No, the Intel i5 6600k does not support the Windows 11 operating system. Only the 8th generation of Intel core i5 or higher processors are compatible with Windows 11. Even if the Intel i5 6600k based computer meets the other hardware requirements to run Windows 11, it still cannot upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. That means Intel i5 6600k based computers can’t upgrade to Windows 11 through the Windows update program. Next, let’s have a look why the Intel i5 6600k is not compatible with Windows 11, when the Intel i5 6600k will be compatible with Windows 11, and how to install Windows 11 on an Intel i5 6600k based computer that is not compatible with Windows 11.
Why Intel i5 6600k is not compatible with Windows 11?
Microsoft released a list of processors compatible with Windows 11. The Intel i5-6600K processor is not on this list. Microsoft’s Windows 11 is compatible with Intel’s 8th generation and higher processors. Intel i5-6500 is the sixth generation processor. Therefore, it is not compatible with Windows 11.
Microsoft has not officially stated why the Intel i5-6600K is not compatible with Windows 11. As far as we can guess, it may be for security reasons. Or the i5-6600K incompatible with Windows 11 is due to the performance reasons. During Windows 11 testing, Microsoft has tested Windows 11 on a variety of processors, and some processors have a higher hardware crash rate than the baseline hardware crash rate on the computer. These processors are marked by Microsoft as incompatible processors. Because Microsoft wants to provide Windows 11 users with a more secure and better performance.
When does Intel i5 6600k support Windows 11?
Microsoft has checked the processor compatibility list for several times. We consider the current list of Intel processors compatible with Windows 11 as a final list. Therefore we don’t think Intel i5-6600K will be compatible with Windows 11 in the future.
Can I install Windows 11 on Intel i5 6600k based computers?
You can install Windows 11 on any incompatible computer. So you can install Windows 11 on an Intel i5-6600k based computer. We recommend a clean install of Windows 11 on an unsupported or incompatible computer. So an Intel i5-6600k based computer is recommended to do a clean install of Windows 11. For details of installing Windows 11 on Intel i5-6600k, read the article: How to install Windows 11 on unsupported processors.
But before installing, you need to pay attention. After installing Windows 11 on an Intel i5-6600k based computer, you cannot get any security updates through the Windows update program.
Conclusion
Although Intel i5-6600K-based computers are not compatible with Windows 11, you can still do a clean install of Windows 11 on Intel i5-6600K-based computers. However, Microsoft will not support any updates for such installations. Of course, you can continue to use Windows 10 on an Intel i5-6600K computer.
