Good Linux distro for old PC?

[Mike64]

I'm looking to replace XP with Linux on a 2005 release date Compaq SR1610NX desktop. It has a Sempron 3200+ 1.8 GHz CPU, with 1 or 2 GB RAM (it's unplugged and offhand, I forget which.) I have very little practical experience with Linux, so would like a variety that doesn't need much configuring/tweaking to get it up and running. Any suggestions?

 

[jumpncrash]

mint would probably be fine

 

[lxskllr]

Lubuntu or Xubuntu would maximize the hardware without having to learn a lot, or configure a lot. Mint should be fine too, but it's a bit heavier.

 

[HOSED]

Bodhi Linux 2.4 based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS will run very fast with 1 GB RAM or more http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=08045
I would just add the lead developer for Bodhi is gone http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2014/09/stepping-down-from-bodhi-linux-lead.html so I would not jump on the latest version (3.0) since it is still in mid development (IT is based on 14.04 LTS)

 

[xgsound]

This is not what you asked for, but an additional option. It will work with the Linux also.

I have no experience with the 939 sockets. If your Sempron is an AM2 socket, a X2 Athlon 65w should fit right in and still run cool. CPUZ.exe could identify the socket for you. Ebay has X2s for well under $50. Just be sure to have 2 GB memory or more and stick to 65w max.

I upgraded a friend's computer this way and he was thrilled. The Sempron became painfully slow after XP sp2, while the X2 made the machine snappy. The X2-4800 65w is 2 1/2 times more powerful than your Sempron.


Jim

 

[Mike64]

Thanks for the distro suggestions, all. I poked around a bit, and think I'm going to go with Xubuntu, at least to start. (I've used Ubuntu a bit, so figure it will be a little more familiar than Mint would be.)


As for upgrading the CPU, the machine's not plugged in (to the wall or peripherals) at the moment, so I can't run CPU-Z yet, but from what I can find on the web, it does have a 939 socket. But that's OK. This machine will just be for screwing around with/backup Web access, not my primary PC, so I'm not anxious to spend any money on it anyway...

 

[Mike64]

Hmm... you got me thinking about the CPU, so I checked out Ebay and it seems I can get a socket 939 X2 3800+ for less than $15 including shipping!

At that point, it seems kind of silly not to try the upgrade. Would be good practice, too, since I've never replaced a CPU and am hoping to build my next PC.

Since the X2 appears to draw only a few more watts than the Sempron, do I assume correctly that it would be a direct replacement without needing to change the cooler as well?

 

[Compman55]

Just a tad off topic, but do you pay for electric or is it included in the place you are located?

I used a socket 939 opteron x2 and it was more power hungery than a P4 prescott space heater.

If you pay, run from that config as fast as you can. I threw a socket 1155 pentium G2020 together and cut tons of electric draw and gained a speed boost for super cheap. I don't think I had more than 150-200 into the upgrade.

I know its fun to keep old hardware alive, but with electric on the rise, you are paying more for the usage than for new hardware. Seriously.......

 

[ArisVer]

Your main concern is whether you have 1 GB or 2 GB RAM. A Gnome desktop can run with 1 GB RAM, with enough RAM left to run a few applications. I would stay away from a KDE desktop with only 1 GB RAM. Cinnamon desktop (Mint) requires a bit less than Gnome. Going Xfce is the best choice with 1 GB RAM. Lxde is even lighter.
CPU power is good enough, and you will benefit with a cheap upgrade.

 

[Mike64]

Your main concern is whether you have 1 GB or 2 GB RAM.

Good to know. I'm pretty sure it's 2GB, but will delay a final decision on the distro until I've got the machine plugged back in and I can double-check.

 

[kommisar]

Your biggest problem is getting something to run within the installed RAM. Here is a link to a blog post that discusses RAM use of various types of window managers and desktop environments. It also shows you how to install a lxde desktop environment in debian which will run in a vary small ram footprint.

http://l3ne******************2013/07/05/light-debian-linux-for-family-and-friends/

 

[Mike64]

Your biggest problem is getting something to run within the installed RAM.

I'll keep that in mind. Realistically, I'm not too worried about it. I have an old version of (full-blown) Ubuntu running on an ancient Compaq Deskpro with a Pentium III and 512KB of RAM. Needless to say, it's no speed-demon, but it runs. (Since I remember using the original IBM PCs, not to mention the horrible first-release Macs, my perspective regarding speed is probably a bit different than younger users'.:biggrin

 

[lxskllr]

People overblow the ram requirements of GNU/Linux. As long as you aren't trying to run something like KDE with eye candy turned to 11, it's an acceptable experience. CPU is a more limiting factor. My old netbook had a 900mhz CeleronM, and that was pretty close to the minimum imo. 700mhz isn't bad if you don't want to watch Youtube, or other hungry media. You just need to be patient.

 

[kommisar]

Your biggest problem is getting something to run within the installed RAM. Here is a link to a blog post that discusses RAM use of various types of window managers and desktop environments. It also shows you how to install a lxde desktop environment in debian which will run in a vary small ram footprint.

