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what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

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MikeNovember Level 7
Posts: 1507 Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:37 am Location: Nice, Paris, France

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by MikeNovember » Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:02 am

linux wrote: ⤴ Sat Dec 11, 2021 3:14 am its not listed here

There is no CPU requirement, except that Linux Mint 20.x is available for 64 bits CPU only (if you have a 32 bits CPU, a very old one, choose version 19.x / 32 bits).

Linux Mint is available in 3 flavors (3 different desktop environments):
— Cinnamon, suitable for modern computers,
— Mate, requiring less resources,
— XFCE, requiring the minimum of resources, and adapted to old computers.

So, adapt your choice to your computer.

_____________________________
Linux Mint 20.3 Mate host with 5.4 kernel and Ubuntu Pro enabled, VMware Workstation Player with Windows 10 Pro guest, ASUS G74SX (i7-2670QM, 16 GB RAM, GTX560M with 3GB RAM, 1TB SSD)

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by kevin987 » Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:59 am

I always found Cinnamon a lot easier to use than the other 2. It seems more intuitive. I’ve had to ask special questions for Xfce before that was readily apparent on Cinnamon.

Linux Mint 20.3 (Cinnamon)
Linux Mint 19.3 (Cinnamon)
Bodhi Linux 6.0 (MokshaArcGreen)
Fedora 35 (Cinnamon)

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by cretsiah » Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:15 am

*success rates can very per person and is dependant on what one considers a success.

knowing the hardware (aka cpu, ram, wifi or ethernet connection requirement ) and usage requirements, would go a long way to helping you determine if its right for you.

you can take my suggestion with a grain of salt, ( * i have personally found anything 64-bit with less than a 2.6ghz cpu sluggish )

for 64-bit systems i suggest CPU 2.6ghz (quad or higher) with 4-8 gig of ram (potential light steam gaming)

for 64-bit systems with CPU 3ghz+ ( quad or higher) you could have lower ram 2-4gig ( no steam gaming)

for 64-bit systems with CPU 3ghz+ ( quad or higher) 8+gig ram ( medium to high steam gaming )

for 64-bit systems >2.4ghz ( duo )possibly better off with 32-bit system

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by kevin987 » Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:22 am

cretsiah wrote: ⤴ Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:15 am *success rates can very per person and is dependant on what one considers a success.

knowing the hardware (aka cpu, ram, wifi or ethernet connection requirement ) and usage requirements, would go a long way to helping you determine if its right for you.

you can take my suggestion with a grain of salt, ( * i have personally found anything 64-bit with less than a 2.6ghz cpu sluggish )

for 64-bit systems i suggest CPU 2.6ghz (quad or higher) with 4-8 gig of ram (potential light steam gaming)

for 64-bit systems with CPU 3ghz+ ( quad or higher) you could have lower ram 2-4gig ( no steam gaming)

for 64-bit systems with CPU 3ghz+ ( quad or higher) 8+gig ram ( medium to high steam gaming )

for 64-bit systems >2.4ghz ( duo )possibly better off with 32-bit system

Like you said, results can vary.

I have no problems with dual core 1.8ghz, 4gb ram, using Mint Cinnamon 64 bit. Been good for the last 6 years since 17 all the way through 20.

I don’t do gaming though, so that helps.

Linux Mint 20.3 (Cinnamon)
Linux Mint 19.3 (Cinnamon)
Bodhi Linux 6.0 (MokshaArcGreen)
Fedora 35 (Cinnamon)

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by SimonPeter » Sat Dec 11, 2021 1:03 pm

Results can vary widely based on many other factors like load levels for our usage, other hardware (disk drives, RAM speed, network adapters etc.,).

These are my suggestions for 64-bit systems (assuming moderate levels of usage ; with light/no gaming):
— Cinnamon edition: >2.4GHz, >=dual core CPU, >3GB RAM.
— MATE edition: >2GHz, >=dual core CPU, >=2GB RAM.
— XFCE edition: Almost any 64-bit CPU manufactured in the last 10 years, >1GB RAM.

An SSD may also improve your experience considerably.

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by Hoser Rob » Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:14 am

While I wouldn’t expect a single core CPU to work very well, overall I’d be more concerned whether the video card is properly supported and if there’s enough RAM. The RAM you need will vary by DE, Cinnamon needing the most, xfce and mate the least.

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by Petermint » Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:53 pm

Note that Cinnamon is the only one to use a GPU if there is a GPU. A GPU can make Cinnamon run faster than MATE in the same environment. In Cinnamon, you can also switch off Effects which makes Cinnamon similar to MATE.

With effects off, I have run Cinnamon on a pathetic Netbook. The only GUI interface I find to be really fast is the Lxde GUI in the Raspberry Pi OS and that is mainly because the Raspberry Pi people spent years tuning the OS for the computer. There are tuning options for all three LM GUIs.

