No, Intel i3-7100 is not compatible with Windows 11. Some users reported on the Microsoft community:
I ran the Windows 11 Health Check and it determined my CPU didn’t meet system requirements. It is an Intel Core i3-7100 CPU @ 3.9 GHz.
If you check the list of Windows 11 supported Intel processors, you will find that there is no Intel i3-7100 on the list. It means Intel i3-7100 based computers are unable to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 via windows update program. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t install Windows 11 on Intel i3-7100 processor based computer. If you want to know the details how to install Windows 11 on Intel i3-7100, just keep reading.
Why Intel i3-7100 is incompatible with Windows 11?
As we all know, Microsoft have tested various processors and hardware devices to ensure the best performance of Windows 11. During the test, there are some processors have higher hardware crash rate, which are marked as incompatible processors on Windows 11. Although there is no official statement from microsoft why Intel i3-7100 is incompatible with Windows 11, we guess the performance of Intel i3-7100 processor test is not so good. And Intel 8th generation processors or higher are compatible with Windows 11. But Intel i3-7100 processor is the Intel 7th generation.
When will Intel i3-7100 compatible with Windows 11?
Now, we know the reason why Intel i3-7100 is incompatible with Windows 11, some users are expected Intel i3-7100 processor can support Windows 11 in the further. Unfortunately, we guess Intel i3-7100 processor will not be compatible with Windows 11 in the further. As we mentioned above, Microsoft tested various processors and hardware devices to ensure the performance of Windows 11. It have been a few months after the Windows 11 is officially released, Microsoft still doesn’t update the list of Windows 11 supported Intel processors.
Can I install Windows 11 on Intel i3-7100 processor based computers?
Just as we said at the beginning of the article, you can install Windows 11 on an Intel i3-7100 based computer even though i3-7100 does not support Windows 11. You can do a clean install of Windows 11 on Intel i3-7100 based computer using one of the three methods below.
Download an ISO image of Windows 11 from the Microsoft site. Run the ISO installer install Windows 11 on your unsupported Intel i3-7100 computer.
Download an Installation Assistant from the Microsoft website. The installation assistant will guide you to complete the installation of Windows 11 on your unsupported Intel i3-7100 computer.
Create an installation media on a USB drive or a DVD media by using the Media creation utility from the Microsoft site. Boot the system using the media and run through the Windows 11 installation process.
In fact, users can do a clean install of Windows 11 on any incompatible computers. if you install Windows 11 on Intel i3-7100 based computer, you computer will not access to any security product, quality or feature updates via Windows update program.
Conclusion
Intel i3-7100 doesn’t support Windows 11. Intel i3-7100 based computers can’t upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 via Windows update program. However, you can perform a clean install of Windows 11 on Intel i3-7100 based computers according the steps introduced by this article.
