old laptop was looking like it was heading into the sunset as Linux distros were having more and more problems running on it (Intel 855 video didn't help).

Then 'lo-and-behold I tried openSUSE 12.1 and not only does this version work nicely on it, I even have desktop effects (in KDE)!

I can't get Gnome 3 or Unity to run on it, being forced into fallback mode and Unity 2D. In that case, Unity 2D is way ahead of Gnome 3 fallback, but in the coming future Gnome 3 is supposed to make some changes so it still runs without 3d/hardware acceleration. I'll probably try it out when Fedora 17 comes out in April 2012 (as well as Ubuntu 12.04 LTS).

Is it a bit slower? Yes, KDE is heavy and the system is kinda light. KDE does have the advantage of a more consistant and not-bad-looking non-accelerated version which is its plus.

[孝贺墒]

I bought my laptop in June.

This is the detail
CPU: Core i7 2630QM
Memory: DDR3 4G
HdrdDisk: 640G
Graphic Card: Nvidia GT-540M 1G

[Dragonbite]

I bought my laptop in June.

This is the detail
CPU: Core i7 2630QM
Memory: DDR3 4G
HdrdDisk: 640G
Graphic Card: Nvidia GT-540M 1G

I doubt that counts as "old"!

I'm waiting for my wife's computer to come in, but I am not allowed to install Linux on it (directly.. in a VM is another matter).

It's a 17" Dell, i5 Core, 6GB Ram, 640 GB drive.

[Linuxratty]

Unless you run very heavy stuff for working purposes I don't see any reason for upgrading a PC if it's not broken. Or are you defining "productivity" as in "videogames"? :p

Nor do I..I used to have a 7 year old computer...In the last years of it's "life",it ran Linux and the motherboard died ..By then,all the components were indeed so old,I just had to trash it..It ran Linux like a dream up to it's last day. This machine is 3 years old and I have no plans to upgrade it till it starts failing.

[wolfen69]

I'm waiting for my wife's computer to come in, but I am not allowed to install Linux on it (directly.. in a VM is another matter).



I told my girl when she got a new laptop that if she wants free tech support, windows must go. It now runs linux. ;)

All of my computers are fairly recent, so no worries here for a long time, or until I feel like upgrading.

[Dragonbite]

I told my girl when she got a new laptop that if she wants free tech support, windows must go. It now runs linux. ;)

All of my computers are fairly recent, so no worries here for a long time, or until I feel like upgrading.

All of our current systems run Linux, but what she needs Linux is not the best tool. No problem, the kids are still running (and prefer) Linux, though it looks like we're moving to KDE.

Plus I can't pull the "if you want free tech support.." because if she doesn't like it, she'll pull the "if you want any cookies..." and believe me between her baking and Linux,.. it's a touch call!

[jjex22]

I have an old 1ghz emac that I OC'd to 1.4 - 1GB RAM, 32MB ATI graphics (USB1.1 ](*,) ) and whilst it's not going to run gnome 3, and kde4 has technically run (but no-one has that kind of time) it still can run lubuntu just fine, sure I have to start the install with the mini.iso, but gotta love ubuntu for still supporting (unofficially) PPC's - that machine was basic when it was new! ... Apple dropped support for it at leopard!

So long as it can run a 12.04 based release, which seems likely it'll do another 5 years - and let's be honest it weighs the same as a veedub, and with that monitor it's not being anybody's network drive, so 5 years me emac.... you're time is limited!

[chrisbarnes1992]

I have Ubuntu installed on 2 computers now and they both work really well.

My Laptop is is a

IBM Lenovo 3000 N200
Intel Celeron 1.5GHz Dual Core,
2GB Ram,
120GB HDD

Works perfectly runs everything i throw at it. Including a Xp machine in vbox.

My desktop is the same sort of spec but Running a AMD Athlon 3500+. Runs Ubuntu perfectly but i am going to upgrade it soon as my Window gaming is not going well. Look on getting a quad core with about 4gb of ram. LOL

[Quadunit404]

>One year since laptop was built
>Still no... although I haven't really tried out any recent distro releases yet to tell the truth. The last distro was OpenSuSE 11.4; the current version is 12.1

[farrinux]

This pc here is about 6 years old.
AMD Socket 939 MB with an AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2 GHZ
3 GB ram
nvidia 6600 gt video card.
Raided HD's and dual boot with XP
Currently running 11.10 64 bit with out a hitch in it's giddy up. I have an old socket A in the other room with 8.04 on it and it runs great, tempted to upgrade to 11.10 on it to see if it can run it.

