Desktop hardware should not pose any problems. There are some teething issues with the latest Intel CPUs but I think they mostly affect laptops. (Misinterpretation of IRQ/GPIO pin assignment knocked out the trackpad on some models. Issues were solved in kernel 4.19 which is not in e.g. Debian Stable.)
Also with laptops: if you're looking at one with Intel + NVidia GPUs, check out "Optimus". It is a mess that still has no proper resolution. OTOH, NVidia does provide drivers for pretty much everything they ever made. AMD, not so much.
If you're going to play with Docker without running real workloads, I'd say a 4 core CPUs and a board that can handle 8GB or more of RAM. (That was the case >10 years ago when I put my last one together, so that's more a case of avoiding "too cheap" boards.)
Also with laptops: if you're looking at one with Intel + NVidia GPUs, check out "Optimus". It is a mess that still has no proper resolution. OTOH, NVidia does provide drivers for pretty much everything they ever made. AMD, not so much.
If you're going to play with Docker without running real workloads, I'd say a 4 core CPUs and a board that can handle 8GB or more of RAM. (That was the case >10 years ago when I put my last one together, so that's more a case of avoiding "too cheap" boards.)