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What is the oldest CPU (AMD or Intel) that will enable Windows 11 unofficially?

My Gateway MA3 with 1.6GHz Turion & 2GB RAM works great for online browsing. Of course, I ditched the 32 bit XP OEM install and installed Zorin 17 Lite Linux. I tried Win 7, but Gateway never supplied drivers for several devices and I was too lazy to search the dusty corners of the web for them since the Win7 DVD also came up short for the correct drivers. Low end laptops attempting Win 10/11 installs are doomed,IMHO. But Zorin install found everything and install was painless. Nothing wrong with the results including Youtube videos.
 
The current version of Windows 11 (23H2) effectively runs on the same hardware as Windows 10 x64. Starting with 24H2, Microsoft is requiring the CPU support the POPCNT instruction along with SSE 4.2. This was first supported in late 2008 on the first generation Core i7 (Nehalem, LGA1156 and LGA1366 CPUs) and later on the AMD Bulldozer CPUs. This effectively moves the oldest machine date up 3-4 years.

FWIW, my employer is for some reason forcing Windows 11 onto our unsupported hardware at work. It runs dog slow since some of these machines still have spinning disks in them. With a SSD and 16GB of RAM, it should run somewhat decently on the 4th gen Core i5 I have at work otherwise.
 
VERAULT said:
"Too old" is completely speculative and subjective. The majority of computers in my home were made in 2009 and suit all of our needs including streaming.. Im sure most of you drink the koolaide and think these sre outdated... They clearly arent... So therefore I disagree with this practice of forced obsolescence.
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I said I understood the desire, not that I agreed with it. I still use a 3rd gen i7 Dell Precision M6700, and every once in a great while a first gen i7 M6500. But in certain vendors' eyes these are too old.
 
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I think Windows 10 and later need an SSD for the OS drive, you can live with a spinning disk for apps, games, and general storage if needed.

Online browsing can suck up a ton of RAM depending on the tabs that are open. I upgraded my main machine to 32GB because of all the tabs I keep open in Edge (Windows 7 I5-4570).

I have a LGA 1150 system with a i7-4770 equivalent XEON and a NVME SATA drive that boots in a couple seconds on Windows 10 (ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 killer).
 
VERAULT said:
"Too old" is completely speculative and subjective. The majority of computers in my home were made in 2009 and suit all of our needs including streaming.. Im sure most of you drink the koolaide and think these sre outdated... They clearly arent... So therefore I disagree with this practice of forced obsolescence.
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Yes. And I would love to be able access 'HTTPS' with XP.
 
Unknown_K said:
I think Windows 10 and later need an SSD for the OS drive, you can live with a spinning disk for apps, games, and general storage if needed.
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It does not.

My gaming rig actually runs beautifully off of a spinning disk for the OS - but it does so because I locked down windows update enough versions ago that it lacks the 100% disk usage bug. I'm not even sure its a windows update, because my HTPC that runs Ameliorated Edition still somehow "caught it" after sitting idle for the better part of a year. Its kind of nuts that so many people are hitting it but no one can seem to find a fix.

Anyway, assuming you can escape the bug you can easily run 10 on a spinning disk.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
It does not.

My gaming rig actually runs beautifully off of a spinning disk for the OS - but it does so because I locked down windows update enough versions ago that it lacks the 100% disk usage bug. I'm not even sure its a windows update, because my HTPC that runs Ameliorated Edition still somehow "caught it" after sitting idle for the better part of a year. Its kind of nuts that so many people are hitting it but no one can seem to find a fix.

Anyway, assuming you can escape the bug you can easily run 10 on a spinning disk.
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I have more respect for the tine and money that I put into hardware on my top gamer than to trust the OS to a spinner, although I do use a 6TB one to backup my gaming library.
 
Yeah I'd still rather have 5 "meh" computers than 1 "top gamer". Of course my "meh" computers are still "meh" five years later, while five years from now your "top gamer" will be "meh" :p
 
VERAULT said:
My Pc gaming days are over so meh pcs is all i will ever need.
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Building a modern "top gamer" system is a very poor value proposition.

Meanwhile, building top systems from the past is even more fun, costs a fraction, and provides the same level of entertainment. Its just win/win.

I think I'll build a top "windows 7" system next.
 
