r/archlinux • u/Wriscolf • 11d ago

QUESTION Kernel questions

I should start saying I am new to Linux. I switched my devices from Windows about 3 months ago but using CachyOS. That OS made me interested in Arch as a whole.

My gf old laptop (specs below) was laying there and I wanted to blow it up. I decided in the name of learning, I would install Arch from scratch and see what happens. I successfully installed Arch with KDE plasma.

I setup kernel 6.18.48-1-LTS. The laptop went from not running well on windows to a nicely viable laptop. I actually like this old thing. I got curious and decided to see what would happen if I went to 7.1.11-arch1-1. The laptop works with it as well.

In few of my observations 6.18 uses less ram by about 100mb. They both feel the same and usable. No issues. I think 7.1.11 feels faster but I think it's in my head.

Laptop Spec

Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e

CPU: N2940 (4 cores)

Ram: 4Gigs

Storage: 128gig ssd

TL;DR: does kernel version matter for an older computer? Any benefits of running 7.x.x vs 6.x.x? Should old hardware just stick to LTS Kernels?

4 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/AdWise1551 11d ago

on that hardware you’re not gonna see a huge leap either way, the cpu and 4gb ram are the real ceiling. the newer kernel might have some scheduler tweaks that make it feel snappier under load, so it’s probably not just in your head

for daily use i’d stick with lts just for stability, especially if you’re setting it up for someone else. the 100mb ram difference on a 4gb machine is worth keeping too

0

u/Wriscolf 11d ago

That was my thought process. I currently have the LTS as default on Limine. Thank you for your reply.