[farrinux]

Common people! To consider that hardware old is very stupid. Even on Windows it still supports so many games. Unity and GNOME 3 are new that is the only reason they feel slow. For me a 2003 Computer with a Pentium 4 2 Ghz and Geforce FX 5800 runs Xp, Vista win7, and Kubuntu just fine.

Just because the Core i7 has been released and is extremely fast doesn't mean that you should throw a core 2 duo or Pentium Dual Core to the trash and that they can only run win 98!
How true!

[BBQdave]

My old laptop was looking like it was heading into the sunset as Linux distros were having more and more problems running on it (Intel 855 video didn't help).

Then 'lo-and-behold I tried openSUSE 12.1 and not only does this version work nicely on it, I even have desktop effects (in KDE)!

I can't get Gnome 3 or Unity to run on it, being forced into fallback mode and Unity 2D. In that case, Unity 2D is way ahead of Gnome 3 fallback, but in the coming future Gnome 3 is supposed to make some changes so it still runs without 3d/hardware acceleration. I'll probably try it out when Fedora 17 comes out in April 2012 (as well as Ubuntu 12.04 LTS).

Is it a bit slower? Yes, KDE is heavy and the system is kinda light. KDE does have the advantage of a more consistant and not-bad-looking non-accelerated version which is its plus.

Hey Dragonbite, why don't you try Debian 6? I ran into issues the same as you, with Ubuntu and Fedora.
My old notebook: Dell Inspiron 1100, celeron 4 @ 2 GHz with 1 gb of ram (and the video joy that is Intel 845GL).
I landed on Debian 6 with Gnome 2, it will be supported for a good while yet, and IMHO it is the most stable productive OS I have ever used. Debian 7 will have a more polished G3, and when D6 reaches EOL or this 8+ year old notebook finally quits, I will make the move to D7 on new hardware (I figure close to a decade is good enough use for a notebook).

And I am puzzled by those that seek hardware to meet the needs of a GNU/Linux distro :confused:
A good GNU/Linux distro will meet the needs of You and Your Hardware :)

[wolfen69]

All of our current systems run Linux, but what she needs Linux is not the best tool. No problem, the kids are still running (and prefer) Linux, though it looks like we're moving to KDE.

Plus I can't pull the "if you want free tech support.." because if she doesn't like it, she'll pull the "if you want any cookies..." and believe me between her baking and Linux,.. it's a touch call!

You could always dual boot/ ;)

[Dragonbite]

Hey Dragonbite, why don't you try Debian 6? I ran into issues the same as you, with Ubuntu and Fedora.

Haven't really thought about Debian. Maybe I thought it was too much "you're on your own"? (*Gentoo flashbacks!*) I'll take a look at it when things calm down, but since openSUSE is working I am hesitant to remove that yet.

Although the Fedora hard drive is becoming less important....


You could always dual boot/ ;)

She's wise on that. We went through the dual-boot and she'd recognize the Grub menu selector.

I think Dell's shipping estimator comes from Microsoft's "5 minutes left to download..." (as it hangs there for a few hours). First it was 12/5, then they changed it to 12/22. Now, after I canceled the first order and put in a modified order (with all discounts still intact) I'm back to 12/5. I know it's going to hop back up to 12/22, but just wondering when! And the person from Dell that called me seems to believe it will be on 12/5 as well (too much company Kool-Aid I think :lolflag:)

[mauvebic]

These days you walk into a computer store and the clerk is nearly astonished when you ask for a part rather than a whole new box. Speaking as an environmentally minded person, id like to see more people extend the lives of their computers, or find any other use rather than throwing it out.

but that's consumer society these days. We replace cars, phones, computers and appliances long before their due date. Something our grandchildren will not thank us for in the future.

