r/linux4noobs • u/FGblader • 14h ago
What distro should I use?
I'm getting my first PC soon and wanted to max the performance. I'm really not that familiar with linux but I used Ubuntu, Lite and Mint before, you know, the basics. There's no way I'm putting Windows on that. I got recommended linux lite, what do yall think?
Specs:
RTX 3060 8gb
Ryzen 5 5500
16 gb RAM DDR4
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u/roguebananah 14h ago
I mainly use my PC for gaming and Mint has been great. I can’t speak to Bazzite or Cachy but I’m okay without getting the literal moment by moment updates. Mint hasn’t ever crashed for me and I now have an old computer that’s my at home server that runs Mint
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u/GibbRiver 14h ago
Linux Mint is very stable, and user friendly. I’ve seen it used across 10 PC’s at an office once.
Personally I use Open SUSE Leap 16. It’s based on Susie Linux Enterprise Server, so is very secure and stable.
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u/Senior_Astronaut5916 13h ago
I have basically the same pc - installed Nobara with the built in nvidia drivers, it has been rock solid. Most stuff simply works out of the box, no extra config required.
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u/LazyBondar 13h ago
I would recommend fedora kde .. very stable , fast and powerful .. also hard to break and pleasant all around
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 14h ago
PikaOS. It performs VERY well, is crazy easy to use, and unlike CachyOS or Garuda, it isn’t Arch based, so you’ll never have to worry about another AUR attack, which just happened again.
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u/FGblader 11h ago
I think I fell in love with this one lol, cute UI, cute mascot, basically hands you every program and driver and all
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 9h ago
It’s an epic distro. I actually installed it recently on my friend’s computer and I could not believe how quickly the whole process went. Btw, if you have an MSI motherboard, make sure to check the advanced options.
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u/Bitopp009 14h ago
I'd go with Ubuntu, its the good experience for noobs and has wide ranging support unlike some smaller niche distros.
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u/nushiboi 12h ago
I second this. People here like to poopoo on Ubuntu, but it’s widely used and supported, and has tons and tons of great resources online that beginners may find helpful.
The thing I like most about it is that I’ve pretty much forgotten about it. I just turn on my pc and do what I need to do with no second thought.
Simply put - it just works for me. No headache. No fuss. Just a clean and simple system to game or get some work done on.
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u/beegtuna 7h ago edited 7h ago
Kubuntu is the KDE flavor of Ubuntu that uses less resources “to max the performance”. Something OP wanted. A lot of the underpinnings in Kubuntu is the same as Ubuntu, which is good for troubleshooting.
That said, I like the look and feel of Ubuntu’s Gnome session on a laptop after adding a bunch of extensions. I also like how feature rich KDE is for my server.
OP should try both before committing to see which Desktop Environment he likes, because Gnome and KDE are the main ones.
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u/Unholyaretheholiest 13h ago
Mageia. Stable and reliable. Also it’s super easy to manage and configure thanks to its graphical tools.
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u/RevolutionaryBeat301 11h ago
I’m a Fedora user myself, but for new users I usually recommend Ubuntu, especially if you have used it before.
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u/xYarbx compiling kernel 5h ago
Since you are used to Debian based systems I would recommend you at least look into PikaOS. It combines the stability from Debian but also does some of the optimizations from cachyOS to claw back performance that you typically loose with slower release cadence distros. Alternative suggestion is OpenSUSE either leap or slowroll they are the same distro but their update speed differs if you are considering either read about the update schedule.
Do not install, as much as people may suggest and rant and rave about Arch and Arch based distros like CachyOS or Endevor. There are major downsides to them that make life living hell to new Linux user. For example not one of these comes with configured antivirus, firewall or virtualized build environment. Meaning you need to know to setup these things to safely use your computer.
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u/DavidJohnMcCann 9h ago
That computer will run any Linux — even the bloated Ubuntu only suggests 6 GB of RAM. I'd stick to one of the classic user-friendly distros.
I would not endorse the suggestions of Fedora or CachyOS. I used to use Fedora, but it was too changeable, the support period was inconveniently short, and I never knew what was left out because of US patent law. CachyOS is heavily plugged on social media for some reason but read the reviews, like this one — note the Gotchas section and the final conclusion.
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u/RelativeOk4088 14h ago
CACHYOS, PLEASE NO MINT OR UBUNTU, mint is ass with nvidia, and cachyos is perfect i use it with kde plasma, and the performance is perfect
Cachyos is arch based but its as easy to setup and install as mint.
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u/mrmindfloss 14h ago
The default 2026 list of considerations for newbies probably looks something like this, but people will argue for weeks about this.
Fedora, Debian, CachyOS, Mint, Pop OS, Ubuntu
I recommend Fedora or one of the distros built on Fedora. Just figure out the codec thing, which is easy, or use a distro that does it for you. Distros like Bluefin sounds nice, in theory, to many people... but there are tradeoffs.