[Phoronix] How An Old Pentium 4 System Runs With Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10

How An Old Pentium 4 System Runs With Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10

Published on July 12, 2010
Written by Michael Larabel
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Last October I wrote about running Ubuntu 9.10 with older PC hardware, but over this past weekend I restored an even older Phoronix test system to see how it runs with the most recent Ubuntu 10.04 LTS release and the very latest Ubuntu 10.10 development snapshot in relation to the older Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS. This antiquated system has an Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB IDE hard drive, and an ATI Radeon 9200PRO AGP graphics card.

The complete list of system components for this retired test system include an Abit SG72 motherboard with SiS 661FX chipset, an Intel Pentium 4 C 2.80GHz CPU with Hyper Threading, 512MB of DDR-400 system memory, an 80GB Western Digital WD800JB-00ET hard drive, and an ATI Radeon 9200PRO (0x9560) graphics card. First this system was tested with a clean install of Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS boasting the Linux 2.6.24 kernel, GNOME 2.22.3, X.Org Server 1.4.0.90, xf86-video-radeon 4.3.0, Mesa 7.0.3-rc2, GCC 4.2.4, and an EXT3 file-system. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was tested with its Linux 2.6.32 kernel, GNOME 2.30.0 desktop, X.Org Server 1.7.6, xf86-video-radeon 6.13.0, GCC 4.4.3, Mesa 7.7.1, and an EXT4 file-system. Lastly, the Ubuntu 10.10 snapshot from 2010-07-11 contained the Linux 2.6.35 kernel, GNOME 2.30.2, X.Org Server 1.8.2 RC2, xf86-video-radeon 6.13.1, GCC 4.4.4, and an EXT4 file-system.

Tests that were run via the Phoronix Test Suite included OpenArena, Apache, PostgreSQL, C-Ray, 7-Zip, PostMark, Gcrypt, Himeno, and TTSIOD 3D Renderer.

Starting off with OpenArena it was rather interesting to see such a sizable performance drop with the recent Ubuntu releases compared to Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS from two years ago. While newer distributions tend to offer faster OpenGL performance due to maturing open-source Mesa/DRM support, this was not the case for this ATI R200 ASIC that has been supported via the open-source ATI Linux driver for a number of years now. The R200 performance is likely suffering following the switch to the DRI2/KMS support and the open-source developers focusing their effort on the newer generations of graphics cards and the Gallium3D driver, which doesn't support the older R100/R200 hardware.

Not only did the OpenGL gaming performance degrade with Ubuntu 10.04 and the latest Ubuntu 10.10 snapshot, but so has the Apache web server performance. Between Ubuntu 8.04.4 and 10.04 there is a significant drop, which largely may be attributed to the migration from the EXT3 to EXT4 file-system by default. Between Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10 there is looking like there will be a modest boost in performance for this old Pentium 4 system.

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I like the Detailed Graphs in this Article. They make it quick and easy to see the over all Performance of the Distros. And Yep, I have always found Ubuntu to be much Slower and allot less compatible with different Machines than most other Linux Distros that I have tried and used for the last 5 plus years!:O I have over 30 CD-DVD's on my Desk that I have tried out. I have used Fedora for my Main OS since Fedora 5 (Blag 5 that is, a Fedora Remix) and I'm currently running Fedora 13 on a 1.8Ghz Core 2 Box with 64 - 128 MB of Intel Integrated Video. I find the Core 2 no faster then my Trusty Old "antiquated system"... a P4 2.4Ghz Machine with an Nvidia 64Mb Video Card. It does have 1Gig of Ram. But honestly... Ram is the Cheapest and Easiest Upgrade you can do, with a Huge Benefit in Performance. So, why not just add another 512Mb of ram as most of us have already done and do a More Realistic Test? With most Linux Distros, 1GB of Ram is all you need to Play OpenArena. I can Play OpenArena great on my P4 off of the Gamers Linux DVD and that's not even Installed on the HD! I have Run Apache and PostgreSQL with absolutely not slow down in my Desktop Performance on Both of these Machines. I Can't say for the other Apps, I haven't tried them out. I do run Apache Web Server and MySql on a 400Mhz Machine with less than 300MB of Ram, running on Caos Linux. It is a Great Server and makes a great Foot Stool too!:) It does a good job of Serving my Web Site and my MP3 Music. I'm a Singer Song Writer, when I'm not busy playing with Linux, DonSongs.com;) But of course it is pretty slow when I use the GUI Desktop Apps. But it is a great Backup System for checking my e-mail and browsing for help and info, when I mess up everything else I have, installing and breaking the latest Linux Distro!:O I ran Debian Etch and a Half for 2 years on my P4 2.4 Ghz Machine and built it built up into a Debian - ArtistX Mix. I really don't understand what all the Hype is about with Ubuntu. I find Ubuntu much harder to get around in, very illogical to Navigate. The Old Lamp Server was useless to me and would only install on a few of my Machines. Ubuntu to me, is much like WindBlows Vista!:O When I try to install the Apps I have grown to know love in Fedora (from Fedora 5 on to 13) and the Granddaddy of Ubuntu... Debian. All I find are Road Blocks and Permission Problems, besides the Very Slow Operation of Ubuntu... And that's if and I do mean if, it will Install on my "Antiquated" Machines at all. I have a total of 8 Computers that I play around with and test my Linux Distros on. Debian is a great, stable and easy to Customize Distro, with more Apps available in the Repositories than you could use in a lifetime. I know, I've tried!;) So, if you like Deb App's better than Rpm's (like there is a difference to the end user). The user experience is really more about the Desktop, Gnome, KDE, Xfce, LXDE etc... than the Actual underlying OS. Well, if you start with a nice sleek, stable running OS that is... Why not just Run Debian instead of Ubuntu? Or if you just want something that takes very little setup time for Internet Surfing and watching Videos etc. Try out Mint 9 and Peppermint One (for a carry around Linux CD or USB Distro). They both come ready to Surf and Play on the Net. They are based on Debian too. Elive 2.0 is a good Mac Looking Distro and it is ready to Surf too. And they are all very Fast! Even while Running form the CD!:) I haven't even Installed Mint, Peppermint or Elive on a Hard Drive yet. But, I can imagine just how fast they will be!:) I still Prefer Fedora for my Daily Computing. I'm staying with Fedora 13 for Now. It only needs 512MB of Ram to operate normally. But with 1Gig, it runs like a Brand new Computer!:) Heck, I have an old (now this is what I call old and antiquated!) P133 with 64Mb of Ram Running like a Top on DSL Linux!:) Oh, and by the way... I just finished Building up an Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000 with 2 Gig of Memory and it only cost me $200 bucks!:) It is fast, but not that much faster in Daily Operation than my Old "antiquated systems." running Fedora 12. Most people Can't just go out and buy the Newest and Fasted PC out there, these days... We have to wait for last years model to go an a Bit Sale!;) Besides... Why should we keep working our tails off, just to make these Big Corps Richer and Richer!!!??? As for the Distro of my Choice... Un-Bloated, Stable and Free (as in GPL - Open Source).... That's what Linux is all about!

Don