I replaced my home desktop last fall, and I'm pretty sure I made a big mistake.  I bought a Lenovo ThinkCenter desktop with a 1tb SSD and 16GB RAM.  That's all well and good, but the processor is an AMD E2-9000e Radeon R2.  I'm pretty sure that means it's a 2 core instead of a 4 core.  The machine runs a lot slower than I had hoped, and it is especially slow when I am running my appraisal software.  Since I'm an appraiser, that's sort of the main thing I use the computer for.

My question is this:  Do I have a 2 core processor instead of a 4 core?  If so, what processor should I buy to upgrade to a faster unit?  I'm not a good computer tech I'm more of a car mechanic, but I'm also not afraid to open the computer up and replace parts.  

I am also in a rural area, and my home internet speeds average 15 down and 8 up.  I doubt that the internet speeds are affecting how the software runs even though it does back up automatically to the software maker's database.

Any advice on what to buy and where may be a good place to buy it would be a huge help.  Or, if I need to do nothing at all let me know that.

Thank you in advance.

1st on the CPU...that's a (very) low end laptop CPU.  2ghz dual core...The only real benefit of it is low power draw, which is not a concern for a desktop.  Why a desktop would run that CPU is beyond me.  A little looking around shows me the model you purchased is made mainly for a small footprint...basic computing stuff like spreadsheets and browsing.   A CPU upgrade is normally a pretty easy upgrade, but i'm not familiar with the socket (the actual spot the CPU plugs into the mainboard), AND the CPU may be soldered to the mainboard...cutting off any upgrade path you may have.  

Specs on RAM and SSD are good.  Even a slow SSD will not be a huge perceptible bottleneck for your uses.  

I'm not sure what appraisal software you use or how it works, but i have a hard time believing even a low end CPU would have difficulty pushing that program.  Does this program move large files back and forth from a server somewhere?  The perceived slowness may be because of your slow internet.  I'd look around and see if there's anything better in the area.  15down/8up is circa 2002 DSL speeds.  

My advice is to try upgrading the internet first.  There's no sense in upgrading if your bottleneck is in the internet.  Once/if you do that, and it's still slow, you don't need a monster system for your uses.  Same specs on the SSD and ram would be fine, but upgrading to a real desktop CPU/Socket like the AMD 3100, or 3200 would give you a god's plenty of power.  (i actually used a 3100 briefly for gaming).

Yes, it is 2 cores. You're basically screwed. My understanding is that type of processor is soldered onto the motherboard (not replaceable). Hopefully you didn't give more than $150 for the thing. This CPU is basically the worst one you could possibly get, 4 years ago.

I do have some experience with the small form factor brick desktops, and it's all been bad. Usually lucky if they can open a browser or a pdf without locking up.

My advice would be to cut your losses and get a real desktop from a reputable builder.

What would be your price range if you had to replace it today?

Take a look at what programs that came pre-installed are running.  Lenovo and other OEMs install a lot of bloatware in their machines that toll its resources.

Go through them and uninstall or disable what you do not need.  

That is a netbook processor. I have one of those in an 11" Dell laptop. It's slower than frozen molasses if you try to do any real work on it, but it's a good compact travel laptop for basic computing.

Like I said, I realize that I messed up with this machine.  However, I would like to try to fix the issue.

I can't do anything about my internet speeds without moving.  I'm one of many waiting for Starlink.

I bought it on Black Friday, so I'm outside of the return window to Amazon.

Is there anything I can do here?

I thought of that as well.  Unfortunately, it didn't help much.

I think I need to give up and buy a different computer.  I'd like to be around the $700 range.  The software I run is called Total by a la mode, and it's the appraisal industry gold standard.  I called them and the tech support guy steered me towards this one:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-master-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hdd-240gb-ssd/6430867.p?skuId=6430867

Which has 8gb RAM and it's got 2 hard drives, one SSD and one traditional.  

Their technology guide publication which is aimed at appraisers like me that don't know what they are doing points towards this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VJ2LH8X/ref=twister_B08GFHXSD2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Which has 16gb RAM.  But I cannot tell if this will support 2 monitors on an HDMI or whatever the computer display equivalent is.  

Thoughts?

Either one will support dual monitors, though dual HDMI is not common.  Usually there is 1 HDMI, and the other ports are DisplayPort.

The Lenovo will be more power efficient, if that matters to you.  The Cyberpower is technically faster, but given your stated use case you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  8GB of ram is on the low end though.

I'm not tech savvy enough to care about HFMI vs the display port connection.   I think you are talking about the port that looks like an HDMI but is squared off on 3 sides instead of two.  

If the Lenovo will run 2 monitors and has more RAM, is that the better way to go?  I'm not a gamer so I doubt I need a bleeding edge machine.

Thank you to everyone that helped here.  I bought a new machine that is much faster.  Lessons were learned.