I was one of those old purchasers. There was a huge uproar on the subreddit back in the day cause they said everyone who purchased the app before the subscription model would only get like 1 or 2 years of subscription access instead of lifetime. People got so pissed they changed it to lifetime.

I use a GPU but that's only because my CPU is a first gen ryzen with no graphics. I highly recommend any recent Intel CPU that supports quick sync. You'll have an easier time and pull way less power. i7 might even be a bit much honestly I'd look at i3's or even celerons. They're easily capable of what you want but you can always get something better just for future use.

So this worked and I was unable to use transmission without gluetun connecting properly. Is it normal for some clients to just be faster with the same torrents? Like about was at like 1-2mib and transmission with the same torrent is running at 4-5.

I use Kali a fair bit but even still It's not a daily driver.