KDE Plasma (love the looks of it, though is my hardware enough?)
With 8 GB RAM and SSD, it should be plenty. Otherwise, I’d go with something else. XFCE is quite a solid experience, as I recall. No strong recommendations there, though. I’ve mostly used Cinnamon and KDE over the years.
Linux Mint is a classic choice. Positive: It has been recommended to newbies so much over so many years that there are tons of entry-level how-tos. Downside: Many of them are old and might be outdated by now. Be sure to always check whether the guide you are following is from 2010 or something…
Same really for all the Ubuntu distros. Kubuntu (=KDE+Ubuntu) worked fine for me.
I’ve read many people being very satisfied with Pop!_OS as well. Apparently, it’s a good distribution if you want everything to already be set up for gaming for you. Haven’t used it myself, though.
EndeavourOS is the one I’m personally planning to use whenever I next install an OS. The distro and the surrounding community have a great reputation for being user-friendly and reliable.