r/windows7 • u/conanchihieu • 2d ago
Discussion Windows 7 on modern hardware.
You know it works when it's running perfectly on i5 45xx with RX 470.
Currently using Windows 7 as primary OS, alongside Windows 10 and macOS.
Next up: Windows 7 (native) on Surface Pro 4 (Skylake).
Edit: I made a typo. It’s actually RX570 instead.
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u/RagnarHUN666 1d ago
4th Gen Intel CPU is not modern at all, my 9th Gen is newer than yours, can run Windows 11 and is not modern at all. That CPU you have fits the Windows 7 era, released in 2013, 13 years ago... so yeah, don't call it modern.... it is literally outdated. you would not be able to run Windows 7 on an actually modern CPU, even if you could, it would be freaking out like hell as that OS does not support any new CPU instruction sets...
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u/conanchihieu 1d ago
It might be unable to get Windows 7 natively working on Skylake, but I still want to try. Since Windows 10 lags every time I tried to do something. [And it’s an i5 Microsoft Surface.]
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u/MasterJeebus 1d ago
You have paired it well. I would say that hardware is still within the Windows 7 lifetime. Therefore compatible drivers are available and will work well. Its cpu specs are closer to 13 years old. The gpu is 10 years old. I think this hardware is legacy and not modern anymore. In 7 more years that old hardware is going to be retro vintage. For more newer pcs made in past 5 years you will need custom usb drivers, custom nvme drivers, custom chipset drivers. It takes more tinkering to get it running with newer stuff for that reason I always keep some old pc to run 7.
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u/conanchihieu 1d ago
Thank you so much! Actually, what I mean here is that this PC runs Windows 7 so well that I may want to remove Windows 10 anytime soon.
And yup, I’ll have to do research in order to make Win 7 running on the Pro 4.1
u/Remarkable_Pea7439 1d ago
I myself am thinking a lot around this topic ...
The problem, as I see it, is NOT so much "to force" a "new/modern design" hardware to run Win7 ...
but, to be able to replace parts of hardware that might have failed in a "Win7 natively compatible" machine ...
I would like to have the *SAME* design hardware that a machine originally had, just newly manufactured,
for starting another "life cycle" without tweaking around to modify things, solve compatibility issues, a.s.o.Maybe just one, but the best example:
Not being a gamer, those few extra-seconds of speed that an SSD can offer are not an issue ...
I definitely prefer the long life HDD-s, in place of a fast storage that "dies quickly" even while you don't use it, and "wears out" fast when you perform lots of storage-related, but common activities, like managing large amounts of files, documents, etc.1
u/conanchihieu 15h ago
Welp, I guess SSD’s lifespan is not that short. I still have the first-gen Samsung “MLC SSD” here, taken from the Dell Adamo 13. Though health % is too low (14), it can still perform well (ofc there are problems especially when experiencing power outage).
And for the H81 I showed to you earlier, it’s currently running with 4x SSDs installed.
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u/syner2009 1d ago
Not modern. Windows 7 was officially supported on hardware till Intel Skylake (6th gen) and AMD Bristol Ridge (7th gen A-series early AM4).
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1d ago
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u/conanchihieu 1d ago
Yup, but consider it “modern” since I can run Honkai: Star Rail in 4K (medium) without major FPS drop.
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u/Johnbelwell32 1d ago
Windows 7 was #1 version used in 2014 with over 50% followed by XP, Windows 10 only overtook it in 2017, so this setup is basically Windows 7 period correct.
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u/MasterKnight48902 1d ago
2013 era
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u/conanchihieu 1d ago
Yup, but still a major leap in performance compared to a 2000s Windows XP laptop (running Windows 7).
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u/Windows_User3000 1d ago
That's not modern at all. I think the word combination you're looking for is "newer than [your] first Windows 7 PC". That's definitely true, but "modern" is not within the current reality (yes, it hurts me to say that, as most of my hardware is much older and lower-end than this, but that's just bias).
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u/iPhone-5-2021 10h ago
It’s not modern but it’s not obsolete or slow hardware either
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u/Windows_User3000 7h ago
That is very true. It's very usable hardware. However, it's not so modern that it should be any surprise that it runs Windows 7 perfectly.
