Question MSI Godlike Gaming X99 - seeking best CPU I can use in it

Dec 23, 2023
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I built a rig circa 2017. The processor I have is just barely below what Windows 11 supports natively. I want to buy a replacement Core i7 processor that both my motherboard supports and is supported by Windows 11 natively (I know I can install Windows 11 in unsupported mode but I don't want to do that). My rig seems to run pretty well for most games I play so I don't want to throw it all out just because Microsoft drew a line in the sand.

I have included a CPUID report on my system. If anyone can help me navigate the complexity of Core i7 processors that would work in my current board/memory setup I would greatly appreciate it. :)

CPU-Z TXT Report (edited for brevity)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version 2.08.0.x64

Processors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Groups 1
CPU Group 0 12 threads, mask=0xFFF

Number of sockets 1
Number of threads 12

APICs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Socket 0
-- Core 0 (ID 0)
-- Thread 0 0
-- Thread 1 1
-- Core 1 (ID 1)
-- Thread 2 2
-- Thread 3 3
-- Core 2 (ID 2)
-- Thread 4 4
-- Thread 5 5
-- Core 3 (ID 3)
-- Thread 6 6
-- Thread 7 7
-- Core 4 (ID 4)
-- Thread 8 8
-- Thread 9 9
-- Core 5 (ID 5)
-- Thread 10 10
-- Thread 11 11

Timers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACPI timer 3.580 MHz
Perf timer 14.318 MHz
Sys timer 1.000 KHz


Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Socket 1 ID = 0
Number of cores 6 (max 6)
Number of threads 12 (max 12)
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel Core i7 6850K
Codename Broadwell-E/EP
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6850K CPU @ 3.60GHz
Package (platform ID) Socket 2011 LGA (0x2)
CPUID 6.F.1
Extended CPUID 6.4F
Core Stepping M0
Technology 14 nm
TDP Limit 140.0 Watts
Tjmax 100.0 °C
Core Speed 3899.1 MHz
Multiplier x Bus Speed 39.0 x 100.0 MHz
Base frequency (cores) 100.0 MHz
Base frequency (mem.) 100.0 MHz
Stock frequency 3600 MHz
Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, EM64T, VT-x, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, TSX
Microcode Revision 0xB000036
L1 Data cache 6 x 32 KB (8-way, 64-byte line)
L1 Instruction cache 6 x 32 KB (8-way, 64-byte line)
L2 cache 6 x 256 KB (8-way, 64-byte line)
L3 cache 15 MB (20-way, 64-byte line)
Preferred cores 1 (#4)
Max CPUID level 00000014h
Max CPUID ext. level 80000008h
FID/VID Control yes


Turbo Mode supported, enabled
Max non-turbo ratio 36x
Max turbo ratio 39x
Max efficiency ratio 12x
Min Power 46 Watts
O/C bins unlimited
Ratio 1 core 39x
Ratio 2 cores 39x
Ratio 3 cores 39x
Ratio 4 cores 39x
Ratio 5 cores 39x
Ratio 6 cores 39x
Ratio 7 cores 37x
Ratio 8 cores 37x
Ratio 9 cores 37x
Ratio 10 cores 37x
Ratio 11 cores 37x
Ratio 12 cores 37x
Ratio 13 cores 37x
Ratio 14 cores 37x
Ratio 15 cores 37x
Ratio 16 cores 37x
Ratio 17 cores 37x
Ratio 18 cores 37x
Ratio 19 cores 37x
Ratio 20 cores 37x
Ratio 21 cores 37x
Ratio 22 cores 37x
Ratio 23 cores 37x
Ratio 24 cores 37x
IA Voltage Mode Override
IA Voltage Target 1177 mV
IA Voltage Offset 0 mV
GT Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
GT Voltage Offset 0 mV
LLC/Ring Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
LLC/Ring Voltage Offset 0 mV
Agent Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
Agent Voltage Offset 358 mV
TDP Level 140.0 W @ 36x
TDP Level 140.0 W @ 31x

