[SOLVED] For Desktop, CPU and Motherboard to be used with Win7

[rossdorn]

My pretty old desktop needs a new "engine". Right now I am using an Intel Core i5 4570, an ASRock B85M, and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 630. The 630 should be fine, as I do NOT use it for games, just a lot of downloading, streaming and a little video converting.

Basically I am looking for an i5 or AMD equivalent, plus a fitting motherboard.
But it needs to work with Win7!

What are your suggestions?
Thanky

 

[USAFRet]

Why does it need to work with Win 7?
You can upgrade to Win 10, for free.
And WIn 7 runs out of all support on Jan 14.

 

[rossdorn]

Why does it need to work with Win 7?
You can upgrade to Win 10, for free.
And WIn 7 runs out of all support on Jan 14.

Thank you, but...

What do I have to do, to simply have MY question answered?

 

[NatalieEGH]

If you are using Intel CPUs you will need a CPU no later than Skylake and I am not sure about Skylake. It was during the Skylake series that Microsoft announced Windows 10 only. Some Skylake processors support Windows 7 but others do not.

I would recommend you purchase a CPU in the Broadwell (5th generation) or Haswell (4th generation) series. The 5000 series (Broadwell) would be a modest upgrade.



@USAFRet,
You do not know what the Rossdorn is wanting to do with his system. Not everyone is enamored with Windows 10. Personally I am preparing to build a system using a Celeron 1850 (Haswell) exclusively for recording television shows using WMC and transferring them to my NAS. The system will cost me about $400 (mostly due to the SSD) and will save that much in electricity (according to power supply calculators) per year by letting me turn off my main system when I am not using it. I currently run my main system and NAS 24x7x365. I am only home and awake about 6-10 hours per day.

 

[USAFRet]

I simply asked the question of "Why?"

 

[CountMike]

First gen Ryzen can work with W7 , 2nd gen with some difficulty can be made to work but none of them with W7 "out of the box" so to speak, need to modify W7 iso by inserting proper drivers for chipset and USB first.

 

[rossdorn]

If you are using Intel CPUs you will need a CPU no later than Skylake and I am not sure about Skylake. It was during the Skylake series that Microsoft announced Windows 10 only. Some Skylake processors support Windows 7 but others do not.

I would recommend you purchase a CPU in the Broadwell (5th generation) or Haswell (4th generation) series. The 5000 series (Broadwell) would be a modest upgrade.



@USAFRet,
You do not know what the Rossdorn is wanting to do with his system. Not everyone is enamored with Windows 10. Personally I am preparing to build a system using a Celeron 1850 (Haswell) exclusively for recording television shows using WMC and transferring them to my NAS. The system will cost me about $400 (mostly due to the SSD) and will save that much in electricity (according to power supply calculators) per year by letting me turn off my main system when I am not using it. I currently run my main system and NAS 24x7x365. I am only home and awake about 6-10 hours per day.

Thank you for the answer.
I am using a Haswell i5 right now, and as I wrote I am looking for a new = faster "engine". As I am familiar with the Intel problems for Win7, I began looking at AMD. That has been made very complicated by the lack of information and support from AMD. There is NO clear information which of their CPUs has NO APU, as these will no work with Win7.
I would prefer not to have to add drivers to m Win7 iso, because I know from experience that such modification usually bring further problems for a non-programmer like myself.

That is why my question was "Basically I am looking for an i5 or AMD equivalent, plus a fitting motherboard. But it needs to work with Win7!"
This has nothing to do with being "enamored with Windows 10". Like so many others, I have a huge dislike for spy ware and already more than enough discussions about the subject behind me.
I like the set up you are planning to use, but being an old man, I prefer to keep it simple.
Which is probably the reason why I do not play games. I live near the beach, so a lot of humidity, which means oxidation of contacts (on my by now 6 year old home-built)

 

[rossdorn]

First gen Ryzen can work with W7 , 2nd gen with some difficulty can be made to work but none of them with W7 "out of the box" so to speak, need to modify W7 iso by inserting proper drivers for chipset and USB first.

Yes, thank you.
How do those 1.Gen Ryzen compare to an Intel i5 from the Haswell line?

I already have the USB drivers inserted into my Win7 iso on an USB stick, but as I usually have no real idea what I am doing when it comes to computers, I would prefer not having to insert the drivers too. Which is the reason why i began looking at AMD in the first place. By now, my suspicion is that it is a waste of time...

If my latest information is correct, the i5 6500 also works with Win 7. Do you know anything about that?

 

[CountMike]

Yes, thank you.
How do those 1.Gen Ryzen compare to an Intel i5 from the Haswell line?

I already have the USB drivers inserted into my Win7 iso on an USB stick, but as I usually have no real idea what I am doing when it comes to computers, I would prefer not having to insert the drivers too. Which is the reason why i began looking at AMD in the first place. By now, my suspicion is that it is a waste of time...

If my latest information is correct, the i5 6500 also works with Win 7. Do you know anything about that?

It's not so much CPU problem as it is motherboard/chipset and USB problem for all of which you need drivers. Newer CPUs and chipset have different controllers that are "invented" after last W7 came out so they may not have those drivers built in. Those drivers are initiated at OS boot time so if they are available for particular MB/system you have to preinstall them. If main problem is USB ports you may not be able to use KB/mouse but may be able to bypass that problem by using PS/2 KB and/or mouse.

 

[rossdorn]

It's not so much CPU problem as it is motherboard/chipset and USB problem for all of which you need drivers. Newer CPUs and chipset have different controllers that are "invented" after last W7 came out so they may not have those drivers built in. Those drivers are initiated at OS boot time so if they are available for particular MB/system you have to preinstall them. If main problem is USB ports you may not be able to use KB/mouse but may be able to bypass that problem by using PS/2 KB and/or mouse.

Thank you for your answer, which confirms my understanding.
Of course... I basically had these problems with Win7 and my i5 haswell, and had to add those drivers to the Win7 iso. It is a pretty straight forward job once you are told that you do not use a DVD, but a USB stick...
My ASRock motherboard has no socket for the PS2 mouse.

What I did not know when I became interest in AMD CPUs, was that the advantage of not having to need a separate Video-Card, was no longer advantage when using Win7...
As I know how to deal with the newer Intel CPUs, I more and more feel I ought to use those once again. And I keep the NVidia GeForce GT 630....

 

[CountMike]

Thank you for your answer, which confirms my understanding.
Of course... I basically had these problems with Win7 and my i5 haswell, and had to add those drivers to the Win7 iso. It is a pretty straight forward job once you are told that you do not use a DVD, but a USB stick...
My ASRock motherboard has no socket for the PS2 mouse.

What I did not know when I became interest in AMD CPUs, was that the advantage of not having to need a separate Video-Card, was no longer advantage when using Win7...
As I know how to deal with the newer Intel CPUs, I more and more feel I ought to use those once again. And I keep the NVidia GeForce GT 630....

Only Ryzen models ending with letter G have an IGPU, like for instance 2200g, 2400g and 3400g. For others you will need dedicated GPU card. As most AM4 MBs have video outputs, that may be confusing.

 

[rossdorn]

Only Ryzen models ending with letter G have an IGPU, like for instance 2200g, 2400g and 3400g. For others you will need dedicated GPU card. As most AM4 MBs have video outputs, that may be confusing.

Thank you.
I found the support from AMD for my question pretty... let us say "unsatisfying"?
... which made me re-think a few things.
ASRock (I am using one of their motherboards) give me excellent and extensive information for all my question.
So I decided to follow their suggestions and simply replace my i5 with an i7.

But, again, thank you for your answers.