How to make Zorin OS faster / optimize CPU usage on old-ish laptop

General Help
, ,
1

Hi all,

I'm a relatively new Linux user, I've just installed ZorinOS (18, core) on an old-ish Asus laptop for a family member who wants to try it out. It's working fine except that it is quite slow - the Windows 10 that is installed on the same computer is faster, when, from the communication about ZorinOS, and an install I did on another computer, I would have expected the reverse.

I haven't tested games or demanding software yet - just normal operations, like opening native programs or using the file explorer, basically clicking anywhere takes a few seconds to get a response. Once open / started, things generally work well. Online browsing with Firefox seems faster than local browsing..

So my question is: are there any software / settings ways to improve the speed of ZorinOS?
In my case it is not possible to upgrade the hardware on this laptop.
I could install a different distribution / version if necessary, but I'd like to stick to ZorinOS for its resemblance to Windows.

More details below:

Here's the laptop's config:
- only 1 SSD ("PNY CS900 240 GB", with Zorin OS on a 80 Gb partition, Windows is on another partition and there is a 3rd, shared NTFS partition for documents)
- the SWAP partition is 10 Gb and I set the 'swappiness' at 10%
- RAM is 4Go, DDR3
- processor is Intel pentium N3540 x4 (2.67 GHz I think?), 64 bits
- Graphics card is Intel HD graphics ("BYT"), I imagine that's an integrated one

What I have done so far:
- Make sure I have all updates installed in the Software / Updates menu (there was none available)
- changed the "swappiness" of the swap from the default to 10%
- removed animations in the Zorin Appearance desktop menu

None of these have had any noticeable effect on improving the speed of the OS.

When testing what is being used with the System monitor in 'resting state', the RAM is usually around 1.9 Go / 4Go of use, with most of that in the 'cache', and the swap being around 1.3% of 10 Go so very low usage, CPU usage around 40%. When I start opening folders or software, the CPU usage quickly bumps up to 100% but RAM doesn't seem saturated. I think the limiting factor is the CPU somehow.

Lastly, I have noticed related topics but none provided a satisfying solution for my case, such as:
- this one which says to update everything and improve the hardware - I have done the former and can't do the latter
- this one says to use Mint or Zorin lite instead of Core, but there's no clear consensus on whether Zorin Lite would improve speed, also this would mean downgrading to ZorinOS 17 for now
- this one again says to buy more RAM.

Thanks for any help!

2

I'd recommend Zorin lite for a computer with 4GiB RAM. You can wait until Zorin 18 lite will be released or install Zorin 17 lite.

3
  • Are Secure Boot and Fast Boot in BIOS disabled?
  • Is Fast Start-Up in Windows disabled?
  • Does the System run in Wayland or X11? If it runs in Wayland, I would suggest to switch to X11/Xorg and try that.
  • Using/Trying Zorin Lite with the xfce Desktop as Base would be an Option, too.
4

thanks @Forpli , my RAM usage is not maxing out though (it seems to hover around around 30 - 60 % depending on whether I have Firefox opened or not) so I'm not sure the RAM is the problem in this case. The CPU usage seems to be the thing that saturates. Is there no way to optimize this somehow?

5

Thanks @Ponce-De-Leon, please see answers below:

  1. Yes (although, as I posted in this other thread, I would like to reactivate Secure boot now if that's not going to mess up with things)
  2. Yes
  3. I tried both and X11 seemed slightly worse so I went back to Wayland.
  4. Yes...

I am hoping there is some way to optimize CPU usage in the Core version so I don't have to reinstall another version from scratch..

Thanks!

6

You could try to overclock Your CPU (which would brings Risks) but even then, the RAM Limitation still exists.

7

Hmm, I have no idea how to do that! But I'm also just surprised that ZorinOS seems slow compared to Windows 10 on the same machine, so with the same hardware. Isn't Linux generally supposed to be more lightweight and faster than Windows?
The Zorin website tells us:

Zorin OS is the alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster

But is that actually not the case? Or did I miss something with my settings?

image
image1749×621 80.8 KB

8

No, it could be but don't have to. It depends. Factors can be Hardware Support with Kernel and Drivers, what System do You use and what Desktop Environment.

Gnome for Example is with KDE a more heavier Environment. xfce is a more lighter one. So, it is not directly a common Fact.