The Web browser uses far more resources than the GUI. You can run the GUI in one core of an old processor. I did it with a 1.6 GHz processor. The same core can run email and the first tab of a Web browser when using Javascript blockers like Noscript.

A 4 GHz core is slow when running some Javascript, some image transformations, and video editing. Those applications can be slow with 4 or 8 cores.

OS level system applications, like backups, run in a fraction of one core and are limited by disk speed, not processor speed. Just about everything in Linux at the OS level will run at disk speed unless you upgrade to the latest most expensive SSD.

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by destroyer8981 » Sun Apr 10, 2022 12:49 am

I have question. I have a evoo ultrathin notebook with dual core 1.10 ghz processor 64gb memory 4gb ram and Intel N4000..windows 10 seems to be sluggish on it and was looking for a newer faster os..I’m used to Chromebooks but was wondering if these specs are ok for Linux mint..and some gaming..not high gaming but racing games like asphalt 8 and cod mobile?

Re: what is the CPU system requirements for linux mint

Post by ThaCrip » Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:49 am

I tend to sum things up about like this as a pretty good guideline for more of a usable system that won’t be limited to light usage.

-CPU = a decent dual core CPU (I am just assuming 64bit since 32bit is petty much ancient). which pretty much means the late 2000’s (although probably the higher side of that to be a little safer) at the oldest. although pretty much any decent CPU (so none of the really underpowered CPU’s) from the early 2010’s should be a safe bet.
-RAM = 4GB+

so while you can technically use less than 4GB of RAM (and even a weaker CPU than I mentioned), unless your a very light user or don’t mind a lack of passable performance standards, it’s not realistic to use a computer for any length of time if you only got 2GB of RAM (and probably not at least a decent(so none of the really underpowered CPU’s) dual core CPU) since this is sort of the bare minimum nowadays and even here you will run out of RAM pretty quickly after running your browser for a short period of time with say a few tabs open etc. but with 4GB of RAM, you got some room to breathe and won’t have to worry about RAM too much.

as for Mint itself (currently v20.x series). Xfce is probably a all-around safer choice than Cinnamon, at least in my experience with my hardware (my newest CPU is i5-3550 which is 10 year old tech basically, although the GPU I am using is pretty much 6 year old tech, which is my main PC). especially if your playing back video on say a 2nd screen, say a typical 1080p TV, with Celluloid+MPV (which typically uses hardware acceleration if available), Xfce is definitely the safer choice as on at least 2 out of the 3 computers I got (two desktops, one laptop) Xfce does not have issues where as Cinnamon does as there is jerkiness in video playback on Cinnamon where as Xfce works as expected. so if your into playing back x264 720p and 1080p video through Celluloid+MPV combo, Xfce is likely the safer choice over a wide range of hardware.

destroyer8981 wrote: ⤴ Sun Apr 10, 2022 12:49 am I have question. I have a evoo ultrathin notebook with dual core 1.10 ghz processor 64gb memory 4gb ram and Intel N4000..windows 10 seems to be sluggish on it and was looking for a newer faster os..I’m used to Chromebooks but was wondering if these specs are ok for Linux mint..and some gaming..not high gaming but racing games like asphalt 8 and cod mobile?

Off the top of my head. with that setup, your going to be quite limited just by looking at «1.10GHz».

with that said. I suspect Mint will generally run better than Windows 10 does on that as my HP2000 laptop, which is the worst of the three computers I have, runs better on Mint v20.x than Windows 10 did as Windows 10 seemed to be a bit too CPU hungry in general. so in terms of booting up to the desktop after everything stops loading, Mint will generally give you a usable system faster than Windows 10 does. but your CPU is still going to be a limiting factor on some level. so you can’t expect miracles by switching to Mint

because while I would say Mint will probably run better, anything that’s fairly CPU hungry is still going to be that way on Windows or Mint. so I would still expect to keep most of that sluggishness even if you switch to Mint (I would definitely consider my HP2000 laptop’s CPU to be ‘sluggish’ and noticeably so as it’s newer than my backup computer but my backup computers CPU (AMD Athlon X2 3600+ 2.0GHz overclocked to 2.3GHz) is superior and noticeably better). but like I say, booting to desktop and CPU going idle will generally be better on Mint than Win10.

but your RAM is passable as I tend to see 4GB as more of a realistic minimum for anyone who really uses their computer. so between your CPU and RAM, I would consider your CPU the weakest link.

but for gaming. I would not expect to play anything semi recent on that. but if it’s a pretty low end game without much real requirements, I suspect you ‘might’ be okay.

MainPC: i5-3550 (undervolted by -0.120v (CPU runs 12c cooler) /w stock i3-2120 hs/fan) | 1050 Ti 4GB | 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RAM | Backups: AMD E-300 CPU (8GB RAM) / Athlon X2 3600+ CPU (@2.3GHz@1.35v) (4GB RAM) | All /w Mint 21.x-Xfce

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