Mint on 4k usage

[MintyO]

Had a hard time figuring which would be the ideal subforum for this question(s), so here we go:

I recently got some new hardware* and probably sooner or later I'm going to enhance it with linux one way or another. Not really sure how though.. Should I cram Mint onto the rest of the ssd or just use a slice of the hdd.

The ssd isn't that big; uefi when I've multibooted with legacy before; I like Xfce the best, but should I go with Cinnamon because of better functionality/scaling options with 4k screen or is there difference (I didn't find any simple settings with a quick peek in xfce live session); how's the screen tearing and Nvidia drivers gonna be, and such?? I still have my Mints on another machine so I'm not in a hurry, but after using Win10 for some time now I'm getting serious Mint withdrawal symptoms.

Any thoughts and experience on those, and anything that comes to mind, are greatly appreciated.

*

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mint@mint ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: mint Kernel: 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.28) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: ASUSTeK product: M32CD4-K v: 0604
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M32CD4-K v: Rev 1.xx
           Bios: American Megatrends v: 0604 date: 04/11/2017
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i5-7400 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 24000
           clock speeds: max: 3500 MHz 1: 2170 MHz 2: 1565 MHz 3: 838 MHz
           4: 2112 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA Device 1c02 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) FAILED: nouveau
           Resolution: 3840x2160@30.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 4.0, 256 bits)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.0.7 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA Device 10f1 driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Card-2 Intel Sunrise Point-H HD Audio
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros Device 0042
           driver: ath10k_pci bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SD8SBAT1 size: 128.0GB temp: 39C
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: ST1000DM003 size: 1000.2GB temp: 29C
           ID-3: USB /dev/sdc model: 16GB size: 16.0GB temp: 0C
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 187 Uptime: 11 min Memory: 627.6/7931.5MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

[austin.texas]

I have the same size drives as you do, with a 128GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive.
Mint is installed on the SSD on a 30GB partition (20GB is usually sufficient). The personal data (photos, music, etc.) is on a big data partition on the big hard drive.
Can you free up 20 to 30GB on the 128GB drive?
What is the result of

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sudo parted /dev/sda "print free"

[MintyO]

At the moment Windows is using about half of the drive, so even more shouldn't be a problem. I usually like to install linux distros as a "one slot has all" and then just manually move or download anything special to elsewhere. My main Mint on a different machine at the moment is on a 60G slot, and as my daily docs, videos and such are few a 30G one would be enough I have noticed.

Guess I'm thinking if there comes a day I need more space for Win10. Games, VR and what have they. I'm more of a movie guy so at the moment that really isn't an issue. Just wondering what essential perks besides faster boot time would there be? My hdd (linux) installations on an almost 10 year old laptop don't feel slow to use to me.

BTW, any result requests will have to wait some time as I don't know when I'll be booting the machine with bash command capabilities next time. I was actually thinking maybe running bash in windows at some point, but as I'm terrible with commands and don't have any need for cross-platform usage, haven't really considered it seriously.

[austin.texas]

I was actually thinking maybe running bash in windows at some point

You are going to need a live Mint USB drive or DVD for installation. That would give you the bash command capabilities, as well.

[MintyO]

I was actually thinking maybe running bash in windows at some point

You are going to need a live Mint USB drive or DVD for installation. That would give you the bash command capabilities, as well.

Yes. But I don't know when I'll boot one the next time with that machine - might be a while as it's running other stuff too. I've been messing around with linux about 10 years now so I'm not totally wet behind the ears anymore.

And Windows 10 actually runs bash natively if enabled and installed from microsoft app-store.