1 Like
9

I use Zorin Lite even on my main PC with quite high specs. As an experiment I have Zorin 18 Core with XFCE desktop installed, and it is more suitable for an older PC. It is quite easy to install XFCE (lots of items in the forum on this subject). Initially it gives you a desktop layout a bit like Apple/IOS with a thin taskbar at the top, and a dock at the bottom. This you can adapt by deleting the dock, increasing the size of the taskbar and dragging it to the bottom of the screen. I find the XFCE start menu very basic, and replaced it with "Whisker Menu". The operation took an hour or two, but ended up with an appearance similar to Zorin's desktop. If you are interested I can type out the steps I took in detail, but it is not complicated.
With XFCE installed, you go to the login page, click on the user space, find the little cogwheel at bottom right, and choose XFCE. At any time you can return to the Core Gnome version.

1 Like
10

You'll probably be shocked when you install xfce4

sudo apt install xfce4

and log in for the first time, because it has almost nothing in common with the look of Zorin core.
Zorin lite doesn't look like xfce4 because it uses an adapted Zorin desktop.

If you like, you can take a first look at Zorin lite 17 on distrosea.com or create a bootstick with Zorin lite and boot in "Try Zorin" mode. I personally find Zorin core more appealing, so you would have to test whether you even like it. On my old Dell Latitude notebook XFCE runs much better than gnome and is very stable, because of this I switched to Zorin lite/XFCE after my first days on Zorin core (but then I decided to stay at Linux Mint XFCE).

My notebook with i3 and 8 GiB RAM, which runs Windows 10 without any problems, was overloaded with Zorin core and the fans ran constantly at full speed when watching videos. Probably it was the nvidia card which made the problems - but so for me the advertising promise was not fulfilled. Many (not only old) computers are not as well supported in Linux as in Windows because of missing or worse drivers.

1 Like
11

Thanks both, it does seem like trying out Zorin Lite or Zorin Core + XFCE4 might be a good thing to test.
I tried to test Zorin 17 Lite on distrosea but it just gave me a spinning wheel for a long while so I gave up, I might try later.
I do really like the Zorin Look and I got my family to try it, they all liked it so if XFCE is different that might defeat the purpose

Do we have any idea of when Zorin 18 Lite might come out? Do you think I should wait for it or just install Zorin 17 Lite?

Thanks!

12

You could do both. You could install Zorin 17 Lite and see if it fits to You and You like the whole User Experience. See it like a Long-term Test.

13

Distrosea starts a virtual machine. It takes a while until Zorin in the virtual machine has booted.

You can install Zorin 17 lite now if you like it and upgrade your system later with the upgrader tool to Zorin 18 lite. Or you keep it until 2027. On older computers often the older versions work better because they are more lightweight than newer ones.

You could also test Zorin 17 core and
install Zorin lite desktop on it.

sudo apt install zorin-os-lite-desktop

So you can directly compare both versions on your system and switch between both until you know what runs better and is more what you like.

14

That sounds interesting! Is there more information to be found about the different Zorin Desktops?
I assume when I uninstall that my system would be back on the same desktop then before installation, is that right?

15

Yes, you can remove the Zorin-lite-desktop with

sudo apt remove zorin-os-lite-desktop

or keep it. You only see the lite desktop when you select the Zorin lite session at loginscreen.

16

Having read all the suggestions that have been made, I think it would be better to install Zorin 17 Lite. Zorin 17 Core will never be a top performer with only 4GB RAM. Eventually there will be an upgrade to 18, but I wouldn't hurry until all the teething problems get sorted out.

17

A Suggestion to @Forpli's Comment if You do that: Switch first to the Core Desktop and then uninstall the Lite Desktop.

1 Like
18

Thank you. And how do I switch? :innocent:
Also does Wayland vs.Xorg matter specifically on the "Lite Desktop"?

19

At loginscreen you can switch. Logout, click on your username then a cog wheal appears at the bottom right corner. There select Zorin Lite desktop/session. The lite desktop always runs in XOrg not Wayland.

1 Like
20

No, xfce only has Xorg.

That depends what Login Screen You use. When You use gmd (the one from Zorin core) it is like @Forpli described. When You use LightDM (the one from Zorin Lite) You should see in the top right Corner Symbols. If I remember correctly the first from left, You have to click on to switch.

1 Like