I'm trying to decide between i3, Hyprland, and Sway for my old hardware setup. Here are my specs: an Intel J3355 processor (2 cores, 2 threads at 2.0 GHz), 8GB of RAM running at 1600MHz, and a 1TB HDD. My main concern is whether Hyprland will significantly impact performance with my weaker processor. I understand that i3 uses X11 while Hyprland and Sway operate on Wayland, but I'm a bit confused about which option is best suited for my machine.
3 Answers
Why even consider Wayland with older hardware like yours? I'd suggest you go for XFCE instead, but if you really want a lightweight window manager without pulling in a full desktop environment, I guess you could look into it.
Forget about X11; it's pretty much old news. Stick with Wayland composites. Give Plasma a shot; it's designed to be kinder to lower-spec devices. If it doesn't work out, then you can try the barebones options like Hyprland or Sway.
Hyprland could work, but to be honest, its main appeal is looks, and I doubt your CPU will handle it well. You might want to check out Niri instead; that one might be less of a strain on your system.
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