The RAMpocalypse is hitting enthusiasts hard. We recently reported on the crisis seeping down to affect supplies of the decades-old DDR2 gen RAM. So it comes as no huge surprise that a well-known tech tinkerer has been inspired to look at the viability of Windows 11 on an even more ancient DDR1 platform. Step forward Omores, who demonstrates Microsoft’s newest OS running on a Core 2 Quad Q6600, using a DDR1 motherboard, supported by an ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP graphics card. “The best part,” says our hacky hero. “It’s completely stable.”
DDR1 first became available to PC builders and DIYers at the turn of the century, replacing the aging SDR SDRAM. The DDR1 rollout began with data rates like DDR-200 and DDR-266, being the preferred choice over older platforms featuring PC100 or PC133 SDRAM. We don’t know the rated speed of the DDR1 sticks Omores used, as it isn’t shown, but DDR-400 was the best official non-overclocked standard (a couple of years later). It would make sense to use the best memory on a cherry-picked older system like this.
Other key components of this age-defying Windows 11 PC build include an ASRock ConRoe 865PE motherboard. This is regarded as something of a legendary board as it bridged generations and allowed folks to use the latest Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad chips from Intel while keeping their DDR1 RAM and AGP graphics cards. It isn’t only today that PC DIYers have cared deeply about component longevity.
The last significant component in this DDR1 system that we were told about was the ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP graphics card. This seems to have required the most wrangling to make it work with Windows 11 / modern software. However, Omores reveals that “With some 'hacking' ... AGP 8X is fully functional and H.264 hardware decoding is active.” The key was finding, then crowbarring, ATI’s Windows 7 64-bit drivers from 2012 onto the system.
Once some details of the setup were confirmed in the video using tools like CPU-Z and GPU-Z, Omores showed the ‘fresh’ Windows 11 DDR1 system running modern browsers, with embedded video and hardware decoding. A handful of games and 3D benchmarks were also shown running without glitches. Last but not least, the system did indeed run Crysis.
In a later comment on the Reddit post, Omores elaborates on how to install the ATi driver on Windows 11 and shares a more detailed video link. “I like that Windows 11 is rock stable on these older systems with no UEFI whatsoever and only ACPI 1.1,” adds the adventurer in older PC tech. “A lesser-known fact is that Windows 11 actually officially supports BIOS systems via Windows 11 IoT, so it's kind of expected to run smoothly.”
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
Windows 11 runs better on some old hardware than Windows 10 did. Both suffer the same problem on older hardware and that's the bloat, remove that and it runs surprisingly well.Reply
Microsoft lacks a little vision here. They should be catering to older hardware enthusiasts and low end hardware enthusiasts a little more than they do. Linux does a better job here and Microsoft risks losing more users over time as Linux continually gets better even at running Windows software.
Reply The fun thing to do is install windows on a supported build then take the hd to an older PC and see what happensAdmin said:Enthusiast demos Microsoft’s newest OS running 'completely stable' on a Core 2 Quad Q6600, using a DDR1 motherboard, supported by an ATi Radeon HD 4650 AGP graphics card.
RAM crisis provokes enthusiast to try Windows 11 on DDR1-era hardware — other key vintage components included the Core 2 Q6600 and ATI Radeon HD 46... : Read more
Reply I absolutely agree. If you're using older hardware, Linux is the way to go. You can game rather easily on older hardware using Linux because of the great support nowadays.Zaranthos said:Windows 11 runs better on some old hardware than Windows 10 did. Both suffer the same problem on older hardware and that's the bloat, remove that and it runs surprisingly well.
Microsoft lacks a little vision here. They should be catering to older hardware enthusiasts and low end hardware enthusiasts a little more than they do. Linux does a better job here and Microsoft risks losing more users over time as Linux continually gets better even at running Windows software.
Reply While it's rumoured the official TPM 2.0 requirement for Window 11 was friends helping friends sell hardware, since then inflated prices have made replacing old computers more difficult than expected.Zaranthos said:Microsoft lacks a little vision here. They should be catering to older hardware enthusiasts and low end hardware enthusiasts a little more than they do.
I my opinion it would generate a lot of goodwill and some revenue for Microsoft to note many customers due to the AI buildout are experiencing difficulties buying new hardware and then announce "Windows 11 Retro" supported to run on old hardware.
To avoid lawsuits, the Windows Retro version might include the warning "This product does not make use of modern security features provided by TPM 2.0 and may not be as secure as other editions of Microsoft Windows."
Reply Latest Win11 will technically run on Nehalem, but ordinary users require Intel 8th gen (desktop, a few 7th gen mobile SKUs work). Getting rid of very capable 6th/7th gen was a big blow, done for security and performance reasons (they don't support MBEC/VBS/HVCI in hardware and must emulate it).Zaranthos said:Microsoft lacks a little vision here. They should be catering to older hardware enthusiasts and low end hardware enthusiasts a little more than they do. Linux does a better job here and Microsoft risks losing more users over time as Linux continually gets better even at running Windows software
Microsoft was fine risking the hit to user count to shut down some pathways for malware/ransomware. If they create e-waste and second class OS users in the process, so be it.
Win11 (not debloated) will technically run on 4 GB RAM. People recommend 16 GB. This is not outrageous, but it's a bad time to need more RAM. You don't get a choice for soldered machines.
What's done is done. Microsoft should continue to stretch out Win10 support if they want to be helpful. If the hardware requirements get raised again for a Win11 service pack or Win12 in the future, it will look really silly if the likes of the i9-9900K and i9-10900K can't run it. It's long been suspected that there would be some Win12 requirements to support AI, such as an NPU, but unreleased Nova Lake will be the first desktop generation with at least 50 TOPS. So Win11 in its current form may last a long time. Microsoft is either rethinking its Copilot push or getting better at hiding it.
Maybe Microsoft should try a different strategy. Go ahead and make Win12 the AI OS of their (not your) dreams and default on all prebuilt Nova Lake and newer systems, but keep supporting Win11 in parallel for a long time. Think 2040+. The OSes could look nearly identical to keep things simple. This might be the same as Win11 vs. Win11 (Copilot+ sticker) now that I think of it.
Reply Quite a while ago I took an old Raspberry Pi and set it up for my mom to play some simple games on. While I was at it I loaded some random games for my nieces and nephews (her grand kids) just by searching the package manager. The amount of free Linux games is mind boggling, and many far exceeded the capabilities of the Pi I was setting up at the time. Not only will Linux now run most Windows games pretty well it also has a pretty incredible selection of free games.JohnnyNismo said:I absolutely agree. If you're using older hardware, Linux is the way to go. You can game rather easily on older hardware using Linux because of the great support nowadays.
Lately I've been playing mostly older games and realizing how much cheaper it is to find quality older games that don't require new hardware to enjoy. There are some very good older games that have been modernized with improved graphics or performance improvements making them modern gems.
Reply Agreed. They should also work a little harder making performance improvements to Windows, especially Windows updates that seriously degrade performance over time. They should also prioritize performance over stupid features most people don't need. I don't need Xbox crap on my PC, nor do I need things like Bing, weather, news, most notifications, suggestions in my start menu, etc. Get back to making an operating system and not an all-in-one software package bloated marketing campaign. Feature creep easily becomes bloat.usertests said:Win11 (not debloated) will technically run on 4 GB RAM. People recommend 16 GB. This is not outrageous, but it's a bad time to need more RAM. You don't get a choice for soldered machines.
What's done is done. Microsoft should continue to stretch out Win10 support if they want to be helpful.