[Gremlinzzz]

I'll buy a new computer way before December 21, 2012:popcorn:

[alelinuxbsd]

Hi,

Natty (32 Bit)
Athlon 64X2 5600+ Ram: 2GB
HDD: 160 GB SATA
Graphics : Geforce 9500GT VRAM: 1GB
...
Although technically it is possible to run this PC for next 10 years with lightweight distributions but using that setup as your primary PC is too modest a thing for me.

Why is to modest use a lightweight distributions?



Also please share your own situation.

Two old Pc, one with an athlon64 (so single core) at only 1 gb (ram) and the other an athlon X2 dual core with 2 gb (ram).
Both with the integrated graphics card.
Probably i'm going for Xubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Usually i use windows manager as icewm and recently openbox+tint2+conky or pekwm+conky (i haven't tried pekwm using even tint2) without issue because for me a graphical interface should serve mainly for launch graphical applications.
My limits are differents:
- first pc, few old ram (ddr2), i don't like spend money on an upgrade
- second pc, i like make encoding video, the dual core is painful slow (2.1 Ghz ...), especially during the process of 720 video.

Note:
I hope that when will be available Wayland (http://wayland.freedesktop.org/) i can continue to use my pc.
I read that Wayland can run even over Xorg.

I don't like be forced from the software to make change.

[keithpeter]

Speaking as an environmentally minded person, id like to see more people extend the lives of their computers, or find any other use rather than throwing it out.

This is important. There are large quantities of recycled laptops and desktops available but the profit margins on refurbishing are very slim. A free OS that can work well with older machines might make the difference between a viable small business opportunity and landfill. I've recently purchased a recycled HP wokstation PC with quad core Xeon, 4Gb ram and a new graphics card. That machine will be my LTS box when 12.04 comes out, it runs the development release well now, with all graphic effects.

To answer the original question in relation to my oldest computer (10 years old);

Distribution: No, this P3 Dell C610 with 512Mb runs an Ubuntu variant fine

DE: Yes, this P3 laptop can run Unity 2d, but the dash is slow, I suppose because of the dynamic search involved in building the overlay page. Xubuntu 11.10 runs fine and dandy with its static menus. I have it set up with the Redmond theme, a single bottom panel and I have relabeled the Menu as 'start'. It caught Ruth out, she had Firefox loaded before she realised it was 'that Linux of yours' :twisted:

I'm now trying to get the Citrix ICA client working on this machine, then its goodbye even to the Windows XP partition I currently use to access my work desktop.

[Supermouse]

My hardware is 8 years old.

Ahlon XP 2800
1 GB RAM
Radeon 9600XT


Unity runs very slowly, but Gnome Shell runs pretty well, but, still, the computer can only be used for the most basic tasks, so no fancy stuff like virtualization, running heavyweight IDEs, decoding video and stuff. I'm thinking in buying a new computer to do that, and this one will be given to my girlfriends nephew, as his familly cannot afford one, and this one can still be used for basic tasks like homework and web browsing.

[aykoola]

My Ubuntu is still running without a problem, so i hope i'll manage for another two years or so :)

[aasdfasdfg]

My first experience with Linux was when I got Ubuntu Gutsy installed on a refurbished HP server from 2002. I kept that partition for a while, and had a Ubuntu Studio partition that I kept updated for a couple years before abandoning it. Recently I was messing around with this system again and had the experience of sequentially upgrading from Gutsy all the way through to Oneiric, which was more difficult than expected. It was interesting seeing the computer have more and more issues with each update. After a lot of tweaking, I have a usable Oneiric install (obviously using fallback graphics), but I would have to say that Ubuntu is outpacing my hardware.

[Easy Limits]

My Pentium 4 3.0 ghz w/ 2 gig of ram and a GeForce 7300 GS w/512 vram works great with 10.04 other than it really struggles with the playback of HD video from my HD Flip camera. I tried installing 11.10 first in a dual boot then by itself and it just did not work. I like the LTS Ubuntus. I hope 12.04 works with my computer.

[xyzzyman]

Core 2 Duo's are that old now? Crap. I have a T9400 in my notebook (2.53ghz) and with 4GB's of RAM and it runs 11.10 and 12.04 quite well, and even runs Windows 7 in VirtualBox well. It is old enough that the battery is completely shot though so idk... The 3 year warranty on my step-mothers Dell notebook is about to run out and her T6400 w/4GB of RAM is still quite snappy on Windows 7 even for regular desktop usage.

