Shocked by the low performance of a Q9550...

Hi,

I have an old TV and whenever I want to watch Netflix or live internet TV (paid, provided by my ISP), I have to bring my ASUS laptop, connect it via HDMI, log in and do it. This method works fine, but you know, it requires time to set up, a table, cables, etc... So, I wanted to have a permanent PC connected to the TV to handle all of this stuff. I want the PC to handle 3 different things, and it's a must:
1. YouTube videos at 1080p 60fps (why, because I want)
2. My ISP service, which is like a "Netflix" that lets you watch live TV via internet, films, TV shows, etc...
3. Netflix, Prime video...

The ASUS laptop can handle all of those perfectly fine, so whatever I buy, must perform similar. I had the opportunity to take for free a Dell OptiPlex 755 SFF PC, so I did, but upgraded its components to the best ones I found compatible, and this is the final result:
-Chipset Intel Q35
-Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @2.83GHz 95W +$20
-nVIDIA GT 730 1GB GDDR3 +$20
-SSD Kingston A400 120GB +$10
-4GB RAM DDR2
-280W PSU
-Windows 10 Home x64

Pretty darn good, specially considering that it simply has to be an HTPC. Now, the specs of the ASUS K55VD:
-Chipset Intel HM76
-Intel Core i5-3210M @2.50GHz up to 3.10GHz 35W
-nVIDIA GT 610M 2GB GDDR3 (+Intel HD 4000 integrated in the i5, but I use the GT 610M because it's better)
-SSD Kingston A400 250GB
-4GB RAM DDR3
-65W PSU
-Windows 10 Home x64

So, as you can see, the specs are quite similar, the Dell has a way better GPU, and a similar performing CPU, so it should totally handle everything the ASUS can handle. Both PC's have a fresh install of Windows 10 Home, latest BIOS, latest drivers, latest Windows updates, latest everything and they should perform as good as they can. The temperatures are fine in both systems. Also, in the BIOS settings I have nothing "bad" activated, like power saver mode, or something similar. To sum up, both PC's are set to perform the best they can.

Yesterday I was very happy because I finished all the installation and configuration, put the DELL next to the TV, connected it and tested if it worked. What a surprise when I see:

1. YouTube videos can't be played at 1080p60fps at all, the image is laggy and sloppy and the sound is messed and constantly popping. Sincerely, it doesn't look as if the PC wasn't able to handle it, but as if the codec or something was not adequate one. In other words, when I put a 4K60fps video in a not so powerful PC that can't handle it, I don't experience that, but simply the image freezes sometimes and the sound stops every now and then. But, no popping in the sound. For my surprise, I enter task manager and the CPU oscillates between 40-70% of usage, and the GPU between 20-50%. I believe when PC's can't really handle a YouTube video it's because a component is reaching 100% usage and still can't handle it. With 720p60fps it's fine.

2. Same behavior with my ISP service, that you can think of it as a "Netflix" or something. I put live TV, same laggy image and popping sound.

3. Netflix and Prime video are handled fine, and I tried the highest quality in both. Perfectly fine.

By the way, I was using Chrome, because it's the browser that works with my ISP service. I got mostly same results with FireFox. I tried disabling Hardware acceleration, but didn't solve anything. Nevertheless, with Microsoft Edge I can watch perfectly fine 1080p60fps videos in YouTube, no popping sound, no lag. Sadly, my ISP service doesn't really work in Edge, it's buggy, slow and sometimes doesn't load channels. My ISP recommends Chrome, and it's what I want to use. But, hey, first mystery, why in Edge 1080p60fps video are butter smooth? What's different handling YouTube videos between Chrome/Firefox and Edge?

I was royally pissed, specially after feeling I trashed $50 and so much time configuring, thinking about the best components, looking for them online, buying them... but I felt there was something wrong, it couldn't be that the entry level ASUS could handle this and my Q9550 couldn't. Yeah, it is from 2008, but it costed $300 by then and it was almost the top CPU, in mutlicore, it performs better than the i5-3210M, and it "only" is 4 years older. It's like comparing a GTX 670 with a GTX 1050, similar performance and 4 years difference.

So I benchmarked my Dell and compared it to the ASUS laptop to check what was really going on. Here I post the comparison, and I hope you find a reason why the Dell seems to be way weaker than it should, apparently.
Is it may be the MoBo?
The CPU is not working well?
The RAM?
I don't know...

GeekBench comparing GPU's (Dell completely destroys ASUS):


GeekBench comparing CPU's (quite similar results, single core ASUS is better, multicore Dell is better):



Another CPU comparison using PassMark (Dell is noticeably better except in single-thread and SSE instructions):


The 2D PassMark test, where ASUS is better than Dell (I don't know if this test tests the GPU or CPU, weird result though...)


Solved here:
Shocked by the low performance of a Q9550...

You are not going to get an old system like that running like the current gen of cpu’s.