I have an older Dell laptop from 2012 with an Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. I'm new to Linux and looking for a distro that will speed up my day-to-day tasks while still letting me play some light games, particularly those released before 2010. Any recommendations?
4 Answers
If you're trying to boost performance, def consider upgrading your RAM and adding a small SSD. Also, Lubuntu is another lightweight option you could explore.
Honestly, your laptop isn't a potato; 4GB of RAM can still handle Mint Cinnamon or even Fedora with KDE. If you can upgrade to an SSD, that would make a huge difference in speed. For light gaming, the 2012 i5 should work, but you might run into limitations with more graphically demanding games.
I'd suggest checking out Linux Mint with the XFCE desktop environment or MX Linux. Both are lightweight and can help improve performance on older hardware. Just keep in mind that your gaming options might be limited to older titles or emulators for consoles like the PS1. If you want to try running modern games, you might also consider remote gaming setups with Steam Remote Play if you have a more powerful PC to connect to.
Mint is a solid choice for transitioning from Windows—especially Mint Cinnamon. If you're looking to play modern games, consider a game streaming service that works on Linux, as it might lighten the load on your system. I've heard Gamepass can work on Linux through SteamDeck, so there might be options out there worth exploring!
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