Hey everyone! I'm looking for some help choosing the right Linux distro for my old PC. It has 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a Pentium CPU running at 2.60 GHz, and an NVIDIA GT 520 graphics card. I'm a beginner and was considering Linux Mint, but I'm open to suggestions, especially for lightweight options that can run smoothly on my hardware.
4 Answers
Honestly, you're dealing with some pretty vintage hardware there. Browsing the web might be a struggle. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop might not be the best match, especially for your GPU since it tends to use the slower, unofficial nouveau drivers. I'd recommend something lighter like Lubuntu or even a Fedora LXQt spin. You might also consider sticking to an older LTS distro like Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12 and look for the NVIDIA 390 drivers to get better performance.
I wouldn’t recommend Mint unless you're using a really old version (but even then, it's risky). Your options will mostly depend on what distros people just happen to be using, so it might be good to check out alternatives that are lighter on RAM.
Agreed! With only 2GB of RAM, you definitely want something frugal. Chromium works better than Firefox for low RAM setups, but I'd advise against relying too much on swap space—it can slow things down even more.
Definitely check out Lubuntu LTS! It's built for lower specs and should let you use your machine without too much hassle. Plus, your DDR3 means it's capable of 64-bit, which is a plus!
Consider Lubuntu or Arch; they're both lightweight and could run better on your setup. But honestly, antiX and even Void could be good to look at as well. You’ve got options!
Yeah, I've heard MX Linux is a great option too. Their NVIDIA installer works really well, and they have a lightweight Fluxbox edition that could suit you nicely.