Any takers?

Hello, so I have a new Dell laptop with Intel Pentium N3700, 4 GB RAM and 500 GB HDD with Ubuntu 16. I want to use it to store cryptocurrencies. So I downloaded Bitcoin Core 0.13 and it started synchronizing. When it got to the point that ~1 year 40 weeks were left to synchronize, computer just froze, keyboard didn't respond, mouse/ touchpad didn't respond too. I had to shut down computer with power button. I ran Bitcoin Core for several more times and every time it froze after 5 - 20 min. I tried Bitcoin Core 0.12 and result was the same.
However I managed to set up Dash Core (I am not trying to promote Dash here) and wallet for another coin and it downloaded both blockchains without problem.
Should I try older version of Bitcoin Core? But would that be safe? I guess I can use Electrum or other wallet but I wanted to use the "real" thing.