Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements

Atomic77 · Aug 8, 2021

Hey y'all I believe my computers are windows 11 ready. my HP LAPTOP Has a Ryzen 5 in it and its 1 year old and I also have a Dell AIO with a 11th generation core I7 processor in it not even a year old yet. laptop was bought in July last year desktop was bought this year.

jh30uk · Aug 9, 2021

Haswell onward all support Intel's CPU TPM but the Mobo makers need to add to the bios.

SuperConker · Aug 9, 2021

That sadly won't help much when such CPU's are deemed incompatible by Microsoft.

6391mb · Aug 9, 2021

SuperConker said:
That sadly won't help much when such CPU's are deemed incompatible by Microsoft.

There will be a crack released somewhere/sometime if your PC doesn't meet the MS minimum assuming folks have a burning desire to run 11. In my case, I find 11 underwhelming and running it on a spare (non-approved by MS) CPU.

Always remember the old DRM fiasco - red rag to a bull for the techies!!!

sgage · Aug 9, 2021

SuperConker said:
That is going to be a big fat no... Microsoft don't really care if those CPU's are compatible as you can see here:

Microsoft is ignoring your complaints as its readies Windows 11 - Gamers Grade

Microsoft is sticking to its guns with the minimum requirements. Following the announcement of Windows 11 earlier this summer, which will replace Windows 10 as the flagship operating system from the company this autumn, Microsoft revealed the specifications required to run the new software on...

gamersgrade.com

Thanks for replying. That article is nothing new, nor is it definitive. I don't think that MS is going to budge on the TPM and SB requirements, but they themselves stated that they were considering allowing 7th gen Intel. I'd like to know where they are in their deliberations.

f14tomcat · Aug 9, 2021

sgage said:
Thanks for replying. That article is nothing new, nor is it definitive. I don't think that MS is going to budge on the TPM and SB requirements, but they themselves stated that they were considering allowing 7th gen Intel. I'd like to know where they are in their deliberations.

Me, too. I'm not anywhere near turning my i7-7700k into a boat anchor.

6391mb · Aug 9, 2021

f14tomcat said:
Me, too. I'm not anywhere near turning my i7-7700k into a boat anchor.

What it comes down to in my book is when 11 is finally released, what will there be in the box that I need/want over my existing 10 set-up.

Dru2 · Aug 9, 2021

tinmar49 said:
To get the W11 from Microsoft via the insider program, I enabled eTPM in the bios and setup bit locker drive encryption and secure boot. The drive encription key is in my Misrosoft account if I need to retrieve it. I now have to put in 2 passwords before getting to desktop and the pin number. It is not too much of a chore and as W11 starts faster, the total elapsed time it much the same.

As a BitLocker user, the ONLY time I need to re-input my BitLocker key is if I update/make changes to the BIOS, or do major hardware changes. Outside of that, BitLocker never asks for a key on each boot. That would be a major annoyance that would have me running away from BitLocker!

Currently, you are NOT required to use BitLocker when enabling TPM. In fact, I've seen nothing from Microsoft stating Windows 11 has to use BitLocker, only that Windows 11 needs TPM. Further, enabling TPM does not "automatically" enable/force BitLocker. In fact, I have TPM (firmware) enabled on my backup desktop running Windows 11, and BitLocker is not enabled on any of my drives (to include the OS drive).

BTW, the easiest way to tell if a drive is encrypted (BitLocker) would be to look at the drive in Explorer and if a lock icon is next to it, the drive is encrypted. If no lock appears, the drive is NOT encrypted (BitLocker).

This is my main rig running Windows 10 where I have TPM enabled, and use BitLocker. Note the lock icon...

Backup system running Windows 11 where I have TPM enabled, but have no BitLocker drives...

As you can see enabling BitLocker does not auto turn on BitLocker. My point? Enabling TPM does not require BitLocker.

