Any CPU under 100 will take forever to install Gentoo, plus if 100MB is an issue Gentoo will not work for you either. Also you don’t need 1TB, and 1TB HDDs are way cheaper if you’re that tight for space. I have systems with less than 100GB dedicated to the OS and they run great, so you can get a $30 SSD and not worry about disk space for your system ever again.




Honestly, 2% cut is nothing. If you like your new job better for whatever reason, less stressful, more fulfilling, whatever, 2% is less than nothing, your personal life matters and should weight in.
I don’t know about your career paths, but I could see it being a problem if there was opportunity to grow in the old job but not on the new one. But everything else being the same, an insignificant pay cut to do something you like significantly more is a win in my book.