Fresh install extremely slow

I'm trying to migrate from Mach3 to LinuxCNC.

After I log in though, everything is incredibly slow. The best way I can describe it is I'm getting 1 frame per 5-10 seconds. If I leave the computer for 15 mins or so I can move the mouse fine until I mouse over an icon or click anything, then it's back to the way it was before.

I have tried installing on a partition to my SSD and a clean install on a wiped HDD. The computer is fairly old though, CPU is an Athlon 64. It had been running Windows 7 and Mach3 fine though, albeit Chrome was a little sluggish. I would have expected better performance than this though, is there anything I can check or is it a hardware problem?

New to Linux so please bear with me!

I can't even get to the latency test

I really can't progress any further than logging in, the system is pretty much unusable after that.

Currently, I AM operating on integrated graphics. I'll try to find a graphics card and try again.

Sure, it's 2.7, downloaded it the day before yesterday.

If I can boot into command line, what can I do to check the graphics drivers?

Thanks! That one is working MUCH better, a little jerky but I can live with it as long as it doesn't affect machining. I can get to the latency test now, result is 439010. Seems high?

EDIT. Make that 2223594

What exact Athalon 64:

Runningwill give you the details of the cpu and what Motherboard ?will list the computer info, press enter to scroll down and q to quit

I've being getting some really good results on some old AMD platforms. If you can stretch it try and get an older Radeon graphics card.

CPU is an Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 2.4GHz, overclocked to 3GHz.

Motherboard has an AGP slot... Recommendations on a card would be good!

Would it make you laugh if I say I remember buying this CPU brand new?

I have no problem going out and trying to find a used PC with better specs if that's what's needed.