This page details the hardware required to run Ubuntu and its derivative versions.
Most people will want to install a desktop system such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu. A desktop system is typically used for personal computing tasks and has a graphical user interface (GUI), while a server system typically has a command-line interface (CLI).
Recommended Minimum System Requirements
The Recommended Minimum System Requirements here should allow even someone fairly new to installing Ubuntu or GNU/Linux to easily install a usable system with enough room to be comfortable. Simply try Ubuntu CD as a LiveCD first to check the hardware works.
Ubuntu Desktop Edition
- 2 GHz dual-core processor
- 4096 MiB RAM (system memory) for physical installs.
- 2048 MiB RAM for virtualised installs.
- 25 GB (8.6 GB for minimal) of hard-drive space (or USB stick, memory card or external drive but see LiveCD for an alternative approach)
- 3D acceleration-capable GPU with at least 256 MB of VRAM
- 1024x768 or higher resolution display
- USB flash drive or DVD drive or for the installer media
Internet access is helpful
Screen resolution will be set at the highest your graphics card can handle but when you boot-up you should be given a "Low graphics mode" option which allows you to set it to something better for your monitor.
On one hand, hardware produced in the last few years or with an efficient architecture or machines built for a specific purpose can often work well with less. For example, a netbook with an 8 GB SSD will work well although there won't be much room for saving stuff directly onto the drive so cloud storage services could help a lot. A machine with a crumbling, 15-year-old, slow, 8 GB, IDE hard-drive probably won't work and doesn't really compare with the netbook anyway. It might be worth trying Ubuntu but really start looking at other distros. On the other hand, some GNU/Linux distributions may require more powerful hardware as minimum system requirements, like the Ubuntu GNOME case.
All 64-bit (x86-64) CPUs should be fast enough to run Ubuntu. 32-bit ISO images are no longer being produced (as of 17.10).
Machines that are 10 or more years old (originally preloaded with Windows 7 or Windows 8) and don't meet these guidelines will probably require some work to revive (the RAM usually needs to be upgraded to the level described above). You could try a lighter-weight distro or a minimal install of Ubuntu.
The easiest and most effective step towards a minimal install of Ubuntu is to install a lighter-weight Desktop Environment such as Xfce (see Xubuntu below), LxDE (see Lubuntu (officially supported from 11.10 onward)) or Enlightenment to name just a few of the most popular. Some of the larger applications, such as LibreOffice, could be swapped for very much lighter equivalents but for more information about doing a minimal install please see the guides at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation#Minimal%20installations.
Visual Effects
Visual effects provide various optional special graphical effects for your desktop to make it look and feel more fun and easier to use. Even if your computer is powerful enough to run visual effects, you can turn them off and will still have a usable Ubuntu desktop system.
Visual effects are turned on by default if you have a supported GPU (graphics card or integrated chipset). Supported GPU manufacturers:
AMD/ATI (some may require the proprietary fglrx driver)
Intel (i915 or better, except GMA 500, aka "Poulsbo")
NVidia (with their proprietary driver)
For more information on supported graphics cards, see DesktopEffects.
Ubuntu Server (CLI) Installation
Please refer to the Ubuntu Server Guide.
Lightweight GUI alternative (Xubuntu and Lubuntu)
If you have an old or low-spec computer or want to get the most out of your hardware, using a medium-lightweight desktop system such as Xubuntu or a lightweight such as Lubuntu is recommended, as they make more efficient use of your system's resources. Of course, even if you have the newest equipment out, you could still use these two.
Please refer to https://xubuntu.org/requirements/ for Xubuntu recommended resources.