At NoMachine we want our users to be able to connect to and use any desktop environment they want, we don’t like to discourage 😉
Gnome and KDE are the most commonly used Linux desktop environments amongst our users. Then there are “lighter” choices which we also support, browsing the knowledge base is testament to that, and are becoming increasingly popular. See these for example:
Desktops environments supported by NoMachine
https://www.nomachine.com/AR10K00725
Setting a lightweight desktop environment on Ubuntu 11.04 or later (there is also an article for Fedora)
https://www.nomachine.com/AR07K00676
We prefer to let our users choose their own DE based on their own tests and general preferences. We publish benchmarks in or knowledge base (not for all DE, but the most common ones). For example,
Guidelines for sizing a NoMachine infrastructure and benchmark tests for v. 6
https://www.nomachine.com/AR02P00966
Performance all comes down to what you are using on the physical machine. For example, 3D graphical effects (e.g. shadows, animations, fading menu etc..) perform better on hosts with a capable GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) but are made available also on those machines without a GPU. In this case software rendering is done on CPU instead on GPU. This process is CPU-intensive and does require sufficient CPU power for a good experience. A lightweight desktop like Xfce or Mate is less resource intensive and will help to reduce the CPU load. You can find some examples for installing and running an alternative desktop here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR04K00667