I have an old PC with an E5300 and a G31 motherboard. Would a Q9550 and a SATA SSD be worthwhile upgrades, and what kind of performance could I expect?
I'm curious about trying Linux on it rather than recycling it.
Is a Core 2 Quad upgrade still worth it for an old LGA775 PC?
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6d!kiwifruit_28
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If the parts are cheap, it could be a fun Linux machine. The Q9550 has four cores instead of the E5300's two, so it should be a noticeable step up when programs can use them. An SSD will also make booting and opening programs feel much less sluggish than a hard drive.
Check the exact motherboard model and its CPU support list first. A G31 board doesn't automatically guarantee Q9550 support, and it may need a BIOS update. Also check how much RAM the board supports before spending money.
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For a cheap project, sure. For a main everyday computer, I'd put the money toward a newer used office PC instead. Even with the quad core and SSD, this is a very old platform and modern websites and heavier software can still feel slow.
There's disagreement about how comfortable it is for casual daily use. Your expectations and the software you run will make a big difference.
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It's also a reasonable box for older games and software. Games from the 2000s are a better target than current big releases, though what runs well will depend heavily on the graphics card. The CPU upgrade alone won't turn weak integrated graphics into a gaming setup.
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Keep the software side in mind too. Pick a Linux distribution that still provides updates for the hardware and check its system requirements. Hardware this old may have limitations, so I wouldn't assume every current distribution or application will run on it.
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z46!thistlecase:
You can try Linux from a live USB before buying anything. That gives you a chance to check whether the basic hardware works and see how the machine feels.