So, I have Linux Mint Xfce installed and it isn’t working as efficiently as I expected. It takes 10 minutes to load the browser and then 5 minutes to then start browsing. Everything is just slow.
This is the computer’s specs.
CPU - AMD E-450 Dual Core Processor GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6300 Graphics Storage - 1TB Hard Drive RAM - 4GB DDR3 Memory
It ran Windows 7 and 8.1 amazingly. Windows 10 had tons of issues and I couldn’t upgrade to Windows 11.
So, Linux is what I need to go to. But which one will work the most effectively on this hardware?
What would your proficiency be on Linux:
LIke it varies from:
Beginner Ubuntu to Maniac Gentoo
(im notkidding btw people who use gentoo, you’re a maniac lol)
I can learn and understand Linux concepts quite well. Although I’m not an expert in Linux, I’ve used Fedora and have set up Arch Linux (haven’t used it enough to maintain it or learn the ins and outs) I am more of a Windows guy. However, these are all running on a better more powerful PC. That is my personal desktop.
This is the main living room computer, and I’m just looking to improve its performance. As, Windows 10 is going to be gone soon. I needed to upgrade and Linux Mint Xfce isn’t working well.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not an expert in Linux. I’ve installed and used various Linux distributions, including Fedora, Linux Mint, and Arch Linux. However, I always return to Windows 11 on my primary personal computer.
Mostly because of gaming.
On the old computer in the living room, we don’t have the option to upgrade to Windows 11, which is a limitation. But that computer isn’t needed for gaming. just needed for personal use and better performance.
I’ve had Linux Mint Xfce on this PC for about a year now and I am getting tired with the performance. The minutes it takes to load is just an estimate as it can take longer depending on what’s happening. As this is the main desktop for others, and we don’t have money to get another one.
Yeah, I’ll wait for more suggestions. Thanks though. I just don’t know which are reputable. I’m not really big into Linux. I know how to do some things but yeah, thanks again.
I just added the specs of the computer in the main post.
I have experimented with ancient hardware. Puppy Linux is excellent for running anything; I got a 1999 packard bell with almost no RAM at all to run. That is an extreme case.
A low impact Ubuntu Spin like Lubuntu would give you more features than Puppy Linux.
The one to blame here would be the hard drive imo. These things are the weakest point of any early 2010s computers. Even though my laptop has slightly better specs than yours (they share the same Radeon HD generation GPU), upgrading it with an SSD was a very noticable night & day difference. I suggest you to do it as well if you got ≈$25 to spare. Now Windows 10 is relatively usable on it with Linux having even better performance (except for 99% of the games since the GPU has no Vulkan support, that 1% is Minecraft, runs so much better than on Windows) - on KDE Plasma, a not very lightweight desktop environment. LibreWolf launches in ≈10 seconds, Vivaldi and other Chromium-based browsers take more to load, but usually less than 30 seconds.
So the TL;DR is, if you can - upgrade it with an SSD.