The way I've been looking at it, is that unless you're doing CPU intensive tasks, the HW requirements growth the last 4-5 years have slowed down. Probably because all the new uses for home users have mostly been web-based. Previously a 3 year old system for a family member would be too slow for the latest OS and software, but for a $500 notebook with core 2 duo 3 years ago to still feel smooth, something has to be said there. (It also helps that Windows 7 is so much better performance wise than Vista. I use Ubuntu 95% of the time, but Windows 7 might be the new XP. At first people hated XP but...)

[lykwydchykyn]

At work, I get a new machine every few years when Windows bumps up its requirements, even though I run Kubuntu. I haven't *felt like* my machine needed an upgrade the last two times, but who would say 'no' to MORE POWER!!??!?

At home, we run our machines into the ground. Which was pretty easy to do for a while, what with the capacitor plague (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague) of the early 2000's.

I think the move to 3D-accelerated desktops, along with the general development reboot of major desktop projects, has "obsoleted" a lot more hardware in the last few years than the regular progression of software development normally would have. Then again, I guess there's always some new development that comes along.

[xyzzyman]

My Pentium 4 3.0 ghz w/ 2 gig of ram and a GeForce 7300 GS w/512 vram works great with 10.04 other than it really struggles with the playback of HD video from my HD Flip camera. I tried installing 11.10 first in a dual boot then by itself and it just did not work. I like the LTS Ubuntus. I hope 12.04 works with my computer.

I've dealt with new netbooks that struggle with HD video playback if they don't have the drivers set up to do hardware-accelerated playback off the video card.

If you are comfortable setting up dual-boots, it wouldn't hurt to try to install a daily build of 12.04 (If you can spare 8-10GB's to a partition that's way more than enough.) That way if there is a problem, you can report it back. If you have any questions or issues their is a subforum here http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=412. I know there are people running the alpha full time with less than a 3Ghz P4 and integrated video so you should be good, especially if you have hyper-threading in that model.

[xyzzyman]

At work, I get a new machine every few years when Windows bumps up its requirements, even though I run Kubuntu. I haven't *felt like* my machine needed an upgrade the last two times, but who would say 'no' to MORE POWER!!??!?

At home, we run our machines into the ground. Which was pretty easy to do for a while, what with the capacitor plague (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague) of the early 2000's.

I think the move to 3D-accelerated desktops, along with the general development reboot of major desktop projects, has "obsoleted" a lot more hardware in the last few years than the regular progression of software development normally would have. Then again, I guess there's always some new development that comes along.

Oh those capacitors. The clam-shell case Dell Dimensions were almost always guaranteed to have bulging ones. I was always glad in a secretive way, because then I didn't have to explain why RAMBUS was so expensive and hard to get.

I hear you about not turning down more power. I would have been on my P4 for a few more years if I hadn't just wound up getting impossible to beat deals a few times on closeout OEM desktops that were cheaper than buying the parts on newegg. The only reason I caved and got my first notebook was a woman on craigslist was selling hers for $250 that she'd paid $600 6 months previous, because she wanted an iPhone... I hope she regretted that.

[LinuxFan999]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: This is my main computer:
Make/Model: Gateway LX 6810-01
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHZ
RAM: 8GB DDR2-800
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT 120
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640 GB (nearly 3 years old, but has 0 bad sectors)
Current OS: Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit (originally Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64 bit)

This computer was originally bought in February 2009 to replace a "dead" HP computer (revived a few months later). I installed Ubuntu onto it fairly recently (January 12, 2012). Everything worked great in Ubuntu from the beginning, and Ubuntu 11.10 is very fast on this computer, even with Unity 3D. I think it will be at least one more year before I need to upgrade, although Ubuntu 14.04 would probably run well on it. This computer is nearly 3 years old, and is still running well. As mentioned in the specifications I provided, the hard drive has no bad sectors (the average hard drive will likely have a few of them after being used for that long), which is a good thing (S.M.A.R.T indicated, however, that the spin up time increased to 4.9 seconds from the 4.8 seconds it took to spin up yesterday, so I am not sure how much longer this hard drive will last). Overall, It is running very well, and i probably will not need to get a new computer for quite a while.