Temperature 0 39 degC (102 degF) (Package)
Temperature 1 34 degC (93 degF) (Cores (Max))
Temperature 2 34 degC (93 degF) (Core #0)
Temperature 3 32 degC (89 degF) (Core #1)
Temperature 4 38 degC (100 degF) (Core #2)
Temperature 5 36 degC (96 degF) (Core #3)
Temperature 6 38 degC (100 degF) (Core #4)
Temperature 7 34 degC (93 degF) (Core #5)
Voltage 0 1.15 Volts (VID)
Voltage 1 1.18 Volts (IA)
Voltage 2 +0.00 Volts (GT Offset)
Voltage 3 +0.00 Volts (LLC/Ring Offset)
Voltage 4 +0.36 Volts (System Agent Offset)
Power 00 35.78 W (Package)
Power 01 n.a. (IA Cores)
Power 02 n.a. (Uncore)
Power 03 n.a. (DRAM)
Clock Speed 0 3899.09 MHz (Core #0)
Clock Speed 1 3899.09 MHz (Core #1)
Clock Speed 2 3899.09 MHz (Core #2)
Clock Speed 3 3899.09 MHz (Core #3)
Clock Speed 4 3899.09 MHz (Core #4)
Clock Speed 5 3899.09 MHz (Core #5)
Core 0 max ratio 38.00 (effective 39.00)
Core 1 max ratio 38.00 (effective 39.00)
Core 2 max ratio 38.00 (effective 39.00)
Core 3 max ratio 38.00 (effective 39.00)
Core 4 max ratio 40.00 (effective 39.00)
Core 5 max ratio 38.00 (effective 39.00)


T
BIOS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

UEFI Yes
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS MSG 63-0100-000001-00101111-091015-Chipset
BIOS Date 09/10/15
Mainboard Vendor 000001

Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge Intel Broadwell-E rev. 01
Southbridge Intel X99 rev. 05
Bus Specification PCI-Express 3.0 (8.0 GT/s)
Graphic Interface PCI-Express 3.0
PCI-E Link Width x16 (max 16x)
PCI-E Link Speed 2.5 GT/s (max 8.0 GT/s)
Memory Type DDR4
Memory Size 32 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 1333.1 MHz (1:20)
CAS# latency (CL) 15.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 17
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 17
Cycle Time (tRAS) 35
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 525
Command Rate (CR) 2T
tCCD 4
tCCD_L 6
tCCD_WR 4
tCCD_WR_L 6
Uncore Frequency 2799.3 MHz
Host Bridge 0x6F00


Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR4
Module format UDIMM
Module Manufacturer(ID) Corsair (7F7F9E0000000000000000000000)
SDRAM Manufacturer (ID) SK Hynix (AD00000000000000000000000000)
Size 16384 MBytes
Max bandwidth DDR4-2998 (1499 MHz)
Max JEDEC DDR4-2133 (1066 MHz)
Part number CMD32GX4M2B3000C15
Nominal Voltage 1.20 Volts
EPP no
XMP yes, rev. 2.0
AMP no
EXPO no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 9.0-9-9-22-31 @ 666 MHz
JEDEC #2 10.0-10-10-25-35 @ 733 MHz
JEDEC #3 11.0-11-11-27-38 @ 800 MHz
JEDEC #4 12.0-13-13-30-42 @ 900 MHz
JEDEC #5 13.0-14-14-32-45 @ 966 MHz
JEDEC #6 14.0-14-14-35-49 @ 1033 MHz
JEDEC #7 15.0-15-15-36-50 @ 1066 MHz
JEDEC #8 16.0-15-15-36-50 @ 1066 MHz
XMP profile XMP-2998
Specification DDR4-2998
VDD Voltage 1.350 Volts
Min Cycle time 0.667 ns (1499 MHz)
Max CL 15.0
Min tRP 11.33 ns
Min tRCD 11.33 ns
Min tRAS 23.18 ns
Min tRC 34.68 ns
Min tRRD 4.00 ns
XMP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
XMP #1 9.0-11-11-21-32-n.a @ 899 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #2 10.0-12-12-24-35-n.a @ 1000 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #3 11.0-13-13-26-39-n.a @ 1100 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #4 12.0-14-14-28-42-n.a @ 1200 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #5 13.0-15-15-31-46-n.a @ 1300 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #6 14.0-16-16-33-49-n.a @ 1400 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #7 15.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #8 16.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #9 17.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #10 18.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #11 19.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #12 20.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)

