Moss Bliss
Each distro uses RAM differently. How much memory your computer has, and how much your distro uses, are key components in selecting a distro, one which is often overlooked.
I have (and have had) several machines. I have run gobs of distros on each one. There are several programs in Linux which can measure RAM usage, some of which are available for all Linux distros. For the purposes of this article, I have used neofetch.
I have gone into each, with the machine booted at rest and with nothing running except what the distro loads at boot (which may include things you have added, such as Slimbook Battery), opened a Terminal program, and run the neofetch command.
The following file lists my results, with the key below, divided by RAM usage and alpha by distro name. (The terms in parentheses indicate which computer the test was run on, with a key below the table.)
| By Size Bodhi 5.1 (Mini) 269 MiB Bodhi 5.1 (Z400) 269 MiB Bodhi 6 RC (Dell) 281 MiB Bodhi 5.1 (Kudu) 292 MiB Bodhi 6 RC (Kudu) 329 MiB ExLight 2021.1 (Kudu) 340 MiB Endeavour OS (Z400) 360 MiB Bodhi 6 Beta (Z400) 366 MiB Peppermint 10 (Mini) 368 MiB Peppermint 10 (Kudu) 411 MiB Lubuntu 21.04 (Kudu) 461 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Z400) 469 MiB PCLinuxOS 2020.10 MATE (Kudu) 483 MiB Lubuntu 20.10 (Kudu) 486 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 21.04 (Z400) 490 MiB OpenMandriva Lx 4.1 (Mini) 513 MiB SolydX 2021 (Dell) 522 MiB Mageia 8 XFCE (Dell) 526 MiB OpenMandriva Lx 4.2 (Z400) 557 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Dell) 560 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 20.10 (Dell) 562 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 20.10 (Z400) 590 MiB OpenMandriva Lx 4.1 (Kudu) 601 MiB Linux Mint 20 MATE (Mini) 603 MiB Emmabuntus DE3 LXQt (Kudu) 606 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Kudu) 619 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 20.10 (Kudu) 626 MiB Mageia 8 Plasma (Kudu) 689 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Z800) 691 MiB MakuluLinux LinDoz 2021 (Z400) 698 MiB Manjaro 20.2 Cinnamon (Mini) 721 MiB Robolinux 12 MATE (Kudu) 754 MiB MakuluLinux LinDoz 2021 (Dell) 794 MiB Feren OS 2021.01 (Kudu) 811 MiB Pop!_OS 20.10 (Kudu) 822 MiB MakuluLinux LinDoz 2021 (Kudu) 826 MiB Ubuntu Unity 21.04 (Kudu) 815+ MiB Manjaro 20.2 Cinnamon (Kudu) 906 MiB Ubuntu Unity 20.04 (Mini) 941 MiB Ubuntu Web 20.04 (Kudu) 1137 MiB | By Name Bodhi 5.1 (Mini) 269 MiB Bodhi 5.1 (Z400) 269 MiB Bodhi 5.1 (Kudu) 292 MiB Bodhi 6 RC (Dell) 281 MiB Bodhi 6 RC (Kudu) 329 MiB Bodhi 6 Beta (Z400) 366 MiB Emmabuntus DE3 LXQt (Kudu) 606 MiB Endeavour OS 2021 (Z400) 360 MiB ExLight 2021.01 (Kudu) 340 MiB Feren OS 2021.01 (Kudu) 811 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Z400) 469 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Dell) 560 MiB Linux Mint 20 MATE (Mini) 603 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Kudu) 619 MiB Linux Mint 20.1 MATE (Z800) 691 MiB Lubuntu 20.10 (Kudu) 486 MiB Lubuntu 21.04 (Kudu) 461 MiB Mageia 8 XFCE (Dell) 526 MiB Mageia 8 Plasma (Kudu) 689 MiB MakuluLinux LinDoz 2021 (Kudu) 826 MiB MakuluLinux LinDoz 2021 (Z400) 698 MiB MakuluLinux LinDoz 2021 (Dell) 794 MiB Manjaro 20.2 Cinnamon (Mini) 721 MiB Manjaro 20.2 Cinnamon (Kudu) 906 MiB OpenMandriva Lx 4.1 (Mini) 513 MiB OpenMandriva Lx 4.2 (Z400) 557 MiB OpenMandriva Lx 4.1 (Kudu) 601 MiB PCLinuxOS 2020.10 MATE (Kudu) 483 MiB Peppermint 10 (Mini) 368 MiB Peppermint 10 (Kudu) 411 MiB Pop!_OS 20.10 (Kudu) 822 MiB Robolinux 12 MATE (Kudu) 754 MiB SolydX 2021 (Dell) 522 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 20.10 (Dell) 562 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 20.10 (Z400) 590 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 20.10 (Kudu) 626 MiB UbuntuDDE Remix 21.04 (Z400) 490 MiB Ubuntu Unity 20.04 (Mini) 941 MiB Ubuntu Unity 21.04 (Kudu) 815+ MiB Ubuntu Web 20.04 (Kudu) 1137 MiB |
My machines:
2014 System76 (Kudu) 3, i7-6700HQ, 16 Gb RAM, 1 Tb SSD
2014 Gigabyte (Mini) Box, 4th Gen i3, 16 Gb RAM, 512 Gb SSD (retired)
2010 HP (Z400) Workstation, Xeon W3565, 16 Gb, 512 Gb SSD
2010 HP (Z800) Workstation, dual Xeon X5570, 24 Gb RAM, 1 Tb HD
2016 (Dell) Inspiron 7353 2-in-1, i5-6200U, 8 Gb RAM, 128 Gb SSD
+ Every time I ran neofetch on Ubuntu Unity the number was higher than the last time. The lowest number is reported
Of course, how much RAM is used when you load your browser (and how many tabs) or other programs will also vary from distro to distro, but the ones which manage RAM better probably are the ones which boot with better RAM management.
This article will be updated with new information. First post 04/26/2021