What ARE the hardware requirements? [duplicate]
The 3GB of memory will certainly be an issue for Gnome-based desktops since 2018. Let's look at the hardware requirements over the years:
| Release | Minimum Recommended |
|---|---|
| 8.04 (Hardy) | 32 or 64-bit CPU / 384 MB RAM for the Desktop |
| 9.04 (Jaunty) | 32 or 64-bit CPU / 256 MB RAM for the Desktop |
| 10.04 (Lucid) | 32 or 64-bit CPU / 256 MB RAM for the Desktop |
| 16.04 (Xenial) | 1GHz 32 or 64-bit CPU / 1.5 GB RAM / 10 GB Storage |
| 20.04 (Focal) | 2 GHz 64-bit CPU / 4 GB RAM / 25 GB Storage |
As you can see, the system requirements have evolved quite a bit along with the operating system itself. The AMD Phenom x4 905e does meet the requirements with its 2.5 GHz clock and 64-bit instruction set, but Gnome may be a bit too heavy for the system. As a result, you may want to try a lighter distribution such as Ubuntu MATE or Bodhi Linux. Both of these are pretty darn good alternatives.