Upgrading CPU

[daniell59]

if it's locking up when at full power it is likely overheating or losing power from PSU. monitor temperatures with psensor. if temperature goes too high, you might need to reaply the paste, get a better cooler/fan, increase the air flow...

also it all depend how much a used CPU will costs you. but getting high CPU on videos means you GPU is not doing it's job, so getting a GPU that will support at least videos, will also help. but again you need to see why the lockups are happening and i just retired one of these E CPUs. it had constant issues. overheating, i would get it new thermal paste and cleaned it up. it would work for a while then it started with lockups and reboots. i changed the PSU. it helped for a week or two and then it started again. finally i had enough and my kid bought an old model Ryzen on sale while this E3300 retired.

problem right now is that even older models of CPU and GPU are expensive.

A used processor on Ebay can be purchased for $10. Not a big gamble.
This is from the motherboard manual
LGA775 socket for Intel® CoreTM2 Extreme/CoreTM2
Quad/ CoreTM2 Duo/Pentium® dual-core/Celeron® dual-
core /Celeron® Processors
Compatible with Intel ® 05B/05A/06 processors
Support Intel ® 45nm Multi-Core CPU

[mastablasta]

make sure what is wrong first. you might end up upgrading and still have the same issue.

[hk42]

Although not understanding a word of it I was
inspired by this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w132eifHeWk
I replaced an E5200 dual core by a second hand XEON 5450 quad core:
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/2041514744.html
All went well and speed was multiplied by 3.
Very cheap upgrade just assure you have good cooling.

[poorguy]

RAM 4 GIG
Ubuntu 20.04

I'd increase memory before I'd upgrade the processor.
I'm running Ubuntu 20.04.2 on an Intel E7400 and I have 8.0GB of memory and Ubuntu flies.

Dell-OptiPlex-XE:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.8.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Gnome 3.36.7 
           Distro: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS (Focal Fossa) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex XE v: N/A serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0TNXNR v: A01 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05 date: 01/09/2013 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo E7400 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Penryn rev: A 
           L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 11171 
           Speed: 1596 MHz min/max: 1600/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1596 2: 1596 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 4 Series Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Display: wayland server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: i915 resolution: 1024x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Q45/Q43 (ELK) v: 2.1 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 82801JD/DO HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.0-48-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe vendor: Dell 
           driver: tg3 v: kernel port: 0980 bus ID: 05:00.0 
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries NetXtreme BCM5761 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe vendor: Dell 
           driver: tg3 v: kernel port: 0980 bus ID: 06:00.0 
           IF: enp6s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 149.05 GiB used: 7.63 GiB (5.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD1600AAJS-22PSA0 size: 149.05 GiB 
RAID:      Hardware-1: Intel SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 bus ID: 00:1f.2 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 145.22 GiB used: 7.63 GiB (5.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 31.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 192 Uptime: 21h 50m Memory: 7.68 GiB used: 1014.3 MiB (12.9%) Init: systemd 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 
Dell-OptiPlex-XE:~$

[dddman]

I have recently tried Ubuntu in 2 & 4 core configurations and found 2core usable, but a bit slow and 4 core to be visibly faster. I'm currently running 4 core and 4G of ram and its plenty fast.

[poorguy]

To be fair I ran Ubuntu on dual core processors and 4.0GB of memory for years and had no complaints.

I found 8.0GB of memory at a garage sale for $10.00 bought it and installed it and what a difference 8.0GB of memory makes.

I guess it all boils down to what each user considers to be fast and what each user is used to using.

All of my computers are Frankenstein builds created from spare parts and discarded computers.

[TheFu]

I had a system with that same CPU. It had 16G of RAM and easily handled 10+ virtual machines concurrently. In order of upgrades that will matter most for watching youtube.

1. New GPU with hardware support AND ubuntu drivers to decode mpeg/h.264 and h.265 video
2. More RAM - 4G is anemic today. 8G is a happy place for Linux OSes.
3. Newer CPU - compare passmark ratings for both CPUs to temper your expectations.
4. Faster SSD - there's only so much that a SATA SSD can do. Perhaps 550 MB/sec.
5. Tuned swap to 4.1G on all desktops; more isn't better.
6. Clean dust from the system, cables, coolers, fans, everywhere. Get heat under control for each component.

When the E8400 CPU was created, Intel wasn't doing onboard iGPUs yet. For youtube video, any chromebook would be faster, regardless of CPU. Why? Because the GPUs all have hardware support for decoding hidef youtube video. That is a key decision that google and chromebook manufacturers require. Video playback is all about the GPU and drivers.

[hk42]

[

When the E8400 CPU was created, Intel wasn't doing onboard iGPUs yet. For youtube video, any chromebook would be faster, regardless of CPU. Why? Because the GPUs all have hardware support for decoding hidef youtube video. That is a key decision that google and chromebook manufacturers require. Video playback is all about the GPU and drivers.

Even quite expensive and power hungry old graphic cards are less efficient at decoding HEVC and UHD than a recent cheap mobile phone.
But I believe they are good for games.
Having OS and swap on an SSD is a good improvement for old hardware.

[daniell59]

At this point I wish that the motherboard would die. This would give me the motivation to build a new system. Now what do I do with the two 10 + year old Lian LI cases? They are aluminum with a removable MB tray. The problem with them is the 80mm fans. Discarding them would be like abandoning an old sick dog.

[rsteinmetz70112]

I think I have only one case newer that 10 years old, of course Ive replaced motherboards and PSU fans and drives in all of them.