# Windows 11 Hardware Requirements



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Dunno what Microsoft is thinking with the Windows 11 hardware requirements.

1) Coffee Lake and higher
2) TPM 2
3) Secure Boot

I'm wondering if they'll loosen these requirements up by the time they ship.

My dad has a pre Coffee Lake CPU and he's already threatening to go to Linux if his PC can't run Windows 11. Yeah right... he can barely use Windows... I'd love to see him try to use Linux lol.

Even if your PC meets 1-3, 2 & 3 are generally not turned on by default.

I'm tech savvy and I got #2 turned on easily... #3... I have an aftermarket GPU and when I first turned on Secure Boot, I got the 5 beeps of death until I pulled the GPU and reset the BIOS.

Was playing around with it again today, and I just needed to disable CSM and it passed the test without turning on Secure Boot. BUT... it wouldn't boot with a disabled CSM until I converted my hard drive from MBR to GPT.

Yeah, I can just picture trying to talk my dad through it:

1. determine if your PC supports UEFI, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot
2. go into your bios and enable TPM
3. convert your drive to GPT
4. disable CSM

He'd have no clue...

RE #3... stuff will barely come up if you try to google... not sure how they expect all these folks to do all that.


----------



## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

AS of Today CPU Requirements for Win 11 upgrade Full Story link: Windows 11 is free, but your CPU might not be officially supported - The Verge

*WINDOWS 11 SUPPORT FOR INTEL*

Intel 8th Gen (Coffee Lake)
Intel 9th Gen (Coffee Lake Refresh)
Intel 10th Gen (Comet Lake)
Intel 10th Gen (Ice Lake)
Intel 11th Gen (Rocket Lake)
Intel 11th Gen (Tiger Lake)
Intel Xeon Skylake-SP
Intel Xeon Cascade Lake-SP
Intel Xeon Cooper Lake-SP
Intel Xeon Ice Lake-SP
*WINDOWS 11 SUPPORT FOR AMD*

AMD Ryzen 2000
AMD Ryzen 3000
AMD Ryzen 4000
AMD Ryzen 5000
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2000
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000
AMD EPYC 2nd Gen
AMD EPYC 3rd Gen
NOTE: EOL for Windows 10 --2025 --so you have plenty of time to shop for a new PC

Want to Check and see if your current PC can run it : How to Check if Your Windows 10 PC Can Run Windows 11 (howtogeek.com)


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

All it means to me is Ill keep using Windows 10. First, with the chip shortage, its impossible to find a video card at a reasonable price to build a new system, so Microsoft can just forget it. I refuse to replace 2 laptops and 2 i7 desktops to meet their ridiculous requirements. They must be on drugs, or cut an under the table deal with computer manufacturers.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I ran the Windows 11 checker and....








I'm not exactly surprised. I'm running a 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor (formerly called Devil's Canyon) on a system that I built in September, 2014. I was actually planning on building a new box once the DDR5 memory becomes available... NEXT YEAR! The problem comes with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" folks like my mother who just want to browse the internet, watch videos, and do email. Her laptop is more than adequate, but won't run Windows 11. At least Windows 10 will continue to be supported until 2025. I can see why... there will probably be performance improvements for not having to be so backwards compatible with missing instruction sets.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> All it means to me is Ill keep using Windows 10. First, with the chip shortage, its impossible to find a video card at a reasonable price to build a new system, so Microsoft can just forget it. I refuse to replace 2 laptops and 2 i7 desktops to meet their ridiculous requirements. They must be on drugs, or cut an under the table deal with computer manufacturers.


Secure Boot isn't necessary to pass the checker, even though they say it is. I just had to turn on TPM which isn't a big deal and switch to UEFI boot which took me 2 days to figure out that I needed to convert my SSD to GPT. Any recent GPU will support DirectX12. Supposedly even TPM 1.2 will work.

If Microsoft really goes through and makes Coffee Lake the minimum CPU requirement, well, I think that'll backfire on them.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Mark Holtz said:


> I can see why... there will probably be performance improvements for not having to be so backwards compatible with missing instruction sets.


If they come at the cost of having to buy a machine that is orders of magnitude faster, are they really a "performance improvements"? Sounds more like paddling furiously to keep up with the bloat.

Speaking of that, how can they claim that it will run in 4GB of RAM?


