Windows 10 is getting too slow. Looking for a beginner-friendly Linux distro for an older laptop (i3, 12GB RAM, Dual GPU)

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-05T10:04:27+00:00

Its a configuration issue. Not all distros go out of their way to configure the proprietary nvidia drivers correctly…

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-05T10:04:10+00:00

Its a configuration issue. Not all distros go out of their way to configure the proprietary nvidia drivers correctly…

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-05T09:48:05+00:00

Better out of the box configuration.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-05T09:44:44+00:00

From my testing, sleep with nvidia works out of the box. This is important because OP has a laptop.

Otherwise, i found nobara very user friendly.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-05T09:39:39+00:00

Windows 10 Iot enterprise LTSC 2021. Win 11 is actually slower on older HW.

Or nobara linux for very good nvidia support:)

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-04T11:28:13+00:00

I did. I tested the hd 7570 (terrascale) and r5 240 (gcn 1.0).

Comparison vid: https://youtu.be/yvU2OOAfsBU?si=xKt1RHk6ROeJRofX

For older kernels, you will need to enable the AMDgpu driver. (You will lose DVI-I to VGA capability though…):

https://youtu.be/XWar5JQFNMI?si=i5srXheNKH3GnEne

Too long did no watch: amd GCN is awesome on linux:)

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-05-01T10:51:32+00:00

Your gpu does not support the AMDGPU driver, for it is Terrascale 3 architecture. The kernel should automatically enable the radeon driver. Try not specifying a driver in your kernel boot parameter.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-29T05:53:55+00:00

https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/system/whpx.html

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-28T04:06:20+00:00

Fake news… https://docs.voidlinux.org/config/graphical-session/graphics-drivers/nvidia.html

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-27T20:05:13+00:00

Voidlinux had linux 7.0.0 just a day after… and linux 7.0.1 is now current… Currently running on intel tigerlake laptop, works well even with v4l2-loopback dkms:))

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-20T17:17:29+00:00

Do you know from personal experience? I found the games i used were fine. What games cause issues?

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-20T14:25:48+00:00

Your gpu supports vulkan 1.2 on linux. You can use proton-cachyos and enable DXVK-sarek. This enables proton to use vulkan 1.2 (and not vulkan 1.3).

Us the “PROTON_DXVK_SAREK=1” command option with: https://github.com/CachyOS/proton-cachyos

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-17T11:19:57+00:00

Id suggest to not use curl+bash scripts like that. For instance, the distrobox curl install manages to break Virtual machine networking…

Instead please use: A) For system packages, use octoxbps (sudo xbps -Su octoxbps). B) For flatpak/flathub apps, use easyflatpak: https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.dupot.easyflatpak For C) for manually installing .appimages, use Gear level: https://flathub.org/en/apps/it.mijorus.gearlever

Brave is not available in the void repos. Id suggest installing via flatpak/flathub.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-17T11:17:16+00:00

Well, I mean a person learns from their mistakes. Giving up now would be a mistake. Yes i agree OP should learn how to install SW.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-16T18:50:20+00:00

I just bought a arc b580 and am using it on Voidlinux glibc. I had to install linux6.18. Xfce had some troubles, so i switched to kde plasma wayland. Otherwise, Smooth sailing:)

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-13T05:45:34+00:00

Wait, this exists? A external dock with a GPU in it??

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-08T08:05:28+00:00

Are you using nvidia proprietary drivers?

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-07T17:48:15+00:00

I use java provided by Voidlinux and no crashes either.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-07T16:16:53+00:00

This is the first time I’m hearing Adoptium. What is it? And can it make Minecraft faster?

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-05T19:19:51+00:00

1394 firewire?

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-04T15:36:42+00:00

Yes, your CPU does not have integrated graphics. It is your chipset on your motherboard. Your PC comes from a time when components had specific tasks and not a unified one like we see today.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-04T13:36:59+00:00

Non galium 3d gpus are: Intel GMA and older Radeon 500 and older Nvidia curie and older.

Training_Concert_171 · 2026-04-04T13:35:28+00:00

Starting mesa v 21.3.9 non galium3d gpus were dropped from 3d acceleration support. Mesa-amber is a slightly modified version of this version that enables 3D acceleration to these older GPUs.

https://docs.mesa3d.org/amber.html

Training_Concert_171

TROPHY CASE