Linux noob

[harryf]

Hi all, I am trying Linux for the first time after being a Windows user for many years and I am finding it a bit of a culture shock!
I have built and upgraded quite a few PCs over the years and the PC I am using for Linux I made from parts from past upgrades as I have been led to believe that Linux Lite will work ok on older machines. I need some advice, but I will post on the main forum.

[Paul74]

Hello,

So, you built a "new" PC from "old" parts, why not !
I am not an expert but I suppose some components may be not supported as they need.

I have LL 5.0 just installed on a (slow) Samsung RV515 (with 8 GB of RAM) and it works perfectly.
I saw you have only 1 GB of RAM, it could be much better if you will have 2 or 4 GB.

[Şerban S.]

Hi!
You have to bear in mind that the distro's minimal specifications, refer ONLY to what the system needs to run properly.
The problem occurs when you want to run applications.
Chrome, Chromium, FireFox just to name a few, require up to 400 MB of RAM, per opened document.
Usually Linux Lite uses around 300 - 500 MB of RAM to run smoothly. This means that you have at most 500 MB of RAM available to the applications you want to run.
Use TaskManager and see what it says regarding each application's RAM usage, and you'll know what to keep running and what to close. I have TaskManager in the StartUp, for this very reason, and I have 4 GB of RAM.

Hope this will help you get some results.

Still... I recommend you to upgrade your RAM at least to 4 GB, if the mainboard's RAM slots are enough (4) and they support say... 1 GB RAM modules.
The other way around would be 4 x 512 MB, but this is slow memory, and you-ll still end up having tons of files swapped...
The only workaround I can figure out is making a SWAP partition of say... 6 GB, but this only prevents the hung-up of the machine. It will be and will remain very slow.
Since you said above that you often recycle parts, maybe you should consider this idea.

PS: I looked up for the specs. The CPU is close to mine. I have an Intel T9400@2,53 GHz, which is Core2 Duo. Very much the same. Rating in tests, say it's some 100 point behind Core2 Duo, so you should be able to get a nice machine if you upgrade to 4 GB RAM.
The RAM you need is DDR2-800. On the Romanian market, I found even 4 GB modules so I think you can upgrade.
The price on the Romanian market, range from 50 EUR (2 GB) to 370 EUR (4GB), but I doubt the slots on the MB offer support for 2 x 4 GB. Look in the MB's manual for type, capacity and model compatibilities.


Best regards!

[harryf]

Thanks both for the advice. I have ordered another 4G of RAM to try in it as it is running slow. To explain why the old parts, I built this PC purely to use as a controller for a coffee roaster, so it doesn't need to be a flying machine!

Thanks again.