3 Gb Ram

Johntmi

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Hi. can somebody tell me witch version is better for my system with 3Gb Ram
 


Welcome to the forums
With only 3 GB ram, I would suggest you stick to medium weight distributions my suggestions would be [I dont recomend]
Linux mint LMDE5
Peppermint
MX-Linux
Debian stable with additional driver pack
Linux Lite
Kubuntu or Lubuntu
there are others
 
My old laptop has only 2GB of ram and I successfully run Sparky Linux on it. To be honest, the desktop environment is more important than the distro itself in this case . I switch between Budgie and LXDE and, while the former is better for multimedia (no screen tearing, better support for external monitors) it is also significantly slower than the latter.
 
My standard answer:


In this case, we at least know it's a low-end box. So, I'd just say "Lubuntu" as my suggestion. Though, really, we need more information to make a more-informed recommendation. We don't know your skill level, your needs, your feature requests, etc...

So, then, I suggest Lubuntu (I am biased).
 
If you have a computer with only 3 GB of RAM, it's best to choose a lightweight Linux distribution that doesn't consume too many resources. Some popular options include:
  1. Lubuntu: Lubuntu is an official Ubuntu flavor that uses the lightweight LXQt desktop environment. It's designed to work well on older or low-spec hardware and is very resource-efficient.
  2. Xubuntu: Xubuntu is another Ubuntu flavor, featuring the lightweight Xfce desktop environment. It's a good choice for systems with limited resources, as it strikes a balance between performance and user-friendliness.
  3. Linux Lite: Based on Ubuntu, Linux Lite is specifically designed for older or low-spec systems. It uses the lightweight Xfce desktop environment and comes with a selection of pre-installed applications that are suitable for older hardware.
  4. Puppy Linux: Puppy Linux is a very lightweight, fast, and portable distribution that runs entirely in RAM. This makes it perfect for systems with low resources, but you'll need to save your work to a persistent storage device to avoid losing it when you power off the computer.
  5. antiX: antiX is a lightweight distribution based on Debian. It uses the lightweight IceWM window manager and is designed to work well on older hardware.
These distributions are all good choices for systems with limited resources, such as 3 GB of RAM. You may want to try a few of them out to see which one works best for you and your specific hardware configuration.
 
My standard answer:


In this case, we at least know it's a low-end box. So, I'd just say "Lubuntu" as my suggestion. Though, really, we need more information to make a more-informed recommendation. We don't know your skill level, your needs, your feature requests, etc...

So, then, I suggest Lubuntu (I am biased).
Thank you. I have no specific skills , I'm just a beginner of this Big World :))
 
Thank you. I have no specific skills , I'm just a beginner of this Big World :))

Lubuntu should be a fine choice if you go that route. It'll even look familiar and things are located where you'd expect them to be.
 
With only 3GB of Ram you don't have many options these days...you could try light weight Distros but what you can do is limited.
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At the moment I'm using Firefox to use this web site and using 2.7GB of Ram...of cause I'm not using a Graphics Card but with 16GB of Ram installed it's not a problem.
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The more Ram...the more multi-tasking you can do...nothing worse than trying to do several things with a small amount of Ram and your computer freezes.
m1524.gif
 
With only 3GB of Ram you don't have many options these days...you could try light weight Distros but what you can do is limited.
m1511.gif


At the moment I'm using Firefox to use this web site and using 2.7GB of Ram...of cause I'm not using a Graphics Card but with 16GB of Ram installed it's not a problem.
m1213.gif


The more Ram...the more multi-tasking you can do...nothing worse than trying to do several things with a small amount of Ram and your computer freezes.
m1524.gif
Its ok, I don't need to many options now , I just was born some days ago on this world ( Linux, ...) I need help to see around. Thx
 
@Johntmi is this an old Windows machine or a chromebook?
 
All of the above distros. Also, in GNU/Linux there is a way to "extend" your RAM (memory) in the form of a SWAP file which is basically a " parking space for other programs/services not being used at any given time to make your active programs run smoother. These words are the basics, there is a little more to it but as long as you are not a "power user" a SWAP file will suffice for general purposes. Here is how you can create one via the command line (yikes). It is pretty straight forward. Twice the size of RAM us usually enough, so in this case we will create a 1Gb SWAP file for starters.Increasing the size will be your next lesson, lol.

*Open your terminal.
*Copy or type :
Code:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=1048576
(press enter)

*Set permissions:
Code:
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
(press enter)

*set up:
Code:
sudo mkswap /swapfile

*enable:
Code:
sudo swapon /swapfile

*make permanent after startup:
Code:
echo ‘/1GiB.swap none swap sw 0 0’ | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
(reboot system)

After rebooting and logging back in, open your "system monitor" click "resources" in te menue and you will see alongside "memory (or RAM) 'SWAP available'.