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> I ran the Windows 11 checker and....
> View attachment 31527
> 
> 
> I'm not exactly surprised. I'm running a 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor (formerly called Devil's Canyon) on a system that I built in September, 2014. I was actually planning on building a new box once the DDR5 memory becomes available... NEXT YEAR! The problem comes with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" folks like my mother who just want to browse the internet, watch videos, and do email. Her laptop is more than adequate, but won't run Windows 11. At least Windows 10 will continue to be supported until 2025. I can see why... there will probably be performance improvements for not having to be so backwards compatible with missing instruction sets.


I have an i7 8700k, so basically the oldest CPU that'll still work lol. I was actually waiting to see how Alder Lake performs and build an Alder Lake box anyways. But after the Rocket Lake disaster, and the disaster that is Intel the past 5 years, not crossing my fingers.


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

SledgeHammer said:


> Any recent GPU will support DirectX12. Supposedly even TPM 1.2 will work.


I have a i7 4770 with GTX1050ti. Computer has no TPM module, nothing in bios to enable a TPM module. I do have GPT and secure boot enabled, and I have 32GB of Ram, and Micro$oft tells me I cant run Windows 11? Fine. I wont. I doubt I need Windows 11 to chat on forums, watch a security camera, and play Youtube videos anyway.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> I have a i7 4770 with GTX1050ti. Computer has no TPM module, nothing in bios to enable a TPM module. I do have GPT and secure boot enabled, and I have 32GB of Ram, and Micro$oft tells me I cant run Windows 11? Fine. I wont. I doubt I need Windows 11 to chat on forums, watch a security camera, and play Youtube videos anyway.


On my 8700k Gigabyte mobo bios, it's not called TPM, its been a day or two, but I think it was called Intel Trusted Computing Platform or something like that.

I have a feeling the requirements will loosen up as we get closer to release.


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

My Lenovo Ideapad L340 will run Win11 (8th Gen Intel Core i3), it passed the PC Health when I enabled the security module in the setup BIOS.
16GB RAM (max that can be put into the PC)
1 TB Samsung SSD 860.

I can boot into WIn10 Home ready for password in 20-25 seconds from hitting the power on button.

But whoever said Loading Linux is difficult obviously hasn't done it in a while. Download the CDROM/DVDROM image and make a bootable USB drive. Once you can boot into Linux from that (may require tweaking some BIOS settings to enable), It is ducksoup to install from the image to your harddrive. If an update comes for your image , connect to the network and tell it to download it.

I could convert to Linux pretty easily - the major stumbling block is Garmin Express for GPS updates. Open Office works pretty well (I'm using it on WIndows 10 now, instead of office), and I use Yahoo web for email.
Discord may be some what of an issue going to Linux - a friend of mine jumped to Linux , installed Discord, then when Discord needed to do an update - it quit working, forcing him to use the browser version - major problem - he is the gamemaster for our group...

And for some users - maybe moving to Chromebooks is NOT such a bad idea. They are basically running on Linux lite, going straight to Chrome.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

One more compatibility check.....









So, the only thing wrong with my computer is the processor and the lack of TPM. Not surprised.



Davenlr said:


> Still running Office 2007 (and no annual rental fee either).


Office 2007 reached end-of-life in 2017.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> One more compatibility check.....
> 
> View attachment 31528
> 
> ...


Check your mobo... it might have a TPM header. If so, you can buy the module and keep everything. Keep in mind they're gouging on the modules now... yeah, big shock, I know. I'll willing to bet "they" will come up with workarounds for TPM, Secure Boot and the processor. I.e. emulate it in software or something.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> One more compatibility check.....
> 
> View attachment 31528
> 
> ...


I tried this tool. Neither this one or the Microsoft are actually checking the secure boot, it seems as I have it turned off in the bios. Seems like they're just checking for UEFI and GPT.

But I'm green across the board.


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Mark Holtz said:


> One more compatibility check.....
> 
> View attachment 31528
> 
> ...


Same here. CPU and no TPM. And Office 2007 will reach its end of life when I kill it  not when Microsoft tells me I have to pay them an annual fee to use Office 365 (I only use outlook)

If I could, I would just load Android 11 on my PC's and be done with Windows.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> Same here. CPU and no TPM. And Office 2007 will reach its end of life when I kill it  not when Microsoft tells me I have to pay them an annual fee to use Office 365 (I only use outlook)


They have the normal Office 2019 that you pay for once and they are releasing Office 2021 later this year, same deal.