[OGpmpdog]

No, my desktop, 4 years old, is still chugging along.

My Specs:

Core 2 Duo Allendale 2.4 GHz
775 Socket MSI Mobo
500W Antec PSU
2 GB RAM
GT 210 Nvidia Video Card
ASUS DVD Burner
5 HD's (from 80G to 1.5 TB)

I have Intrepid, Karmic, Lucid, Natty, and Precise installed...and will probably install Terrific Titmouse (14.04) :)in 2014.

I've replaced the PSU and heatsink/fan within the last 6 months...the system began to "hang" during POST.

As far as desktops, Precise is the most polished Ubuntu Alpha release I've tested...

This is funny to me; I also have a newer desktop (to eventually phase out my core2duo) with Sandy Bridge and 1155 chipset...and the mobo is ALREADY bad (it was probably defective, wish I woulda known sooner)...so, this is a case of my hardware being too NEW:P

[Dragonbite]

My current laptop is a 5-6 year old Pentium M @ 1.8 GHz (back when systems only hand one core) maxed out at 2 GB of Ram and with ATI video.

It runs Unity and Gnome-shell alright, though it does hesitate when pulling up the overlay. I'll probably give KDE a try for comparison and if all else fails, go to XFCE.

Oh, and it runs Windows 7 too.

[Shazaam]

Not to old for me. Upgraded from this...
Soyo KT-600 mb
Athlon XP 3200+
BFG 7800 GS
2gig DDR

To this (total cost-less than $100 US)...
MSI K9n6 mb
Athlon X2 5000+
XFX 9800 GSO
2gig PC-5400

It's amazing what a dual-core does for Virtualbox.

[hhh]

6 year old El Cheapo Compaq Presario SR2010NX desktop, upgraded to 1G RAM. Doing fine (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11669215&postcount=130) on Debian wheezy, thank you.

[TeamRocket1233c]

Well, my current hardware is 13 years old almost, and it runs my fave distro, Crunchbang, pretty much perfectly, although a tad slow.

The hardware that I want to put Tiny Core on is about 12 years old.

However, if I get a decent desktop with current hardware and a laptop with current hardware, I'm putting Crunchbang 10 on the laptop and Lubuntu 11.10 or Fedora 16 LXDE spin on the desktop (or whichever release is out at the time).

May put GhostBSD, full-blown Ubuntu, or Fedora 16 Gnome on something.

[momist]

How old is my PC? I don't know . . .
The newest part is the hard drive, WD Caviar Green 1TB about June 2010. The oldest part would the case, new in 1998. My SCSI scanner dates from 1999. All the other parts have been changed and added piecemeal over the years, and I know the MB is long in the tooth (Asus A8V Deluxe), but that was bought 'used' and I don't know it's age.

The original poster in this thread was questioning how long his hardware would support the operating system developments. Mine has just failed, in the sense that the video card (Nvidia FX 5200) will not run Unity 3D. Maybe nVidia will update the drivers for this (10 year old?) card, but I'm not counting on it. My conundrum is that the AGP interface on the MB is limiting my choices in replacement card, and I don't know what the available drivers will support. Another limitation is my reluctance to consider a card with a cooling fan (I like a quiet PC). Changing the MB is an expensive option which would result in a new processor, new memory, and possibly a new scanner if I can't get something that interfaces to SCSI.

So I will stick with what I've got, and try to find a video card to suit, and I think Ubuntu will not change so much in the next couple of years as to get beyond my PCs capabilities. It all depends on how much you are willing to mess around with it, rather than throw it away and buy something new.

[mips]

So I will stick with what I've got, and try to find a video card to suit...

The current drivers support the Geforce 6xxx and up.

When it comes AGP your options stretch as far as the Geforce 7xxx series cards, beyond that it's all PCIe.

Your best bet is the 66xx-68xx & 76xx-78xx GT/GTX cards. The higher the second digit the better the performance. I would not consider anything with a second digit lower than 6, ideally you want to go for a 8.

New these cards are expensive so I suggest you shop around for second hand. I got a 7600GT for free the other day but it was PCIe.

[Bandit]

............

Your best bet is the 66xx-68xx & 76xx-78xx GT/GTX cards. The higher the second digit the better the performance. I would not consider anything with a second digit lower than 6, ideally you want to go for a 8......

