Windows 7 compatibility? (Ryzen 5 / Intel Coffee Lake)

Fallengod

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2001
5,908
19
81
Looking for someone experienced to answer this. Is it at all possible to use current gen Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel i5-9600k/8700 on windows 7? I like my windows 7 and still rocking my old i5-2500k but I am wanting to upgrade soon here. Is it going to be at all feasible to use windows 7 on lets say Ryzen 3600 or Intel Coffee lake or no?

I know win7 is EOL soon but I dont need updates or anything. I have used windows 10 and just dont like it. I guess I might be forced to upgrade soon.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I just installed Win 7 Ultimate on a Ryzen 5 1600, yes, it can be done but you will have to jump through a few hoops. The main issue is AMD's USB chipset is 3.0 based and not natively supported in the install program. My workaround was a PS/2/USB keyboard adapter or if you have an old PS/2 keyboard laying around you can just use that. This is assuming your Mobo has a PS/2 port. Then I got the "device driver missing" error since I was using a USB stick with an ISO on it. For that I used a small utility from MSI that will add the needed drivers to let install begin, my Mobo, (Asrock B450) also had such a utility but it did not work properly, Gigabyte has a utility but it did not work either. What CPU will you be using on the new install?.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,208
4,940
136
I know win7 is EOL soon but I dont need updates or anything. I have used windows 10 and just dont like it. I guess I might be forced to upgrade soon.

Oh, do you not have your computer connected to the internet? Because that's the only situation where you "don't need updates". No updates means known security holes won't get fixed.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,509
29,090
146
I just installed Win 7 Ultimate on a Ryzen 5 1600, yes, it can be done but you will have to jump through a few hoops. The main issue is AMD's USB chipset is 3.0 based and not natively supported in the install program. My workaround was a PS/2/USB keyboard adapter or if you have an old PS/2 keyboard laying around you can just use that. This is assuming your Mobo has a PS/2 port. Then I got the "device driver missing" error since I was using a USB stick with an ISO on it. For that I used a small utility from MSI that will add the needed drivers to let install begin, my Mobo, (Asrock B450) also had such a utility but it did not work properly, Gigabyte has a utility but it did not work either. What CPU will you be using on the new install?.

this. You have to deal with a lot of janky hardware compatibility issues just to get an install going....and then the drivers and of course, you are sacrificing a lot of performance by sticking to Win 7, but your use case is your use case.

I tend to install 10 via Win 7 if I'm doing something clean, so I've had this USB/OS2 port issue to deal with, and it's really kind of infuriating to realize that, in 2016+, you suddenly find yourself hobbled by the extremely temporary need for a piece of 1980s interface tech, lol. (yes there are sometimes ways around this, but you have to plan ahead)
 

mopardude87

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2018
3,348
1,575
96
I had to hop around some forums but i ran into a forum dedicated to W7 drivers for a Asrock Z370m-Pro 4 motherboard. All the motherboard sites have deliberately appeared to remove their W7 drivers but a dedicated person managed to save a zip with all the drivers. Once i enabled ps/2 emulation for a usb 3.0 port the install went as smooth as any other installation ever. I think if i had to use the HD630 onboard i would have had a issue but if you got a dedicated gpu like i did then its absolutely no issue there either. W7 ran just fine and any so called performance lost which i think is a bunch of bull was not to be seen. Maybe i don't bench games but what i play and do the games ran equally as well as they did on W10.

Yeah Microsoft is forcing you into a upgrade, it may sound like a conspiracy but when some sites have W7 drivers then suddenly not then yeah. Only issue i had with my W7 experiment was that it was EOL soon. I play mainly games that are just as fine on W7 then they are on W10. Currently for me being on W10 its been absolutely fine as of 1903 update but upgrading it to from a W7 install gave me lots of issues. Best to do a fresh install but maybe my experience was different then others?
 

Fallengod

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2001
5,908
19
81
I just installed Win 7 Ultimate on a Ryzen 5 1600, yes, it can be done but you will have to jump through a few hoops. The main issue is AMD's USB chipset is 3.0 based and not natively supported in the install program. My workaround was a PS/2/USB keyboard adapter or if you have an old PS/2 keyboard laying around you can just use that. This is assuming your Mobo has a PS/2 port. Then I got the "device driver missing" error since I was using a USB stick with an ISO on it. For that I used a small utility from MSI that will add the needed drivers to let install begin, my Mobo, (Asrock B450) also had such a utility but it did not work properly, Gigabyte has a utility but it did not work either. What CPU will you be using on the new install?.