Doesnt appeal to me either. If i want to play my older games or ones on steam a POS i3 would do it at this point.

And in truth id have more fun on a 486 playing some warcraft II.
 
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hunterjwizzard said:
If I used an SSD then the bug would destroy my SSD very fast. Yes, a world of difference that.
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The bug only seems to manifest with a HDD but not with an SDD. I have been running a couple of laptops for years with W10 and SDDs and never a problem or an SDD failure. Maybe I was lucky and did not get the 100% bug? Who knows.
 
Brian Todd said:
The bug only seems to manifest with a HDD but not with an SDD. I have been running a couple of laptops for years with W10 and SDDs and never a problem or an SDD failure. Maybe I was lucky and did not get the 100% bug? Who knows.
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Yeah you were super lucky. It can absolutely hit SSD and even NVMes. And it murders them. Like fast. Its nuts.

I don't know for sure what causes it. For me it seems to be tied to leaving systems on the shelf. The three machines I use every day and keep powered on 24/7 have mostly escaped it(gaming PC got hit once or twice but resolved inexplicably). But all my special purpose boxes that chill for months between uses? Yeah those are a minefield.

I think its somehow related to telemetry and Microsoft's built in spyware.
 
Gaming PC is just a PC with a strong graphics card. It's not uncommon to have 40% of that kind of a configuration in GPU cost.

Also you don't need discrete graphics to game. There's still a lot of 2D out there. New pixel graphics games are more frequent than 15 years ago, there was a bit of a boom with new 90s style FPS shooters couple of years ago.

All of my time exploring new releases was in this 'indie' category, most of it metroidvanias, e.g. open world action platformers.
From that perspective I highly valour input lag as opposed to GPU power, and input lag on modern PC is horrible (not to mention monitor lag on the other side).
Sometimes I feel a gamepad sending out USB MIDI and game reinterpreting MIDI as gamepad commands would have 10x less latency.
 
Zare said:
Gaming PC is just a PC with a strong graphics card.
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Part of why they are so uninteresting today.

I liked it back when "a gaming PC" involved a delicate symphony of components and a lot of additional performance could be eeked out through minor tweeks. Nowadays its just... slam the biggest graphics card you can afford in and call it a gaming PC. So dull.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
Part of why they are so uninteresting today.

I liked it back when "a gaming PC" involved a delicate symphony of components and a lot of additional performance could be eeked out through minor tweeks. Nowadays its just... slam the biggest graphics card you can afford in and call it a gaming PC. So dull.
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Obviously you don't have one or a clue to what's it all about. You sound a bit envious, condescending, and condemning toward those of us who embrace this hugely popular 'high end' electronics sport. I've built just about every version of x86 PC's there is less Apple, and they no longer have a great interest for me. I've been there and done that and every once in a while I'll fire an old putty colored one up just for old times sake. My new build XP rig and Ryzen W7 unit have piqued my interests lately. I'd like to take some credit for being a pioneer on that one in as much as making the Ryzen CPU and a 'high end' video card play nice in a Microsoft Windows 7 damning "you can't can't do that" environment. So, if you think it's all about a big graphics cards you've got it all wrong. A high end system today is mostly about "trials" and "tweaks" for optimum performance, and you'll be forever tied to it. I still have plenty of love and respect for the old stuff or I wouldn't be here. Also, the Tandy 1000SX is special to me.
 
Agent Orange said:
My new build XP rig and Ryzen W7 unit have piqued my interests lately. I'd like to take some credit for being a pioneer on that one in as much as making the Ryzen CPU and a 'high end' video card play nice in a Microsoft Windows 7 damning "you can't can't do that" environment. So, if you think it's all about a big graphics cards you've got it all wrong. A high end system today is mostly about "trials" and "tweaks" for optimum performance, and you'll be forever tied to it. I still have plenty of love and respect for the old stuff or I wouldn't be here. Also, the Tandy 1000SX is special to me.
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I mean I get your point, but nowadays I feel it's more like "lets optimize to have 100 FPS at great quality settings and high res" and less "lets optimize to even have barely acceptable framerate and have the game playable on cheaper box".

And yes it's all about big graphics cards. You can't get without it. Whether you can squeeze out $500 average performance out of $300 card is totally another matter. Trials and tweaks ensure optimal I/O on the system.
 
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