Best bang for the buck system you could build with native Win7 support?

[SluggerB]

What would be the latest rev of hardware and CPU technology that would natively support Windows 7? I am fine slip streaming in USB3 drivers if the mobo only has those, but I am leary about building a ryzen system that has to rely on unofficial drivers from random message board posts

My primary usage is generally office type PC stuff,. but I run a few VM's so I would want to go heavy on the RAM (like 32gb which is heavy to me) but also light on the wallet. I already have a spare HDD so that could be left out of the equation.

Any build suggestions?

[stj]

why dont you run Linux and then virtualize win7?

[Uranium-235]

for intel: Skylake
for amd: no idea

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

for intel: Skylake
for amd: no idea

I never realized Ryzen CPU based systems had no official Win7 support....I've only set up one or two.....for gamers. They ran 10.

[Uranium-235]

skylake is the last one that has intel HD support. So, some earlier graphics cards can be used on further CPU's, but win7 nixed win7 updates for cpu's passed kaby lake

for both further, you can technically install win7, but you will eventually loose native USB support. A USB card should work, and some bios's have an options to use ECHI instead of XCHI (USB 3.0)

Also no motherboard drivers, and lack of extended support. You're going to get a lot of missing drivers in the device manager, and no software to install for them

[Dan81]

The FX series should have support for Windows 7. Other than that, pretty sure both sides axed Windows 7.

[Uranium-235]

Originally Posted by Dan81

The FX series should have support for Windows 7. Other than that, pretty sure both sides axed Windows 7.

I think you mean am3+ fx. In fact I think all am3+ and lower still have full 7 support. I'm guessing, anyways

[momaka]

For best bang4buck, I say grab one of those dual socket 1366 Xeon workstations used. Two high-end 6-core socket 1366 Xeons, for example, can run close to the same speed as a modern last-gen i7. And those workstations often support 3-ch RAM... and lots of it (which tends to be cheap too, due to using registered DIMMS.) Many of those socket 1366 workstations even come with Win 7 Pro COA. So you just slap an HDD or SSD in there and Windows 7 will go on there without any fuss. Now, you may not get the latest CPU instructions and for USB 3, you might need an add-on card... but apart from that, they are excellent bang for the buck. Only downside is they are a bit... BIG. And heavy.

[SluggerB]

Originally Posted by stj

why dont you run Linux and then virtualize win7?

I played with that idea but my Linux skills are atrocious. But I still haven't completely ruled it out

[SluggerB]

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

I think you mean am3+ fx. In fact I think all am3+ and lower still have full 7 support. I'm guessing, anyways

Rec's for an affordable, available AM3+ motherboard? I value stability over raw performance

Edit: nvm, just saw the ASRock 970M Pro3 AM3+ is back in stock at newegg for $65. Just ordered it. Pairing that with 32gb of RMA and the best CPU it can support (looks like a
Phenom II X6?) should be a big upgrade over what I currently have and keep me trucking on Windows 7 for a long time.

[SluggerB]

Everything finally showed up I should have the time to build in a week or so. I'm going to repurpose my Phenom CPU, HDD's and Power Supply given that chip prices seem to be crazy high right now, the HDD's are less than a year old, and the Power Supply works fine.

After this the only component that will be original from this build back in 06(?) will be the CPU cooler

[momaka]

^ Nice.

Maybe we will see it in the Post your system thread too when it's done?

And yeah, prices do seem to be a bit high right now... which is good - more reasons for people to hold onto and use their old PCs, thus reducing eWaste somewhat.