DIMM # 2
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR4
Module format UDIMM
Module Manufacturer(ID) Corsair (7F7F9E0000000000000000000000)
SDRAM Manufacturer (ID) SK Hynix (AD00000000000000000000000000)
Size 16384 MBytes
Max bandwidth DDR4-2998 (1499 MHz)
Max JEDEC DDR4-2133 (1066 MHz)
Part number CMD32GX4M2B3000C15
Nominal Voltage 1.20 Volts
EPP no
XMP yes, rev. 2.0
AMP no
EXPO no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 9.0-9-9-22-31 @ 666 MHz
JEDEC #2 10.0-10-10-25-35 @ 733 MHz
JEDEC #3 11.0-11-11-27-38 @ 800 MHz
JEDEC #4 12.0-13-13-30-42 @ 900 MHz
JEDEC #5 13.0-14-14-32-45 @ 966 MHz
JEDEC #6 14.0-14-14-35-49 @ 1033 MHz
JEDEC #7 15.0-15-15-36-50 @ 1066 MHz
JEDEC #8 16.0-15-15-36-50 @ 1066 MHz
XMP profile XMP-2998
Specification DDR4-2998
VDD Voltage 1.350 Volts
Min Cycle time 0.667 ns (1499 MHz)
Max CL 15.0
Min tRP 11.33 ns
Min tRCD 11.33 ns
Min tRAS 23.18 ns
Min tRC 34.68 ns
Min tRRD 4.00 ns
XMP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
XMP #1 9.0-11-11-21-32-n.a @ 899 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #2 10.0-12-12-24-35-n.a @ 1000 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #3 11.0-13-13-26-39-n.a @ 1100 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #4 12.0-14-14-28-42-n.a @ 1200 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #5 13.0-15-15-31-46-n.a @ 1300 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #6 14.0-16-16-33-49-n.a @ 1400 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #7 15.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #8 16.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #9 17.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #10 18.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #11 19.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)
XMP #12 20.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)

Description PCI to PCI Bridge
Location bus 0 (0x00), device 1 (0x01), function 0 (0x00)
Common header
Vendor ID 0x8086 (Intel)
Model ID 0x6F02
Revision ID 0x01
PI 0x00
SubClass 0x04
BaseClass 0x06
Cache Line 0x10
Latency 0x00
Header 0x01
PCI header
Primary bus 0x00
Secondary bus 0x01
Int. Line 0x0B
Int. Pin 0x01
PCI capability
Caps class Subsystem Vendor
Caps offset 0x40
SubVendor ID 0x1462 (MSI)
SubSystem ID 0x7883
PCI capability
Caps class Message Signalled Interrupts
Caps offset 0x60
PCI capability
Caps class PCI Express
Caps offset 0x90
Device type Root Port of PCI-E Root Complex
Port 1
Caps version 2.0
Physical slot #0
Presence detect no
Link width 0x (max 8x)
Link speed 2.5 GT/s (max 5.0 GT/s)
PCI capability
Caps class Power Management
Caps offset 0xE0
Caps version 1.2
PCI extended capability
Caps class Vendor Specific
Caps offset 0x100
Vendor 2
Size 12
PCI extended capability
Caps class 0xD
Caps offset 0x110
PCI extended capability
Caps class Advanced Error Reporting
Caps offset 0x148
PCI extended capability
Caps class Vendor Specific
Caps offset 0x1D0
Vendor 3
Size 10
PCI extended capability
Caps class Secondary PCI Express
Caps offset 0x250
PCI extended capability
Caps class Vendor Specific
Caps offset 0x280
Vendor 5
Size 24
PCI extended capability
Caps class Vendor Specific
Caps offset 0x300
Vendor 8
Size 56

Graphics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of adapters 1

Graphic APIs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

API D3D
API NVIDIA I/O
API NVIDIA NVML
API NVIDIA NVAPI
pwrMask 0x00000CBB
pwrTable [F5 F6 00 FF FC FA 00 F1 00 00 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ]

Display Adapters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter 0 (primary)
ID 0x1090302
Name NVIDIA TITAN X (Pascal)
Board Manufacturer NVIDIA Corporation
Board Serial Number 0323516134440
Board Part Number 900-1G611-2500-000
Revision A1
Codename GP102-400
Core family 0x132 (GP102-A)
Power Limit 250.0 W (current), 250.0 W (default), 300.0 W (max)
Thermal Limit 93.0 °C (slowdown), 96.0 °C (shutdown)
Cores 3584
ROP Units 96
TM Units 224
Technology 16 nm
Memory type GDDR5X (Micron)
Memory size 12 GB
Memory bus width 384 bits
Current Link Width x16
Current Link Speed 2.5 GT/s
PCI device bus 2 (0x2), device 0 (0x0), function 0 (0x0)
Vendor ID 0x10DE (0x10DE)
Model ID 0x1B00 (0x119A)
Revision ID 0xA1
Root device bus 0 (0x0), device 3 (0x3), function 0 (0x0)
Performance Level Base
Core clock 1417.5 MHz
Memory clock 5005.0 MHz
Performance Level Boost
Core clock 1531.0 MHz
Memory clock 5005.0 MHz
Performance Level Current
Core clock 139.0 MHz
Memory clock 405.0 MHz
Driver version 31.0.15.4633
WDDM Model 2.7

