Linux newbie question

[MAGP]

Hi guys i am actually a newbie using linux.  I have had some little exp with linux and enjoyed it alot but i have noticed that Ubuntu 14.0 for example even the lighter version still needs at least 3gb ram to run fine compared to windows 7.  Not saying win 7 is better but i read many comments about how linux runs faster on older pcs than windows would do.  I also tried Mint KDE and liked it alot.

 

I have 2 systems, the oldest one is an Intel

 

Quad Core Q6600 2.4ghz 

8gb ram ddr2 

Powercolor R7 250 2gb gddr3

Gigabyte p4 mobo (not really important)

ssd evo 120 (main)

wd 500gb black (secondary) 

It runs basically win 7 perfectly fine and also tried win 8.1(i dont like it)

 

I was thinking will i find a better performance/speed using Ubuntu or any other linux distro than i am currently using with windows.?

 

I use it mainly for regular gaming at 720p and i play wow. Not concerned about ultra graphics since i only use it when i feel nostalgic about my old system.

 

[Nineshadow]

Lubuntu

[MatthewEnderle]

if it works, why change it?

[Ethann_AKA_CPU1]

I recommend Fedora  

[manikyath]

well... linux + gaming still isnt the best of a combo.

 

and a lot of the MMO/MOBA games will pick up on wine as a "cheating utility" at times.

-

 

that said, linux distros are a bit of a "personal fit"

 

you said you liked ubuntu.

ubuntu has a lot of derivatives, Kubuntu coling with a mostly stock kde shell, pretty much giving you a clean slate with a decently optimized window manager.

xubuntu is a bit lighter, but may be confusing to use for people coming from windows, Xfce operates very differently from what most people are used to, but is nice once you get the hang of it.

lubuntu is amazing, even if your machine is a potato it'll run perfectly with pretty much zero overhead.

one of my servers used to run lubuntu, using only 200MB ram with several services enabled.

 

you could look into fedora, its a bit more tailored towards professional users, since its basicly "red hat without the enterprise features"

 

my personal favourite is arch linux, and its derivative manjaro.

 

arch linux is basicly a "do it yourself" distro, the install disk only comes "with a package manager and a text editor" its pretty much the ultimate blank slate: even the slate isnt there yet.

 

manjaro is pretty much arch (most of manjaro issues get handled trough the arch issue handling channels) but it comes with an installer that does things for you, dropping you at a slightly customized KDE shell, which is both easy to use and pretty light on your system.

 

arch can be a PAIN to maintain tho, as you're pretty much getting software updates within a week of the dev applying code changes (ubuntu for example is more than a month behind, which is both a good and a bad thing)

along with that the arch "keychain" tends to be rather derpy at times, making you regularly repopulate it manually to stop updates from erroring out because a new dev isnt recognised.

 

theres MANY others, but i honestly havent went there yet - or had issues installing... and when a guy that installs arch in 45 minutes says its hard to install, they're doing it wrong.

[conspiravision]

ubuntu is lighter than wndows.  If you don't like ubuntu go to one of the 1,000 other linux distros. 

[Kiyuubi]

Unity, the default desktop environment (DE), is pretty resource intensive.

You can get Ubuntu and install a different one like XFCE, which is much more light weight, and still feature rich.

You can switch to Xubuntu, which is Ubuntu with XFCE as the DE, or install it on your current system.

[WindowsVistaUser12]

Ubuntu

[Burusutazu]

if you like Mint KDE then stick with it, otherwise i recommend Elementary or just normal Ubuntu. PlayOnLinux has a WoW installer.

[alien7852]

If you are after performance, I would reccomend Gentoo, as it offers the best performance of any linux distro, but be warned that it is not at all a noob friendly distro.

[Satlen]

Xubuntu. Uses XFCE which is a very lightweight yet flexible desktop environment unlike unity which Ubunutu uses.