I have been running this PC on Ubuntu 10.10 and it has been pretty great. With the HDD filling up and persistent messages about my version of Ubuntu not being supported I started again on 12.04. I am not really feeling the love with this version. Personally I despise the desktop with the icons down the left hand side so the first thing I do is install the classic version. Now I am not sure if this is the problem but the performance is pretty underwhelming compared to 10.10 and I will be the first to admit this PC is old (see below). Can someone suggest a build better suited for a more 'senior' computer?
SYSTEM INFORMATION
Running Ubuntu Linux, the Ubuntu 12.04 (precise) release.
GNOME: unknown (unknown)
Kernel version: 3.5.0-23-generic (#35~precise1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 25 17:15:33 UTC 2013)
GCC: 4.6 (i686-linux-gnu)
Xorg: 1.13.0 (19 January 2013 12:41:05PM)
Hostname: kbox-workstation
Uptime: 0 days 0 h 43 min
CPU INFORMATION
AuthenticAMD, AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+
Number of CPUs: 1
CPU clock currently at 1000.000 MHz with 512 KB cache
Numbering: family(15) model(47) stepping(2)
Bogomips: 2200.16
Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext 3dnow up pni lahf_lm
MEMORY INFORMATION
Total memory: 2016 MB
Total swap: 19172 MB
STORAGE INFORMATION
SCSI device - scsi1
Vendor: ATA
Model: WDC WD800JD-75MS
SCSI device - scsi3
Vendor: ATA
Model: SAMSUNG HD103UJ
SCSI device - scsi4
Vendor: DVDRW
Model: IDE 16X
SCSI device - scsi9
Vendor: USB2.0
Model: HS-CF
HARDWARE INFORMATION
MOTHERBOARD
Host bridge
Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
PCI bridge(s)
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev f2) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev f3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev f3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev f3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
ISA bridge
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev f3)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 815a
IDE interface
NVIDIA Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3) (prog-if 85 [Master SecO PriO])
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K8N4-E or A8N-E Mainboard
GRAPHIC CARD
VGA controller
NVIDIA Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
SOUND CARD
Multimedia controller
Creative Labs SB Audigy (rev 04)
Subsystem: Creative Labs SB Audigy 2 ZS (SB0350)
NETWORK
Ethernet controller
Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
NVIDIA GRAPHIC CARD INFORMATION
Model name: unknown
Card Type: unknown 16x
Video RAM: 256 MB
GPU Frequency: 300 MHz
Driver version: NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module 304.84 Wed Feb 27 05:03:32 PST 2013