Support for 6th gen Intel Core i7 machines

Copper Contributor

Win 11 dev's - 

I currently have a Dell Inspiron 15 7559. My machine is from the 2016-2017 era and I purchased it with Windows 10 preinstalled in 2018. I would love to hear that this machine would continue to be supported with windows 11. Below are my system specs, in the event this helps the team to consider older cpu types and the idea that it's more than capable of handing it. I have tested an early build of windows 11 and noticed it ran well. Eventually I reverted back since it was clear no updates were supported. My system ran better in most cases than windows 10. Back in the old days, I understand system processors needed to have certain instruction sets to execute various machine level instructions (SSE, SSE2, etc). I thought many of the instructions used today, in modern intel cpu architecture, were first implemented in the 6th series. Yet there's a hardcore cap set at 8th gen, and nothing older. An 8th gen that may have the same number of cores/threads and same other requirements such as secure boot and TPM 2.0.

 

Attached is a screenshot of a Win 11 (non Microsoft) assessment tool. As you can see, the only thing holding my system back is the cpu gen. Also attached is System Information generated from Win 10 on my system. I have removed sensitive information from this such as machine name/user name.

12 Replies
Hello,

According to Microsoft, only Intel processors above 8th generation are supported for Windows 11. There are few exceptions for 7th generation processors. But 6th generation or lower is not supported as of now. Read more in this post:

https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2021/08/27/update-on-windows-11-minimum-system-requirement...

You can drop a feedback to Microsoft for this, using Feedback hub app.

@dan486 

Hello
I have great news for you if your motherboard is compatible with windows11 - then I think you just need to replace the processor with a newer one and everything will work great .
Greetings.

In the screenshot I saw an outdated version of the system - it needs to be updated to :
19043.1202 will work better

@A1 

How often do you buy a car and then change the engine in it, shortly after buying it? If you think this question is absurd then you clearly know what I think of this. I shouldn't have to change my cpu to meet Microsoft's requirements. Also I can't swap an AMD processor into an Intel slot. This isn't a lego piece.

 

Second, good news is only good news if you have tested it. Clearly you do not know and have not tested anything with regards to this. Microsoft is just making stuff up, as it usually does.

 

Rhetorical question -

Someone comes in with a printer problem.... it's not printing in color when it has the cartridge installed. However, it prints in black.

 

Microsoft's solution - replace the printer

Everyone else's solution - check the color cartridge

 

I have literally seen something such as this on a MS forum before. We are heading down a dark path where every couple of years our hardware will be forced into obsolescence. Rather that allowing the consumer to decide. You might just find Linux popularity increase over time with windows popularity decreasing if you decide these hard limits. I'm willing to go all linux. Funny thing is, I could even get by with a windows vm inside the linux environment.

@dan486 

I understand your frustration, - my computers also do not meet the requirements for Windpws11, but as users we have to adapt , or change the system.
I think Microsoft has surprised millions of users with these requirements.

@dan486 

I believe the main issue here lies in the TPM (Trusted Platform Module). 

"Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) - TPM 2.0 is a microcontroller that stores keys, passwords, and digital certificates. A discrete TPM 2.0 also supports Intel® vPro™ Technology and Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (Intel® TXT)."

 

6th gen Intel chips (like yours and mine) do not have the TPM 2.0 hardware inside the cpu.  TPM 2.0 hardware started with the 7th generation chips.

 

So while this may seem like a software issue, it is in fact a hardware problem with the security microcontroller in both our processors.

generally cpu not readily swappable in laptop. That being said, your point about updating the CPU will allow this to work is valid.

this cannot be true information because my lenovo yoga 510 is i7 6500u and is fully supported with tpm apart from it being 6th genDevice name DESKTOP-
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6500U CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.60 GHz
Installed RAM 8.00 GB (7.86 GB usable)
Device ID 
Product ID 
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
 @vancelend69 

See below "Other ways to install Windows 11 (not recommended)":
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77...

Worked on my older gen CPU, with TPM 1.2.

 

SoNic_67_0-1640809452540.png

 

@SoNic_67 

Hi , I have a question , if it still works for you Windows11.

I stay with Windows10 - because it's great for work!

I am typing right now from Windows 11. Is as stable as Windows 10 - at least for me.

I might miss some of the newer features (bitlocker?) but I don't mind.

I have Win 11 now too.