Office 365 SUCKS. They installed it on our work PCs at my last job. While the Outlook would be fine for my home use (since I don't get that much email), it definitely had performance issues when you have thousands of emails coming in daily. But I'm on the normal Office 2019 now. Will upgrade to 2021 when that comes out... god only knows what those hardware requirements will be .


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

SledgeHammer said:


> Check your mobo... it might have a TPM header. If so, you can buy the module and keep everything. Keep in mind they're gouging on the modules now... yeah, big shock, I know. I'll willing to bet "they" will come up with workarounds for TPM, Secure Boot and the processor. I.e. emulate it in software or something.


Again, I reiterate.... I have a Intel® Core™ i7-4790K Processor which is a 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor (Devil's Canyon) utilizing DDR3 memory. The system was built in 2014, and I tend to design my systems to last five years with upgrades, including upgrading one SSD drive from 250GB to 1TB, and upgrading the video card from a nVidia 980 to a nVidia 1080. The 2019 upgrade was postponed because I had moved from Sacramento to Dallas, and new Windows, Air Conditioner, and Home Insulation took priority. As stated previously, I'm waiting until next year when DDR5 memory and compatible motherboards/CPUs come out, and even then, I probably have to wait on upgrading the graphics card. It's bad enough when a planning upgrade of the file storage on my TrueNAS storage is on hold due to escalating Hard Drive prices.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> Again, I reiterate.... I have a Intel® Core™ i7-4790K Processor which is a 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor (Devil's Canyon) utilizing DDR3 memory. The system was built in 2014, and I tend to design my systems to last five years with upgrades, including upgrading one SSD drive from 250GB to 1TB, and upgrading the video card from a nVidia 980 to a nVidia 1080. The 2019 upgrade was postponed because I had moved from Sacramento to Dallas, and new Windows, Air Conditioner, and Home Insulation took priority. As stated previously, I'm waiting until next year when DDR5 memory and compatible motherboards/CPUs come out, and even then, I probably have to wait on upgrading the graphics card. It's bad enough when a planning upgrade of the file storage on my TrueNAS storage is on hold due to escalating Hard Drive prices.


I know, that wasn't the point. The CPU "requirement" is likely a "soft requirement" because they want you to have TPM and the listed CPUs & chipsets have it built in (even though its disabled by default). If you have the 4790k, you likely have the Z97 chipset. Many Z97 motherboards have a TPM ***HEADER** *where you can plug in the $20 module without it being built in.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

SledgeHammer said:


> If you have the 4790k, you likely have the Z97 chipset. Many Z97 motherboards have a TPM ***HEADER** *where you can plug in the $20 module without it being built in.


I checked the manual for the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H motherboard, and yup, it has that header available. 








It also had support for SATA Express (failed standard), AMD Crossfile/nVidia SLI (obsolete standard), and Killer Ethernet e2200 NIC interface (never really used, no longer in motherboards).


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

SledgeHammer said:


> They have the normal Office 2019 that you pay for once and they are releasing Office 2021 later this year, same deal..


Yea, I thought about it, but I only use Outlook, since they killed Outlook Express, and its just not worth upgrading. The 2007 version works perfectly. I would probably go to Thunderbird if it stopped working. Thunderbird is just way to complicated for what I do with email.


----------



## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

Davenlr said:


> Yea, I thought about it, but I only use Outlook, since they killed Outlook Express, and its just not worth upgrading. The 2007 version works perfectly. I would probably go to Thunderbird if it stopped working. *Thunderbird is just way to complicated for what I do with email.*


I much prefer Thunderbird to any version of Outlook due to Thunderbird being far less complicated than Outlook which is a complete mess. I shudder when one of my users with Outlook say they are having issues with their email.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

WestDC said:


> AS of Today CPU Requirements for Win 11 upgrade Full Story link: Windows 11 is free, but your CPU might not be officially supported - The Verge
> 
> *WINDOWS 11 SUPPORT FOR INTEL*
> 
> ...


Thanks for the link, I can use W11 on my laptop. That was surprisingly easy.

