Actually there are some new AIOs for sale now that have performance comparable to C2D.
You really don't need 8GB RAM just to browse the web, run Word or type e-mails.
Browser updates are distributed on a regular basis, and web page complexity keeps growing. Between the two browser RAM usage has trended upward. It's probably time to revisit your assumptions about RAM needs for web browsing.
My vote if for SSD + an upgrade to 8GB RAM. Cleaning out crap and doing some ad blocking wouldn't hurt either.
keep in mind people are still selling a lot of new windows 8.1 PCs with just 2GB (with some of that being used by the IGP),
A C2D is slow for today's standards, but when you overclock it to 3Ghz+ and you add a SSD, then it is a totally different story.
IE, Firefox, Chrome open in less than a second, it plays HD video (flash too) without any slow downs, and you can have open bunch of tabs.
I'll say to listen to those who actually use a C2D (like myself) :>
It depends on "Slow for what?" answers. I have four of these LGA775 systems running in this house. One is a C2Q in my server -- I made a really unnecessary replacement of an E6600 with a Q6600 a few months ago. The remainder are "business" workstations/desktops supporting a total of three users with Wolfdale C2Ds -- an E8400, an E8600 and an E6700 [the 2010 Wolfdale model -- not the Conroe]. All of them (except the server C2Q) are stock-clocked above 3+ Ghz. One uses an Intel Elm Crest SSD (SATA-III) on an SATA-II port.
Nobody complains. The SSD really gave a turbo-twist to the E6700 system. I'm in no hurry to replace a RAID0 on the E8600 box with a single SSD. I can reclaim two WD Black drives from it, but it isn't such a slug as to make the necessary SSD expenditure a big priority.
When I think that these units all deploy technology from 2007/2008, they DO seem like candidates for the recycling pile. At most, I've squeezed ten years from a PC, but in successive use as desktop followed by file-server.
I'm guessing that these LGA775 boxes are still good for a few more years, or until a motherboard goes south . . .
That's the spirit. I've got a pair of E3300 CPUs, with 2x2GB DDR2 (forget if it's 667 or 800), in an Intel-branded mini-ITX board. Unfortunately, it only has two DVI ports, DVI-I and DVI-D. No HDMI. But it's got Intel gigabit LAN, and RAID support. Q45 chipset, I think.
I've been debating what to do with them. Sell them as-is, as barebones mobo/CPU/RAM/heatsink kit, or build with them. Put them in a decent small mini-ITX case, with a smaller SSD, and put some flavor of Linux on them.
I've seldom sold off an old computer, preferring to squeeze it for everything its worth, or pass it on as "hand-me-down."
Scored a Dell 17" laptop with 4GB RAM, no hard drive and crappy CPU (~1.8GHz C2D) for $50 on Craigslist.
Shoved in an old Vertex 2 120GB and a spare 2.8GHz C2D, and it's flying now!
A Core 2 is PLENTY for your daughters uses. Does it compare to a 6 years newer i3 or i5? No. But why should it? It is still perfectly adequate for her light usage, especially with an SSD.
That's just the thing, really. I . . . remember . . . my Pentium 3's that I was still using through 2003. Or the Northwood system I built in 2004.
Moving up to Conroe was a big jump. Your basic office programs, and even HTPC applications were fine. And the point of it: it was the SSD which opened up the biggest bottleneck in computers over the last three or so years. Slap an SSD into a Conroe or Wolfdale -- you can expect to get several more years out of it until it burns itself out.
Is anyone here old enough to remember working with an 8088 or 80286 processor? I . . . . remember . . . .
My first ever PC was a 286 with 1MB RAM, 40MB HDD, 3.5" floppy & MS-DOS 5. And even that ran Wordperfect 5.1 for DOS just fine. No, OP really doesn't need a Haswell quad-core just to run Word & Firefox.Is anyone here old enough to remember working with an 8088 or 80286 processor? I . . . . remember . . . .
I remember both, the Z80, and my all time favorite 386 DX-40.Is anyone here old enough to remember working with an 8088 or 80286 processor? I . . . . remember . . . .
Where'd the OP go?
Who knows. However, what nobody seemed to notice is that he did say that HD is 256GB which to me implies that he already has SSD in place.
IMO the daughter must have installed a bunch of crapware enough to slow down even SSD. Or maybe that's her way of asking for a new shiny macbook.
...I want to do a complete reformat and replace her very old HD with a SSD drive as I feel this would provide a significant speed improvement...