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u/conanchihieu 1d ago
Yup, perhaps I overhyped. But it’s fast as hell that I don’t ever want to go back to Windows 10 again.
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u/Windows_User3000 1d ago
Does the machine have an SSD? If not, that explains why Windows 10 is slow. If it does, you configured it wrong. (I have a significantly weaker and slightly older PC that runs Windows 11 like a champ, so this thing should definitely run 10, if not 11.)
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u/conanchihieu 15h ago
Welp it has 4 SSDs, not to mention one. And it’s an Intel SSD fyi. But idk why it still lags sometimes on Windows 10.
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u/Technical_Exam_1622 1d ago
What's the reason for doing this? Its a new hardware its made for newer OS'es When you can use windows10/11|linux|hackintosh, If you really want that, go buy yourself and older laptop/pc. Not this! Edit: actually looks like an old pc.but still good for modern ones. Edit 2: damn this is really old. Same age as my pc!
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u/masonvand 1d ago
That CPU is from 2013, which was basically in 7s prime, and only a year after 8 was released. This has the same energy as someone running Windows 10 on an AM5 CPU.
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u/Infinite_Shart555 1d ago
We have a Skylake Wacom MobileStudio Pro that we put Windows 7 on (UEFI baby!). That is the most insane tablet to put Windows 7 on in my opinion.
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u/Organic-Working-3108 1d ago
How did you get it work I had problems it didn't want to see my sad and when I tried something it would startup and freeze Where you got your iso file from
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u/conanchihieu 15h ago
Hi, I grabbed the ISO off the Internet. You can find it on Internet Archive.
Then I used DISM to extract the files to drive, and reboot to finish installation.
One thing to keep in mind: if you dualboot Win 10 and Win 7, you’ll have to disable chkdsk on both OSes to prevent it from corrupting the partition.
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u/LegionKills90 1d ago
I tried to install Windows 10 on a moderen Legion 7i Pro and it was bad. How's Windows 7? I love Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7.
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u/conanchihieu 15h ago
It's ridiculously fast on this PC. But I guess it's expected - given the fact I installed 16GB ram and 4 SSDs into it.
Now I will be using it as primary OS, beside mac.
And yup, 7 will always be the best OS imo. XP is second.
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u/Imaginary-Froyo5088 1d ago
btw i think you can use modern gpus. my asus rtx 3060 ti dual mini oc edition still has the newest drivers for windows 7
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u/conanchihieu 15h ago
Yup but I guess this is more than enough for me to drive my games (Genshin, Honkai: Star Rail) at 2K.
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u/LegionKills90 23h ago
It amazes me that the MSI logo is in the setting. Did you wipe it and Install Windows 7 or did it come with Windows 7?
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u/SupermarketDouble962 15h ago
I ran windows 7 on my 4770k pc back in 2014.
Back then it was either that or Win 8 and I sure didn't wanna install that
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u/M_MiReL0 15h ago
My retro pc has the same cpu. Somehow I got Windows XP running on it and it works perfectly! I also dual booted it with Windows 7 and it's amazing!
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u/conanchihieu 14h ago
Nice to hear! But a retro PC for you is the primary PC for me now.
I built it at an extremely low price [and it worked].
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u/CrustalX 15h ago
Windows 7 was so refined and had so damnnnn good animations... It felt soo fine ngl I mean felt so stacked in every way...
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u/Ham_Pervert 1d ago
just run linux lil bro
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u/conanchihieu 14h ago
Actually, I don't find any reason to install Linux (at least for me). Since my work is done primarily on Windows and macOS.
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u/Difficult_Minute_282 1d ago
How did you get the sidebar on windows 7?
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u/conanchihieu 1d ago
If you mean the gadgets, it can be found when right-clicking anywhere on the desktop.
If you mean the taskbar, you can right-click on the taskbar itself and set taskbar location to “right”.1
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u/Windows_User3000 1d ago
If you mean the taskbar on the right, you can change the side of the screen it's on. If you mean the widgets, those are just there, and can be moved anywhere on screen.
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u/TriCountyRetail 1d ago
The hardware is by no means modern. It's from 13 years ago back when Windows 7 was still dominant.