Hey everyone, I'm a Computer Science student switching to Linux for my coursework and personal projects. I need a distro that's lightweight but powerful enough for my workflow.
My specs:
I've been looking at PopOS, PikaOS, and CachyOS. They seem like good middle grounds—lightweight enough for my laptop but still feature-rich. However, I'm not sure which handles my specific workload best.
Questions:
My specs:
- CPU: AMD Athlon Gold 3150G
- iGPU: Vega 3
- dGPU: Radeon 530
- RAM: 8GB (4GB 2400MHz + 4GB 3200MHz)
- Storage: SSD (OS) + HDD (data)
- Programming/coding (coursework & personal projects)
- Office work (writing, presentations, spreadsheets)
- Design tools (Figma, Canva for UI/UX and graphics)
- Light gaming
- Daily browsing/productivity
- Video/graphic editing
I've been looking at PopOS, PikaOS, and CachyOS. They seem like good middle grounds—lightweight enough for my laptop but still feature-rich. However, I'm not sure which handles my specific workload best.
Questions:
- Which of these three would you recommend for my use case?
- Any known issues with Radeon 530 drivers on these distros?
- Would 8GB RAM be sufficient for coding + design tools + light gaming simultaneously?
- Are there any other distros you'd suggest that might be better suited?
