I still use an AMD Turion X2. Yep, that old chip. Mine lives in an HP Pavilion dv6700 and an Acer Aspire 5520 I keep on a shelf. They both have 3–4 GB of RAM, a spinning hard drive (well, one got an SSD later), and cranky Broadcom Wi-Fi. I tried a bunch of Linux setups on them, week after week, coffee after coffee. Some were smooth. Some were… not. TechRadar's "Best lightweight Linux distro of 2025" mirrors many of those trials and is a handy primer if you want a quick shortlist of feather-weight options before burning your first ISO.
If you want the deep-dive tale of squeezing every drop from this processor, check out my fuller write-up on the best Linux for an AMD Turion X2.
You know what? A few stood out.
For deeper benchmark numbers and side-by-side screenshots of many of these distros on vintage hardware, I highly recommend the coverage at Desktop Linux Reviews.
What I wanted (and why it mattered)
I wanted three things:
- It had to feel light. No lag when I click.
- It had to play nice with old parts, like Radeon Xpress graphics and that picky Broadcom card.
- It had to last. Updates that don’t break stuff.
I don’t need fancy 3D effects. I just want a fast boot, a stable desktop, and a browser that won’t make the fan scream.
My top pick: MX Linux 23 (Xfce)
This one surprised me. On my HP dv6700 (Turion X2 TL-60, 3 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, Radeon Xpress 1250), MX Linux 23 felt calm and quick.
- Cold boot on the old hard drive: about 40 seconds.
- Idle RAM: around 550 MB.
- Wi-Fi: MX Tools helped install the Broadcom driver in a few clicks. No terminal dance.
- Temps: fan stayed steady while I streamed a 720p YouTube clip. 1080p was choppy, but 720p was fine.
- Sleep and wake: worked on the first try, which felt like a small miracle on this machine.
The best bit is MX Tools. It’s like a toolbox for old laptops. You get easy driver help, a smart snapshot feature, and toggles that actually do something. I even turned on zram to help with memory. Felt snappy after that.
Best for folks who want “set it and forget it”: Linux Mint 22 Xfce
On the Acer Aspire 5520 (Turion X2 RM-70, 4 GB RAM), Mint 22 Xfce was smooth from install.
If you tinker with older Acer rigs, my log of Linux on Acer—real wins, misses and tiny fixes may save you some head-scratching.
- Boot on HDD: about 50–55 seconds. On a cheap SSD I added later: 25 seconds.
- Idle RAM: about 650–700 MB.
- Video: 720p ran fine in Firefox with uBlock Origin on. 1080p was hit or miss.
- Battery: my tired battery gave me about an hour. With Mint and screen dimmed, I got 1 hour 20 min. Not magic, but better.
Mint feels like a safe daily driver. Updates are steady. Nothing weird. If someone asked me for one pick that “just works,” I’d point here. A broader Fedora vs Ubuntu vs Linux Mint comparison shows why Mint so often wins the newcomer-friendly crown.
Light and tidy: Lubuntu 24.04 LTS (LXQt)
Lubuntu felt fast on both laptops. The look is simple, and that’s the charm.
- Boot time: about 35–40 seconds on HDD.
- Idle RAM: roughly 450 MB.
- One hiccup: the HP didn’t wake from sleep once. A later update fixed it.
- Fonts and panels look crisp, even on the old 1280×800 screen.
It’s a good pick if you like the Ubuntu base but want less bloat. I used FeatherPad for quick notes and VLC for video. No drama.
For very low RAM: antiX 23 (IceWM)
antiX is tiny. Like, “wow” tiny. It flew on the HP when I pulled one RAM stick and ran at 2 GB to test.
- Boot time: about 22 seconds.
- Idle RAM: around 220–250 MB.
- Good for: old, hot, cranky laptops that need a strict diet.
It’s not flashy. The menus look old school. But it’s fast and stable. I did need one extra step for printing, and I had to add a few apps myself. Still worth it if your machine wheezes on bigger desktops.
Fun and fast from a USB: Puppy Linux (Fossapup64)
Puppy lives in RAM. So it feels quick in a “this can’t be the same laptop” way.
- Boots fast. Apps pop open right away.
- Great for rescue jobs, school notes, or email.
- Saves changes to a little file. Cute idea, but different from a normal setup.
I loved Puppy for travel and quick tasks. But as a full daily system, it took more tinkering. Updates and packages can feel dated in spots. Still, it’s a joy on old hardware. If you're curious how far you can push playtime on vintage gear, my notes on the best gaming Linux distro I actually use and on the best Linux for gaming—my hands-on pick with real wins and woes walk through FPS numbers and hiccups on similarly under-powered machines.
A pretty lightweight option: Bodhi Linux 7 (Moksha)
Bodhi is light like Lubuntu, but a bit artsy. The Moksha desktop is smooth and simple.
- Idle RAM: about 400–450 MB.
- I had to add a few basics, like a file manager extension or two.
- Once set up, it ran clean and cool.
If you like a lean system that doesn’t look plain, this is nice.
Real-world notes that helped me
A few small moves changed everything. Silly, but true.
- Swap to an SSD if you can. Even a cheap 120 GB SSD made my HP feel new.
- Add zram on MX or Mint. It keeps things snappy when RAM gets full.
- Use light apps: Mousepad, VLC, FeatherPad, simple music players.
- Browser tips: Use Firefox with uBlock Origin. Turn off animations in sites when you can.
- Clean the fan vents. These old Turions run warm. A blast of air stopped random slowdowns.
- Pick 64-bit builds. Turion X2 handles 64-bit fine, and support is better now.
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For an even longer list, the cheat-sheet of real-world Linux tips and tricks I actually use collects many of the tweaks above—and a few I skipped here.
So… which Linux is best for an AMD Turion X2?
Here’s my plain answer:
- I keep MX Linux 23 Xfce on the HP. It gives me control without being scary.
- I keep Linux Mint 22 Xfce on the Acer. It’s steady and friendly.
- If you’ve got 2 GB RAM or less, go antiX 23.
- If you want Ubuntu flavor but light, Lubuntu 24.04 LTS is solid.
Could you pick something else? Sure. But these four worked every single week for me, on real old laptops, with real Broadcom Wi-Fi, real Radeon quirks, and real slow hard drives. After months of use, they stayed stable. No trick here.
Final take
Old gear still has a place. The Turion X2 won’t win races. But with the right Linux, it can check email, stream 720p, write papers, and run light apps without tantrums. If you want “just pick one,” go with Linux Mint 22 Xfce. If you like tools and tweaks, go with MX Linux 23 Xfce. And if you’re hunting for yet more confirmation before committing, [Tom's Hardware's "Best Linux distros for reviving an old PC"](https://www.tomshardware.com/best-linux-distros-for-reviving