PINE64

I prefer to operate my rock64 via putty in order to use absolute minimal CPU and RAM, as I am going to run intensive dB I/O (R/W) on an external SSD via the USB3 port.
So I downloaded this and installed it:
https://github.com/ayufan-rock64/linux-b...m64.img.xz

Due to not knowing the rock64 setup in detail, I did not manage to setup a static IP addr. so I erased and installed this:
https://github.com/ayufan-rock64/linux-b...m64.img.xz
..in order to do the static IP setup via Edit connections on the IP4 tab - and then it worked.

I did try to install - on the stretch-minimal - mate-core mate-desktop-environment and xrdp and edited the startwm.sh with mate-session, then rebooted and tried windows RDC to connect - but that didn't succeed.
I then tried to connect a keyboard, mouse and monitor to the board but was not able to get a desktop with startx.

Am I wrong in thinking that the stretch-minimal version is "better" - and has a smaller CPU/RAM footprint than xenial-mate (full GUI) - even if I install a core version desktop to the stretch version?
Does this question make sense? 

If true - how do I make stretch work with static IP and accessing it via windows RDC?

Not sure if it's 'better' in whatever way to the xenial image but I love my debian setup now, it's 'Rock'-solid .

Static IP can be configured in /etc/network/interfaces, remove what's there and replace it w smth like:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.0.2.7
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.0.2.254