I have been trying to figure out what CPU to go with. I have always been in the intel camp, but after doing some reading it seems like the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a pretty damn good bang 4 buck at $200. That seems to be and at the same speed as the i7-8700 and uses less power.

I still game a little but not much anymore. I do some desktop multi-tasking with many windows open sometimes. I run dual monitors so sometimes I game and have other programs I am watching on the second monitor so I am trying to decide which is better at that(which I think is the ryzen). I have not gotten into the motherboard research or which platform is more stable yet but....

I guess I would prefer to go intel but I can tell it will definitely cost more if I do. It will be an i7-8700(non-k) or i5-9600k if I do.

In terms of this topic, I just didnt care for win10. I like my windows 7. I may be forced to upgrade soon though I suppose. Not sure its worth the headaches. I would be worried about driver issues down the line if I tried to go the win7 route. I have had my i5-2500k since 2011 and it has been plenty fast for me.
 

ehume

Golden Member
Nov 6, 2009
1,511
73
91
I like my windows 7.
Many people do. The Win 10 UI had its origins in phonespace, crappy for dektop use,
I may be forced to upgrade soon though I suppose. Not sure its worth the headaches.
It's not. But Win7 will be EOL in Jan and you can still transition for free. As someone who has transitioned from Win7 to Win10, to me it seems like a downgrade.
 
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IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,323
4,904
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Never tried it myself, but there are apparently third-party apps you can use to make the Windows 10 UI closer to what you are used to with Windows 7:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-make-windows-10-look-like-windows-7/

I just removed all the bloat and customized my UI without third party apps and I hardly notice a difference. You can also disable a bunch of stuff via registry tweaks or policy settings.
 
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BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I just installed Win 7 Ultimate on a Ryzen 5 1600, yes, it can be done but you will have to jump through a few hoops. The main issue is AMD's USB chipset is 3.0 based and not natively supported in the install program. My workaround was a PS/2/USB keyboard adapter or if you have an old PS/2 keyboard laying around you can just use that. This is assuming your Mobo has a PS/2 port. Then I got the "device driver missing" error since I was using a USB stick with an ISO on it. For that I used a small utility from MSI that will add the needed drivers to let install begin, my Mobo, (Asrock B450) also had such a utility but it did not work properly, Gigabyte has a utility but it did not work either. What CPU will you be using on the new install?.
I had to hop around some forums but i ran into a forum dedicated to W7 drivers for a Asrock Z370m-Pro 4 motherboard. All the motherboard sites have deliberately appeared to remove their W7 drivers but a dedicated person managed to save a zip with all the drivers. Once i enabled ps/2 emulation for a usb 3.0 port the install went as smooth as any other installation ever. I think if i had to use the HD630 onboard i would have had a issue but if you got a dedicated gpu like i did then its absolutely no issue there either. W7 ran just fine and any so called performance lost which i think is a bunch of bull was not to be seen. Maybe i don't bench games but what i play and do the games ran equally as well as they did on W10.

Yeah Microsoft is forcing you into a upgrade, it may sound like a conspiracy but when some sites have W7 drivers then suddenly not then yeah. Only issue i had with my W7 experiment was that it was EOL soon. I play mainly games that are just as fine on W7 then they are on W10. Currently for me being on W10 its been absolutely fine as of 1903 update but upgrading it to from a W7 install gave me lots of issues. Best to do a fresh install but maybe my experience was different then others?
Yea, I forgot, a few Mobo's, (I think they are Intel-based?) will allow you to emulate USB to PS/2 so that takes care of most of it, with AMD's USB not supporting installing off the thumb drive I had to modify the ISO using the MSI tool. Even then I didn't get full mouse/keyboard control until I loaded the chipset drivers, the MSI utility only allowed the OS to see the drive. Anand has a full article devoted to this that suggested installing 7 on a different machine, (less drivers) and swapping the hard disk into the build system. I think if your going Ryzen just use the MSI and PS/2 keyboard is your best bet.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Oh, do you not have your computer connected to the internet? Because that's the only situation where you "don't need updates". No updates means known security holes won't get fixed.
Yea, when I finally got going Win 7 downloaded 186 updates, too many in fact, it choked sometime through all that and reverted back to pre-update status. I then downloaded a more manageable 35-40 at a time and got them in, OP, you will want these updates, most were security-related.