Cyclop OS · Hardware
What Cyclop OS runs on, and what we have really tried
The requirements, the machines we have run it on, and what we have not checked yet. Nothing is listed as tested unless we tested it.
What it needs
The same figures as the system requirements page of the help centre.
- Minimum processor
- 1.1 GHz dual-core, Intel or AMD, 64-bit
- Minimum memory
- 4 GB (2 GB with Light mode, measured at about 1 GB at rest)
- Minimum storage
- 20 GB
- Minimum display
- 800 x 600
- Recommended
- 2 GHz quad-core, 8 GB or more, 40 GB on an SSD, 1280 x 720 or better
- Graphics
- A dedicated card is recommended for gaming and creative work
Machines we have run it on
Our own machines, described as precisely as our notes allow.
- HP Victus 15-fa1xxx laptop: Intel Core i7-12650H (12th generation), Intel UHD graphics (Alder Lake-P) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop
- Installed from the 4.0 image on 2 October 2026, Gaming edition, as a customer would: the NVIDIA driver, Steam and Windows applications set up from the Cyclop applications, no command typed by hand.
- Main workstation, NVIDIA 595 open driver
- Runs the Cyclop kernel with Secure Boot on and the kernel in lockdown integrity mode, since 4 November 2026.
- Virtual machines
- Used for the installer, for Secure Boot checks of the Cyclop kernel, and for the desktop. A virtual machine says nothing about your graphics card.
Graphics cards
- NVIDIA with Secure Boot: the Gaming edition installs the signed NVIDIA driver for you. Confirmed on the HP Victus laptop above.
- NVIDIA 595 open driver with the Cyclop kernel: confirmed on our main workstation.
- NVIDIA 580 and 470 drivers with the Cyclop kernel: not built yet. If your card needs one of those, keep the Ubuntu kernel, which stays in the boot menu.
- AMD and Intel graphics: they use the drivers that ship with the system. We have not measured hardware video decoding on a real Intel or AMD machine.
Controllers and peripherals
An Xbox Series controller over Bluetooth works with the Bluetooth stack we ship, checked on a MediaTek MT7921 adapter. Two things to know: the controller’s own firmware has to be recent (a controller on firmware 5.09 sent no input over Bluetooth until it was updated to 5.23, which needs a Windows computer and a cable), and a low battery silences vibration.
Still to be confirmed
Nothing here is promised.
- Apple computers with the T2 chip: the Cyclop kernel carries the community patches for it, but we have not tried one.
- ARM computers: not supported. The requirements say 64-bit Intel or AMD.
- Which processors fit the faster kernel build: the Cyclop kernel needs AVX2 (x86-64-v3) for its main flavour, and the generic one covers every other 64-bit PC.
Does your processor support x86-64-v3?
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 --help | grep x86-64-v3If the line says "supported", the x64v3 flavour fits.
A list of machines, written by the people who own them
There is no community list yet. Tell us what you run and what worked or did not, and we will add it once we can check it.
Tell us about your machine
Brand, model, what worked, what did not. A short post on the forum is enough.