Not all i7 processors are compatible with the Windows 11 operating system. That is to say, not all Intel i7 processor-based PCs can be updated from Windows 10 to Windows 11 through the Windows Update program. However, you can still install Windows 11 on an i7 processor-based PC. This article will show you how to install Windows 11 on an i7 processor that is not compatible with Windows 11.
The 76 Intel i7 processors are classified as 4th to 12th generation processors. Of these, 4th, 5th, and 6th generation processors are not compatible with Windows 11. Some 7th gen i7 processors are compatible with Windows 11, but most i7 7th gen processors do not support Windows 11.
Intel i7 4th generation processors are:
Intel Core i7-4790S
Intel Core i7-4700EC
Intel Core i7-4702EC
Intel Core i7-4650U
Intel Core i7-4770TE
Intel Core i7-4700EQ
Intel Core i7-4770S
All of Intel i7 4th generation processors above are incompatible with Windows 11.
Intel i7 5th generation processors are:
Intel Core i7-5700EQ
Intel Core i7-5850EQ
Intel Core i7-5650U
All of Intel i7 5th generation processors above are incompatible with Windows 11.
Intel i7 6th generation processors are:
Intel Core i7-6700TE
Intel Core i7-6822EQ
Intel Core i7-6820EQ
Intel Core i7-6600U
Intel Core i7-6700
Intel Core i7-6700T
All of Intel i7 6th generation processors above are incompatible with Windows 11.
There are 13 Intel i7 core processors 7th generation. As we mentioned earlier, not all 7th generation i7 processors are compatible with Windows 11. Only 3 i7 7th gen processors are compatible with Windows 11. The three Windows 11 compatible i7 7th generation processors are:
Intel i7-7800X
Intel i7-7820X
Intel i7-7820HQ
Except for the above three Intel i7 7th generation processors, the remaining Intel i7 7th generation processors are not compatible with Windows 11. they are:
In general, some Intel 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th generation processors are compatible with Windows 11. That is, computers based on these processors can be updated to Windows 11 through the Windows update program.
Windows 11 on incompatible processors
There is currently no official word on why some processors of the 7th generation i7 are not compatible with Windows 11. However, we speculate that this may be due to performance issues or hardware crashes. But don’t worry, you can still use Windows 11 even if you’re using an incompatible processor. It’s worth noting that installing Windows 11 on an incompatible PC won’t get any kind of security, monthly rollup, or feature updates from Microsoft due to the unsupported underlying hardware that Windows 11 installs on.
To be compatible with Windows 11, Intel processors must have:
1 GHz or faster processor
At least 2 cores
UEFI Secure boot capable
TPM 2.0
4 GB RAM
64 GB storage
As we mentioned above, you can still install Windows 11 on incompatible Intel i7 processors by the following methods.
Download an ISO image of Windows 11 from the Microsoft site. Run the ISO installer install Windows 11 on your unsupported Intel i7 4790k 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 i7 4790k 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.
Now we know that Windows 11 does not support Intel i7 core processors. The vast majority of i7 7th generation processors are not compatible with Windows 11. However, 8th generation and above processors are compatible with Windows 11.
