I'm looking for suggestions for a Linux distribution that will give the best performance based on my hardware. Here are my specs: I have an Intel i5-2500 CPU, Intel HD 2000 GPU, and 10GB of DDR3 RAM (a bit odd since it's 8GB + 2GB). My storage is a 512GB SATA SSD. I've dabbled in Linux before with Linux Mint, CachyOS, and Fedora. Fedora felt a bit heavy for me, while Mint was kind of boring. Currently, I'm on CachyOS with KDE, and I've found it performs well - my RAM usage at idle is around 1.2GB and CPU usage is between 2-5%. I'm curious if there's a distro that's even more compatible or could provide better performance, but I like KDE so I'm hesitant to change desktop environments. I think I have enough RAM, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!
5 Answers
AntiX and MX Linux are also great lightweight options. They utilize X11 instead of Wayland, which might help with performance.
You likely won't notice huge performance differences when switching distros unless one has outdated drivers. With your setup, especially using integrated graphics, you should focus more on optimizing what you have.
Arch Linux with KDE Plasma could be a solid choice if you're comfortable installing and configuring it. You can also try Garuda if you're looking for something a bit different!
CachyOS is making good use of your hardware already with its built-in performance optimizations. However, since it's a rolling release, be prepared for some minor hiccups after updates. Maybe just stick with it for a bit and customize what you can.
You might want to give Manjaro with XFCE a shot. It's lightweight and runs pretty well on older hardware.
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