To understand all of this we encourage you to do further research. :)
 
Its ok, I don't need to many options now , I just was born some days ago on this world ( Linux, ...) I need help to see around. Thx

What I said also applies to that other OS too...it's like having very little petrol in your car...you can't go very far.
m1512.gif
 
What I said also applies to that other OS too...it's like having very little petrol in your car...you can't go very far.
m1512.gif
This analogy does not work well for me. I say that a low RAM computer can "go just as far", but it will take longer to get there. (Frankly, this statement does not help much, because cars do not "thrash." Keep reading.)

Some people here may not be aware of the difference between "slow" and "thrashing".

A low RAM computer may be slow, but perfectly useable. On a desktop computer, you can run many applications at the same time - a word processor, a spreadsheet, an email client, a music player, a web browser, a messaging app, etc. All of those many applications appear to be running at the same time, but most of time they are not actively doing anything. The front application is active, and the mail application may awaken to check for new messages from time to time, but most of the time your "running" applications are dormant and are not loaded in RAM at all.

Things can go bad when your computer starts to "thrash". Thrashing occurs when your computer wastes most of its resources on operating system "overhead" or "bookkeeping" like constantly paging or swapping data back and forth between RAM and disk. When thrashing occurs, your computer spends all of its resources moving data around, but not doing much processing on that data.

It is like when you run past your limit. You can't move because you spend all your effort gasping for air to catch your breath.

Some applications need a lot of RAM and can drive your computer into thrashing. That includes graphics and video tools, development tools, and running virtual machines. Opening many browser windows to active websites may do it.

(I will occasionally drive my computer into thrashing by launching one too many virtual machines at the same time. If I walk away from the "frozen" computer for 15-30 minutes, eventually the thrashing will "unwind". At that point I can regain control to suspend or shutdown virtual machines to prevent further thrashing.)
 
I have old junks from 2G to 10G RAM. I turn them off when not in use, except a 2011 3.7G MacBook Pro.
The Mac (running MX) which works very well, except a pain in the neck when booting so I leave it on with the lid closed, but occasionally I have to do this:
sudo su
(pwd)
echo 3 >'/proc/sys/vm/drop_caches' && swapoff -a && swapon -a
 
This analogy does not work well for me. I say that a low RAM computer can "go just as far", but it will take longer to get there. (Frankly, this statement does not help much, because cars do not "thrash." Keep reading.)

I thought it was a very good example as I'm talking from experience...be it long ago and I learnt my lesson.
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I'm using Mint Cinnamon Edition on a Lenovo T400s right now. It is just a core 2 duo and the usable RAM is limited to just 3Gb but it works very well. I have Fedora and OpenSUSE Cinnamon spins on other laptops with similar specs and they also run very well. Here's all you need to do to make your 3Gb of memory fly.

1. Use ZRAM with about 2.5 times the physical memory as your only swap and use either LZ4 or ZSTD as the compression algorithm.

2. Install earlyoom and be sure to make it active. For Mint, Fedora, and most other distros use the command "sudo systemctl enable earlyoom" and reboot. For OpenSUSE, go to YAST and use the services tool to activate at boot and reboot.

3. Look up a utility called Ananicy and get that working.

4. If using and of the Ubuntu-based distros, install prelink and preload and google linux mint prelink and follow the instructions... especially if you are still using a standard spinning hard drive.

5. In Chrome, use an extension called "the great discarder" and set it up to discard tasks after a short period of time. They stay open but become inactive, relieving memory and resources until you click the tab again.

6. Another great Chrome extension called "sloth" will open an empty tab the first time open the browser to keep all of the other tabs from loading up until you click on them.

7. Use an extension called enhanced-h264ify to make YouTube videos play much more smoothly on older hardware.

There are many more little tricks I use such as changing the default "swappiness" and keeping the log files from growing large. When I set up another low resource laptop, I spend about a day (off and on) applying these little tricks and I end up with a machine that is every bit as fast as my Windows 11 laptop for about 99% of normal productivity stuff people do. Advanced gaming, ultra-resolution video, and heavy-duty compiling is about the only thing these 3Gb laptops can't really do.
 
If you can add more Ram...the better things will be.
m1211.gif
 
Hi. can somebody tell me witch version is better for my system with 3Gb Ram
Hi @Johntmi,
Welcome to the Linux.org forum. You've already recieved much good advice. Mine would be to try out several of the Distros mentioned live and see which one works best for you. And this page may be of help as you learn Linux.
 
Keep in mind that when you configure a system with limited RAM and push the limits too hard, then it will be difficult to maintain and keep the system patched and secure in the future. Updates almost never reduce RAM requirements.

The system may run for now, but if you have no headroom at the start, then you won't be able to keep it going for long.
 
Hi. can somebody tell me witch version is better for my system with 3Gb Ram
Personally, I'd stick with a mid weight distro that uses XFCE, (or go lighter, even).
I've been running Devuan Live XFCE installed to my computers, & they have only had 2GB ram.
If you're not a heavy user, & just do the regular user things, go ahead & choose what looks good to you.
 

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