What are the system requirements for each flavor of Ubuntu Desktop
Tags: ubuntu, systemrequirements
Published: 2021-11-25 10:04:48

---
title: What are the system requirements for each flavor of Ubuntu Desktop
published: true
date: 2021-11-22 11:49:42 UTC
tags: Ubuntu,systemrequirements
canonical_url: https://stackallflow.com/ubuntu/what-are-the-system-requirements-for-each-flavor-of-ubuntu-desktop/
---

<header>
<p><span style="font-size: 1.2em; color: initial;">system requirements</span></p>
</header>

I’m thinking about installing Ubuntu Desktop, but I don’t know what flavor is the best for my system. What are the minimum and recommended hardware requirements? What kind of CPU? How much memory? Should I have Hardware Acceleration? What flavor should I use?

> This is an attempt of a canonical answer. My answers have the **“official requirements”** , the _recommended_ are a mix of **official sources** and **opinion based** (along with the answer it’s told the source). You can comment or edit if you feel that the information is obsolete or incomplete.
> 
> It is a good _rule of thumb_ that any system capable of running Windows  
> Vista, 7, 8, x86 (Intel) OS X will almost always be a lot faster with any  
> Ubuntu flavor even if they are lower-spec than described below.

#### Best Answer

# Ubuntu Desktop

The main flavour of Ubuntu using Unity (16.04) or GNOME Shell (17.10 and newer).

## Minimum

- Xenial Xerus (16.04)
  - 700 MHz processor (Intel Celeron or better)
  - 384 MB of system memory (RAM) for 32-bit
  - 512 MB of system memory (RAM) for 64-bit
  - 8 GB of free disk space
  - VGA capable of 1024×768 screen resolution
  - Either a DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media
- Bionic Beaver (18.04)
  - at least 1 GHz 64-bit processor, given that [32-bit desktop live was discontinued](https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2017-September/004212.html)
  - at least 1 GB of system memory
  - at least 9 GB of free disk space
  - other requirements may follow the “Recommended” section

The minimum requirements were last mentioned in [12.04 release note](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PrecisePangolin/ReleaseNotes/UbuntuDesktop#System_Requirements), and has since not found in release note of newer releases. The minimum requirements for newer releases are unofficial and subject to testing on real hardware or in a virtual machine (VM). Ubuntu has varying requirements on VM.

**Bionic Beaver (18.04) on VM**: Requires VT-x/AMD-V hardware acceleration. Requires at least 1156 MB RAM and 128 MB video memory, but disable 3D acceleration for at least usable desktop to open menu and change settings. This is the practical minimum for a test drive, but not for daily use.

## Recommended

- [Xenial Xerus (16.04 64-bit)](http://web.archive.org/web/20160422072421/http://www.ubuntu.com:80/download/desktop)
  - 2 GB system memory
  - other requirements are similar to the following
- [Bionic Beaver (18.04 64-bit)](http://web.archive.org/web/20180427134935/https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop)
  - 2 GHz dual core processor or better
  - 4 GB system memory ([since 18.04.2](http://web.archive.org/web/20190607160044/https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop))
  - 25 GB of free hard drive space
  - Either a DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media
  - Internet access is helpful

For latest recommended requirements, visit [download page of Ubuntu Desktop](https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop).

The post [What are the system requirements for each flavor of Ubuntu Desktop](https://stackallflow.com/ubuntu/what-are-the-system-requirements-for-each-flavor-of-ubuntu-desktop/) appeared first on [Stack All Flow](https://stackallflow.com).