For some reason that link didn't post correctly. Try this one (cut and paste into browser address bar replacing "dot" with .):

l3net dot wordpress dot com/2013/07/05/light-debian-linux-for-family-and-friends/

 

[lxskllr]

Your biggest problem is getting something to run within the installed RAM. Here is a link to a blog post that discusses RAM use of various types of window managers and desktop environments. It also shows you how to install a lxde desktop environment in debian which will run in a vary small ram footprint.

For some reason that link didn't post correctly. Try this one (cut and paste into browser address bar):

l3ne******************2013/07/05/light-debian-linux-for-family-and-friends/

Try using code tags

 

[ninaholic37]

People overblow the ram requirements of GNU/Linux. As long as you aren't trying to run something like KDE with eye candy turned to 11, it's an acceptable experience. CPU is a more limiting factor. My old netbook had a 900mhz CeleronM, and that was pretty close to the minimum imo. 700mhz isn't bad if you don't want to watch Youtube, or other hungry media. You just need to be patient.

Yup. Mine is Pentium M @ 800mhz with 1GB RAM and it runs Slacko Puppy Linux nicely.

 

[ArisVer]

My 'old' computer has an AMD Athlon 1600+, 1 GB RAM, a GeForce 6200, and used to run happily Ubuntu 10.10 and Debian 6 Gnome. I never runned into RAM problems and I usually had 10-20 tabs opened in the browser which I've also tested with 50 tabs. Yes, swap was used sometimes depending on the pages loads. I also didn't have problems watching videos except those that needed two cores to work. My monitor was set at 1920x1080. And that was about three years ago IIRC.

Edit. I remember very well that KDE was reaalllyyyy slooowww. I mean SLOW.

 

[sweenish]

I've been running LXLE in a VM on my laptop, specifically because it's a "light" distro.

It's not minimal, it takes up space, but it runs super smooth. It's a dell latitude e6410. I gave it [the VM] 1.5 GB of RAM and a 10 GB HDD. Been running smooth as butter as a VM. I can only imagine that a direct install would be fantastic.

 

[Iron Woode]

here's another distro to try out: PCLinuxOS LXDE

http://www.pclinuxos.com/get-pclinuxos/lxde/

it is designed for low performance hardware like older computers.

I used it on an old Abit BP6 system with dual 366 celerons, 512meg ram and a 80 gig hdd and it worked wonderfully.

 

[gmaster456]

You could give Peppermint a try

 

[Mem]

Always a preference thing down to the user in question,lucky there are plenty to choose from so some here http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/8-of-the-best-tiny-linux-distros-683552 .


A few more here http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/752221-the-top-7-best-linux-distros-for-2014
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/8-of-the-best-tiny-linux-distros-683552

 

[code65536]

OS system requirements haven't really changed all that much. Don't invest too much time worrying about the OS, as I'm sure pretty much anything suggested here would do just fine (that said, I'll throw my personal vote for Xubuntu), and that any responsiveness differences between them would be negligible, if even detectable.

What you should spend your time worrying about is the stuff that runs on top of the OS.

For example, I suspect you'll want to browse the web, right? Yesterday, I was at a news site (The Guardian) and I wanted to view some multimedia on it. My default browser, Firefox, runs with NoScript, so the stuff wasn't working. Instead of going through the trouble of whitelisting stuff on the site, I just loaded the page up in IE. Between the copious amounts of JavaScript and flash video ads and other crap, IE--which I had just started fresh and had only that tab open--ballooned to about 800MB and was noticeably lagging (this is a netbook). I also tried it in Chrome, and it was no better. And it's moments like this that I'm reminded of why I use Firefox with NoScript. I tell you, the modern web has grown out of control--especially since lazy developers these days, instead of coding from scratch, use huge JS libraries--sometimes over a megabyte large for even simple tasks (a whole effing MB of interpreted code?!?! are you bloody serious?!).

The OS isn't your enemy. The stuff that run atop it is. If you have a low-end system, spend your efforts in controlling that instead because, seriously, pretty much any distro would work just fine for you.

 

[canestim]

Hmm... you got me thinking about the CPU, so I checked out Ebay and it seems I can get a socket 939 X2 3800+ for less than $15 including shipping!

At that point, it seems kind of silly not to try the upgrade. Would be good practice, too, since I've never replaced a CPU and am hoping to build my next PC.

Since the X2 appears to draw only a few more watts than the Sempron, do I assume correctly that it would be a direct replacement without needing to change the cooler as well?

I did this recently with an old laptop of mine. Processor was like $10! Why not right. I even found a YouTube video of mine with someone tearing it down but it's pretty simple even without a video. Just make sure you separate your screws. Some people use old egg cartons and label them to help with reassembly. Anyway, I put Ubuntu on mine and it's close to the specs you have and it runs fine.

 

[PliotronX]

Gonna give Xubuntu a shot tomorrow on a 3200+ and 960Megs of DDR. Ive run Win7 on a similar system surprisingly well so I have high hopes.

 

[PliotronX]

Update, all Ubuntu variants and Debian itself which Ubuntu is based upon failed to run on this VIA based system. The onboard video is some kind of S3 Chrome Pro and only Redhat variants have been working. openSUSE is very laggy without a GPU, CentOS just works well. Fedora would probably run as well.