Score:0

4 Gb on a Dell Latitude e6530 Xubuntu 20.04 OK or better to have 12 or 16?

in flag

I don't code, game or do anything more resource intensive than watching videos online. Otherwise it's email, desktop publishing, Photoshop, Office, Telegram, Zoom (when I get it installed).

A friend told me before I bought the laptop that 4Gb RAM would be more than enough for Xubuntu. Have an opportunity to get 12 more Gb from eBay Seller for half price ($60). I suppose I could get 4 or 8 Gb more instead for a discount as well - I saw that someone here had installed 16 but only had 12 Gb available. Haven't installed RAM for 25-30 years. Don't relish it.

in flag
From the list of expected uses you provided, the browser will be the most demanding application on the system. If you are not the sort of person who has several dozen tabs open all the time, then 4GB may be sufficient so long as your swap file is at least the same size. If your not keen on upgrading your RAM, then give Xubuntu a try with 4GB. If you discover you need more memory, it can be installed later
in flag
@matigo Thanks for the response. I confess, I used to have as many as 60 tabs open on my Win7 box and wondered why I got sluggishness LOL. I've mended my ways, keeping it to around 20. Sounds like another 4-8 Gb would be advisable for my browser ways.
heynnema avatar
ru flag
Best to use two matched pairs of the same size/spec SODIMMs. Memory interleaving can then provide enhanced memory performance. 2x4 or 2x8.
Score:0
tr flag

Here is the machine of my last favorite one: ASUS UX305FA, which is still working on in your requirement, including GIMP.

CPU: Intel M-5Y10c @ 2.0GHz

Mem: 3828MiB + 4G Swap.

My setup is based on Ubuntu-MATE 20.04.02 LTS, which is not as light as Xubuntu. Everything is just like out of box. And it's one of my most reliable linux/ubuntu system since 2016.

I don't think you need more ram than me if you do things less than me. I do coding, play steam games. Hence if you don't want to add ram I will say it will be fine. After opening Google Chrome with Youtube and Google Documents, I use up 2135 MiB Ram, for your reference.

in flag
I've heard of GIMP. Will have to look it up, my CPU specs too. Since my total RAM appears to be 4Gb, I'm assuming I don't have any swap. (But I have an SSD as well as an HDD, if that counts for anything.) I'm a Firefox kinda gal and as you can see from my comment above, I like them tabs. Wondering if Firefox is less RAM hoggy than Chrome and whether going to Brave or Vivaldi would be a good idea.
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
You do have a swapfile unless you changed a lot of the Ubuntu installer.
tr flag
Well both Firefox and Chrome are quite Ram consumption, but 4 GB RAM will survive if you don't do heavy gaming.
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