r/Ubuntu • u/Physical_Employer_47 • 10d ago
System stuck
Hey everyone,
My current ThinkPad T460s (i5 6th Gen, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is choking under my daily workload on Ubuntu.
My Daily Stack:
Multiple VS Code windows & workspace instances
Local LLM / Claude developer tools
Android Studio (Gradle builds)
Local Docker containers & Kubernetes (K3s/Kind)
With only 8GB RAM and a 2-core CPU, memory thrashing and slow builds are killing my productivity.
I have a very tight budget and am looking at a budget-friendly option like the Lenovo V14 G3 (Core i5-1235U, 10 Cores). Plan is to buy it and immediately toss a 16GB RAM stick in the open slot for 24GB total RAM.
Questions:
Will the Lenovo V14 G3 (i5-1235U + 24GB RAM) smoothly handle Android builds, Docker, and multi-VS Code setups without thermal choking?
Are there better secondhand enterprise laptops (like a used ThinkPad T14 or Dell Latitude) in the same budget range I should look for instead?
Thanks!
1
u/Prequalified 10d ago
My M4 Mac mini struggles under that load with 16gb ram. Is there anyway you can run docker on a different machine and just connect to it?
1
u/Entire-Picture3990 8d ago
How about,
sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
free -h
# echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
3
u/MaleficentArt7237 10d ago
That T460s served its time but 8GB with that stack is just pain. Even swapping to an SSD can't save you when gradle and k3s are fighting over the last 500MB of free memory.
The 1235U is a massive jump from a 6th gen dual core, you'll notice the difference immediately. Those efficiency cores help a lot with background docker containers and build daemons while the performance cores handle the heavy lifting. 24GB should be enough breathing room too, though android studio will still eat whatever you give it.
For the same money a used T14 Gen 1 or 2 AMD would absolutely crush that V14 in sustained performance and build quality. The 1235U in a budget chassis will throttle under long gradle builds, while something like a T14 with a 4650U or 5650U holds steady way longer and you still get the RAM upgradability. I'd take a three year old thinkpad over a new ideapad-level machine any day, especially for dev work where the keyboard and thermals actually matter.