Win32_VideoController AdapterRAM = 0xFFF00000 (4293918720)
Win32_VideoController DriverVersion = 31.0.15.4633
Win32_VideoController DriverDate = 12/06/2023

Monitor 0
Model UG32P ()
ID WAM3200
Serial 0000000000000
Manufacturing Date Week 42, Year 2020
Size 31.5 inches
Max Resolution 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
Horizontal Freq. Range 30-235 kHz
Vertical Freq. Range 48-144 Hz
Max Pixel Clock 360 MHz
Gamma Factor 2.2


Software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Version Microsoft Windows 10 (10.0) Professional 64-bit (Build 19045)
DirectX Version 12.0


Register Spaces
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Register space PCI
Register space PCI #2
Register space PCI Express, base address = 0x040000000
Register space SMBus, base address = 0x0580
Register space SMBus, base address = 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Register space SMBus, base address = 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Register space SMBus, base address = 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Register space SMBus, base address = 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Register space LPC, base address = 0x0A10
Register space LPC, base address = 0x04E
 
Dec 23, 2023
4
0
10
so, according to that MSI page, these are the only processors that work in my motherboard:

Core i7 Haswell-E i7-5960X 100 3.0GHz 2MB 20MB R2 140 N/A 7883v10.zip
Core i7 Haswell-E i7-5930K 100 3.5GHz 1.5MB 15MB R2 140 N/A 7883v10.zip
Core i7 Haswell-E i7-5820K 100 3.3GHz 1.5MB 15MB R2 140 N/A 7883v10.zip
Core i7 Broadwell-E i7-6950X 100 3.0GHz 2.5MB 25MB R0 140 N/A 7883v14.zip
Core i7 Broadwell-E i7-6900K 100 3.2GHz 2MB 20MB R0 140 N/A 7883v14.zip
Core i7 Broadwell-E i7-6850K 100 3.6GHz 1.5MB 15MB R0 140 N/A 7883v14.zip
Core i7 Broadwell-E i7-6800K 100 3.4GHz 1.5MB 15MB R0 140 N/A 7883v14.zip

...and NONE of those processors are listed on Windows 11 supported Intel processors page:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...pported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

...so there is no processor I can use in my current motherboard that is Windows 11 compatible (natively).

That's somewhat disappointing. I know I can keep most of my hardware but I'd end up replacing the cpu, the memory and the motherboard in order to bring my system up to native support by Windows 11. And probably the GPU as well.

Let me know if anyone thinks my conclusion is wrong or if I have missed something. (Thank you, COLGeek)
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
You are correct. Your tech pre-dates Win 11 and its requirements. No way to make fully compatible given the CPU choices supported by your mobo.

You can run Win 10 for now just fine and I would recommend doing so.
 
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Reactions: cip71a
You can get a TPM 2.0 chip at that point you'd technically meet all of the "important" requirements, but even then you may not be able to install Win 11 natively. I haven't bothered trying it on either of my X99 machines, but they both pass every requirement outside of the CPU generation.
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
You can get a TPM 2.0 chip at that point you'd technically meet all of the "important" requirements, but even then you may not be able to install Win 11 natively. I haven't bothered trying it on either of my X99 machines, but they both pass every requirement outside of the CPU generation.
True, but this would still be an unsupported install.
 
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Reactions: cip71a
Dec 23, 2023
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stryker: Regarding a TPM chip... when Windows 11 specs were released, this was 2-3 years ago now... I saw that a TPM chip was required and even though my motherboard had a slot for one, it didn't come with it. So I forked out $35 bucks for a TPM chip for my board, thinking that would be all that I needed. (There was a run on TPM chips at the time at the MSI site. They took FULL advantage of that) I installed it, then thought I would be good. Some time after, they came out with that "compatibility" program that checks to see if your computer meets all the "requirements" for Windows 11. THAT is when I found out that my CPU would NEVER be supported....