Rich


----------



## icr2002 (Feb 26, 2005)

Windows 11: Use Microsoft's PC Health Check app to check if your device is compatible. Here's how


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Btw, for all of those folks worried about installing Windows 11 on "unsupported hardware", there was a procedure for mucking with the ISO that seemed like too much work... but "they" released another workaround where its just 2 registry keys. Of course, Microsoft may close those workarounds by the time it ships.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> Just because I use Windows 10 doesn't mean I use the built-in apps. New install? ShareX for screen capturing and recording, Notepad++ for text editing, 7-Zip for file compression, Fiddler and Wireshark, and oh year, Firefox and Chrome.
> 
> If there is anyone to blame for a "closed" environment, it's Apple. Want to upgrade your iOS app? Must get the blessing of the Apple high priests. Want to upgrade the memory or the storage device? Good luck.
> 
> Oh yeah, my file storage/media server? It's running on FreeBSD.


I use Chrome and Winzip just for prettyness vs. 7-zip... but if its a large zip with a lot of files in it, probably go 7-zip cuz Winzip can't handle it well. Notepad++ is overkill for most stuff. It is useful when I'm editing system files with its auto upgrade permission thing. If I care about a XML or JSON file, its likely I'm coding something at which point I'd likely just format it in the developer IDE I'm using.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

The big reason why I utilize Notepad++, besides the fact that it's free, is that it has multiple tabs and plug-in support. Besides the spell checker functionality, I also utilize the TextFX tool and the XML formatter to make XML files easier to read. But, I'm in a technical support environment, not a development environment.


----------



## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

My year-old HP Pavilion is ready for Windows 11 according to Microsoft. I'm not sure I am.

My 7-year-old Acer laptop won't make the cut, although I was able to upgrade from Win 7 to 8 to 10. It's pretty slow with Win 10. I may try Linux on it instead.


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Put an SSD in your laptop (if it takes SATA drives) and you will be AMAZED at how much better it performs....

I put an SSD in an OLD Dell laptop (it came preloaded with Vista, for gods sake) and it was amazing how much better it performed....


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

SSF & more memory.


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

A 7 years old PC may not be able to put anymore than 4 GB of RAM in it - or (more likely) you won't be able to find it (or it will be hard to find / expensive).


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

scooper said:


> A 7 years old PC may not be able to put anymore than 4 GB of RAM in it - or (more likely) you won't be able to find it (or it will be hard to find / expensive).


(looks at his 7 year old desktop computer with 32GB of DDR3 memory)...

Uh, first of all, DDR3 memory is still very much available.... checking Newegg...










The 4GB memory limit applied to either 32-bit processors or a 32-bit version of the Operating System. Yes, it is possible to run a 32-bit operating system on a 64-bit processor. Having said that, nVidia discontinued support for the 32bit graphics drivers in 2017 with release 390, while AMD discontinued 32-bit graphics drivers in 2018.


----------



## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> (looks at his 7 year old desktop computer with 32GB of DDR3 memory)...
> 
> Uh, first of all, DDR3 memory is still very much available.... checking Newegg...
> 
> ...


Close, with a small caveat. Windows Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit versions still had a 16GB limit baked in to up sell you to Professional. The Home Basic 64bit versions had a measly 8GB limit. Windows 8 was the first version to do away with the baked in limits.


----------



## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Mark Holtz said:


> The big reason why I utilize Notepad++, besides the fact that it's free, is that it has multiple tabs and plug-in support.


I use it because it doesn't destroy Unix formatted files and does a lot of format checking when I'm editing HTML. Multiple tabs and the other features are nice as well.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

SledgeHammer said:


> Close, with a small caveat. Windows Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit versions still had a 16GB limit baked in to up sell you to Professional. The Home Basic 64bit versions had a measly 8GB limit. Windows 8 was the first version to do away with the baked in limits.


Oh, yeah, those memory limits. At the time I built my UberBoxen in September, 2014, I only got 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 of memory. The following Black Friday, there was a nice price on 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400, so I picked up two sets, only to run into that limit. Thank goodness Windows 10 was a free upgrade from Windows 7. Of course, what came out right after I built that box? DDR4 memory.

My TrueNAS server, however, was maxed out at 64GB of DDR4-2133 ECC memory at time of build. It only cost me $370 in mid-2016, but two years after the build, it shot up to $852. Thank goodness I had the foresight.


----------

