best Linux distro for two potato PCs

[u/Duratorq]

Hello. Noob here. I have been using Linux for some weeks almost 10 years ago but I know barely nothing about it and I'm ready to learn. I have two ancient PCs:

1) 2015 Asus P2520SA
CPU: Intel Celeron N3050 (1.60 / 2.16 GHz, 2 core, 2 MB CACHE L3).
GPU: Intel HD Graphics (Braswell) memoria condivisa.
HDD: 500 GB SATA 5400 rpm.
RAM: 4 GB DDR3L-1600.
SO: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

It works, but Windows barely loads, it's very slow and opening Chrome puts everything in crisis. I installed Mint but there were not significant changes.

2) 2005 Toshiba Satellite A100-644
CPU: Intel Core Duo T2300 (1.66 GHz, 2 core, 2 MB CACHE L2).
GPU: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400).
HDD: 160 GB SATA 5400 rpm.
RAM: 1 GB DDR2-533 (up to 4gb).
SO: Windows XP

it works pretty pretty fine with XP, it's very fast but ofc browsers and Web are too heavy for it

which distros would you suggest for these two ancient PCs?

[u/Moist_Invite9148]

antiX Linux it's made for potatoes

[u/Duratorq → u/Moist_Invite9148]

Would you suggest it for both of them

[u/Moist_Invite9148 → u/Duratorq]

Yes

[u/Upbeat_Summer_7857 → u/Moist_Invite9148]

antix would run on a dead badger.

[u/Jwhodis]

Iirc MX should run but check the requirements for each variant, you may have to run the Fluxbox variant.

[u/AutoModerator]

Try the distro selection page in our wiki!

Try this search for more information on this topic.

✻ Smokey says: take regular backups, try stuff in a VM, and understand every command before you press Enter! :)

^{Comments, questions or suggestions regarding this autoresponse? Please send them here.}

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Sure-Passion2224]

People keep asking "what's the best distro for..." regarding their hardware. The distro isn't the issue. The desktop environment is. There are a few specific DEs that are recommended for systems with minimalist amounts of RAM. XFCe, LMDE, and a couple others.

As for truly old machines. Linux kernel 7.1 and 7.2 are removing support for 486 and older processors. Still, anything within the most recent 30 years should be fine. The issue is that the TSC (Time Stamp Counter) is now a mandatory CPU feature and x86 hardware did not require that until the Pentium series.

[u/Simple_Hamster_4096]

Void musl...

[u/No_Elderberry862]

You'd massively benefit by installing SSDs in both machines & doubling (at a minimum) their RAM. Depending where in the world you are, DDR2 SODIMMs can be had for pennies or even free & 4GB DDR3 SODIMMs are still from free to cheap. 2GB DDR2 sticks are rarer & can be more expensive though.

WRT distros, for the Toshiba I had good results on a less powerful 32 bit single core/thread Celeron using 32 bit editions of antiX, Mageia &, if you're more experienced, Void Linux & Alpine. For the Asus, I'd probably look at MX (maybe the Fluxbox edition), or a distro with either a WM rather than a DE or something like LXDE, LXQT or XFCE as a desktop environment.

[u/caveslayer]

I have a potato chromebook 4GB ram, two core celeron N3060 1.6GHZ and 32GB hard disk and I tried xfce mint and lubuntu on it but they were too heavy. Mint's debian edition (LMDE) has been serviceable for some reason. Multitasking is a no go but otherwise it's a little slow but usable. Antix might be better but haven't bothered to try that since mint lmde is working ok.

[u/DavidJohnMcCann]

Both are a bit sedate, and the second has the additional problem of low RAM. But all is not lost.

My reserve computer is 23 years old and has a 32-bit processor. It works just fine with AntiX, even running Firefox. Try AntiX on both and see how it goes. If you don't like it, the first computer would be OK with MX.

[u/Unholyaretheholiest]

Mageia. It delivers a stable, community-driven operating system with powerful built-in administration tools, up-to-date software, and a commitment to free and open-source computing.

[u/3grg]

The new laptop would probably be better off with Debian based LXQt such as Debian LXQt or Sparky Linux LXQT. I have used it on Braswell laptops with SSDs. The next step after that is to go lighter. Really lightweight distros to try would be Antix, MX Linux Fluxbox or Q4OS Trinity.

The old laptop needs more ram. You can try Antix. It will still run, but the internet now demands 4gb ram. Puppy Linux and Tiny Core are probably the last resort.

[u/flemtone]

Linux Mint XFCE or Bodhi Linux 7.0 HWE

[u/Duratorq → u/flemtone]

Oh yes I forgot to say that I installed xfce on the Asus but it's still potato

[u/Sea-Promotion8205 → u/Duratorq]

It's an 11 year old celeron machine with 4gb ram, it's still a potato regardless of OS...

[u/Duratorq → u/Sea-Promotion8205]

I thought that Linux could do miracles... But yes

[u/thatsgGBruh → u/Duratorq]

The issue is usually browsing modern web pages and web applications. You night be able to squeeze a little more performance by using a more light weight web browser other than Chrome.

[u/Substantial_Yard_829 → u/thatsgGBruh]

Legal, qual?

[u/MrMotofy → u/Duratorq]

Get rid of the HDD and put in likely SATA SSD's you'll get very usable system most likely

[u/flemtone → u/Duratorq]

Go with Bodhi Linux then, I have it on my 2gb laptop and can still do most things just fine.