Dont know about every location arond the globe. But here in the US we had at least a 8800GT in AGP form. I just thrown one away last week. Also for desktop use, the low eng card is still super fast. Playing games though I would do what MIPs suggested.

But idealy if I was to get a new AGP card it would just be a 6200 for about 30USD. But if you have a standard PCI (non express) you can get a really good NV GT520 or GT430 for less then 60USD.

[mips]

Dont know about every location arond the globe. But here in the US we had at least a 8800GT in AGP form. I just thrown one away last week. Also for desktop use, the low eng card is still super fast. Playing games though I would do what MIPs suggested.

But idealy if I was to get a new AGP card it would just be a 6200 for about 30USD. But if you have a standard PCI (non express) you can get a really good NV GT520 or GT430 for less then 60USD.

Weird, I have never come across a 8 series AGP card or seen one online.

I completely forgot about the new 520 & 430 cards, out of those two the 430 is the most powerful which is a really good option for under US$60

[momist]

New these cards are expensive so I suggest you shop around for second hand. I got a 7600GT for free the other day but it was PCIe.

Congratulations on a freebie. And thanks for the help. As I said on another thread, the numbers are very confusing, as the SP 6900 AGP4 cards are not the same animal, despite the GeForce and other labels.

[momist]

An update to end my part in this thread.

The nvidia 6200 (cheap off ebay) works, but with problems. Using either of the nvidia drivers, there is corruption of the display when scrolling. I could go back to the nouveau driver, which gives me Unity 3D, but I'm becoming very disenchanted with this system and the desktop environment. There are still unexplained hesitations and positive slow-downs, as well as the screen corruption.

I believe that the "latest version of your favourite Distro" truly is a step too far for my not so very old hardware, and I am tempted to abandon it. I'll be trying some lightweight alternatives, Lubuntu, Xbuntu, perhaps Mint with the Cinnamon desktop.

It seems a shame that Ubuntu has gone in a direction that requires quad cores and DDR3 memory in huge amounts simply to run well and look better than the corporate giants. Ubuntu used to be _about_ being better on old hardware, and "just works". Not any more.

[mamamia88]

An update to end my part in this thread.

The nvidia 6200 (cheap off ebay) works, but with problems. Using either of the nvidia drivers, there is corruption of the display when scrolling. I could go back to the nouveau driver, which gives me Unity 3D, but I'm becoming very disenchanted with this system and the desktop environment. There are still unexplained hesitations and positive slow-downs, as well as the screen corruption.

I believe that the "latest version of your favourite Distro" truly is a step too far for my not so very old hardware, and I am tempted to abandon it. I'll be trying some lightweight alternatives, Lubuntu, Xbuntu, perhaps Mint with the Cinnamon desktop.

It seems a shame that Ubuntu has gone in a direction that requires quad cores and DDR3 memory in huge amounts simply to run well and look better than the corporate giants. Ubuntu used to be _about_ being better on old hardware, and "just works". Not any more.
Completely agree.

[Bandit]

Weird, I have never come across a 8 series AGP card or seen one online.

I completely forgot about the new 520 & 430 cards, out of those two the 430 is the most powerful which is a really good option for under US$60

Yea I chunked the 8800, it was as long as a school bus and required to much power. 8800 was the last of the AGP cards around here. The 9xxx series went all PCI-Express and most 8xxx series was as well, at least here anyway. I dont think they made many of the 8800 in AGP, my friend got this one years back but upgraded to a new system and vcard a year later. The most common high end AGP cards was the 7800. Which is what I had before I upgraded to PCIX.

Yea the Fermi 430's are awesome. If my 460GTX burns out I will go to a 430 with passive cooling.

[Eromatic]

My computer hardware is probably only around four years old, but as Ubuntu evolved over time and with the addition of Unity, it has become more and more obvious that 1GB of system memory is just not enough today. Once the hard drive starts thrashing, you're better off just restarting the computer so as to avoid the minute-long load times of loading something as basic as a Nautilus window. I'm thinking of upgrading the system all the way up to 4GB, as I know that such an upgrade would be worth it both now and in the long run. (Even upping the memory to 2GB I expect should make quite a difference.)