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Is your PC ready for Windows 11? These are the requirements

“The free upgrade to Windows 11 will begin rolling out to Windows 10 PCs this holiday season and will continue through 2022. Next week we will begin sharing an initial version of the operating system through the Insider program.” wrote the director of Windows and Surface, Panos Panay, confirming that as with Windows 10, Windows 11 will be free for those who already have an original license of the current version.

Windows 11 will require a TPM-compatible CPU

Windows 11 TPM

The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a Security control that it will be necessary to be able to use Windows 11. In principle, Microsoft recommends that the system be compatible with TPM 2.0, but according to the company’s publication the processors compatible with TPM 1.2 will also be compatible with the operating system; Now, this is just a security feature that should not have any impact on system performance, so although this requirement is certainly interesting, in principle there will be no performance differences with CPUs compatible with one or another version of TPM .

The new hardware requirements for Windows 11 have also changed, so the PCs that intend to install this new version must meet certain requirements that, eye to eye, Microsoft has divided into two. On the one hand we have «hard floor » which are the minimum mandatory requirements and those PCs that do not meet them will not be able to update, while we have “Soft floor” that will be other requirements in which the PC will be able to update but Microsoft does not recommend it.

Windows 11 requirements
CPU 64-bit processor or SoC with 2 or more cores at 1 GHz or more
Graphics DirectX 12 or later compatible with WDDM 2.0 driver
RAM 4 GB or more
Storage 64 GB or more
Screen 720p over 9 inches diagonal with 8-bit color depth
System firmware UEFI, Secure Boot compliant
TPM Trusted Platform Module version 2.0
Internet connection Windows 10 Home requires an Internet connection and a Microsoft account.

For all versions of Windows 11, an Internet connection will be required to access updates and to take advantage of some features. A Microsoft account is also required for some features.

Thus, Windows 11 requires a 1 GHz or higher CPU with 2 or more cores, and 64-bit is required again. It also requires a minimum of 4 GB of RAM, system firmware that supports UEFI and Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, DirectX 12 compliant graphics, a screen larger than 9 inches with 720p resolution or higher, and most worryingly, the Internet connection and a Microsoft account will now be required for the Home version of the operating system.

Microsoft has clarified that the TPM 2.0 requirement is only mandatory for pre-built and portable systems, but that TPM 1.2 will be sufficient to run the operating system. They have also noted that “certain features require specific hardware.” In any case, you can download Microsoft’s PC Health Check application to see if your PC can run Windows 11.

List of processors supported by Windows 11

Intel vs AMD

These hardware requirements surely have not left you in doubt as to whether your processor will be compatible with Windows 11, but luckily Microsoft has already published the list of AMD (complete list) and Intel (complete list) processors on its support page. compatible with your new operating system.

AMD processors Intel processors
AMD Ryzen 2000 (Pinnacle Ridge) Intel 8th Gen (Coffee Lake)
AMD Ryzen 3000 (Matisse) Intel 9th ​​Gen (Coffee Lake Refresh)
AMD Ryzen 3000 (Picasso) Intel 10th Gen (Comet Lake)
AMD Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) Intel 10th Gen (Ice Lake)
AMD Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) Intel 11th Gen (Rocket Lake)
AMD Ryzen 5000 (Cezanne) Intel 11th Gen (Tiger Lake)
AMD Ryzen 5000 (Lucienne) Intel Xeon Skylake-SP
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2000 Intel Xeon Cascade Lake-SP
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Intel Xeon Cooper Lake-SP
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000 Intel Xeon Ice Lake-SP
AMD EPYC 2nd Gen (Rome)
AMD EPYC 3rd Gen (Milan)

As you can see, there are CPUs from 2017 and 2018 that are compatible with Windows 11 without any problems, but this still leaves most of the users using older CPUs out of the picture. Intel’s 1st Gen AMD Ryzen (Summit Ridge) and Skylake (6th Gen) chips are not even mentioned even though they are seamlessly compatible with Windows 10, and the most interesting thing is that for example Skylake has TPM 2.0 functions, for It remains to be seen how chips with firmware or partial BIOS (fTPM) capabilities are compatible with Microsoft’s new operating system.

By the way, those who have a PC that cannot upgrade to Windows 11 should know that Microsoft has already confirmed that the end of support for the current Windows 10 operating system will end in October 2025.

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