All that said, this is where we are now, who knows what the final OS will require, or how it will be configured to use/not use BitLocker. There is high speculation prebuilt Windows 11 machines may ship with BitLocker enabled. But the current situation does not require BitLocker be used.

One other thing as well... BitLocker does incur a performance hit (about 1%). You can test this by running SSD/HDD performance tools with and without BitLocker. On my machine I calculated my hit to be about 1.2%

Is there a noticeable performance impact when BitLocker is enabled on a computer?

Typically, there's a small performance overhead, often in single-digit percentages, which is relative to the throughput of the storage operations on which it needs to operate.

Source: BitLocker deployment and administration FAQ (Windows 10) - Microsoft 365 Security

Hope this helps :)

Anibor_11 · Aug 9, 2021

Dru2 said:
There is high speculation prebuilt Windows 11 machines may ship with BitLocker enabled. But the current situation does not require BitLocker be used.

Hope this helps :)

Not new. For years, some "business" laptops have shipped with BitLocker "parcially" enabled [ex. Lenovo Thinkpads]. To "fully" enable it, it´s necessary to login to a MS account. But Bitlocker can always be disabled, either if it is parcially or fully enabled. TPM has nothing to do with this.

Dru2 · Aug 9, 2021

badrobot said:
fTPM and PTT are causing enough confusion... we don't need another one... haha... :)

Simply put "BIOS" (firmware) TPM is PTT and the motherboard socket version is discrete TPM. That's how I'd distinguish the two :)

But yes, thanks to Windows 11 many are now dazed and confused on this whole TPM mess. The sad part is many are buying TPM modules they don't need because most systems since 2013 already have PTT. It just needs to be enabled in the BIOS.

And the fact that a motherboard has an "empty" TPM module slot does NOT mean the board doesn't support PTT, it simply means the board is capable of using a discrete module for those that have even higher security needs. For Windows 11, PTT is all that Microsoft requires!

My two cents :)

Dru2 · Aug 9, 2021

Anibor_11 said:
TPM has nothing to do with this.

Uh, yeah, I thought that's what I said :wink:

And yes, my 2017 Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga X1m (gen 2) did come with BitLocker enabled. And yes, the key is in my Microsoft Account

tinmar49 · Aug 9, 2021

I can't remember where I read that bitlocker was a requirement, I had to de encrypt the SSD before partitioning it using mini tool partition. I also set up secure boot at the same time. I was lucky to have had advise on the forum about TPM and did not end up wasting money on an overpriced module.

f14tomcat · Aug 9, 2021

Secure Boot capable is a requirement, never heard that running Bitlocker was.

BunnyJ · Aug 9, 2021

f14tomcat said:
Secure Boot capable is a requirement, never heard that running Bitlocker was.

It's not. TPM 2 and secure boot are but that's it.

Dru2 · Aug 9, 2021

BunnyJ said:
It's not. TPM 2 and secure boot are but that's it.

That's my understanding as well.

f14tomcat said:
Secure Boot capable is a requirement, never heard that running Bitlocker was.

There issue is most equate TPM with BitLocker; thus the feeling is "if TPM is enabled BitLocker must be used". That's not true.

f14tomcat · Aug 9, 2021

Dru2 said:
That's my understanding as well.

There issue is most equate TPM with BitLocker; thus the feeling is "if TPM is enabled BitLocker must be used". That's not true.

They are both security features, but that's where all similarity ends.

badrobot · Aug 9, 2021

Dru2 said:
Simply put "BIOS" (firmware) TPM is PTT and the motherboard socket version is discrete TPM. That's how I'd distinguish the two :)

But yes, thanks to Windows 11 many are now dazed and confused on this whole TPM mess. The sad part is many are buying TPM modules they don't need because most systems since 2013 already have PTT. It just needs to be enabled in the BIOS.

And the fact that a motherboard has an "empty" TPM module slot does NOT mean the board doesn't support PTT, it simply means the board is capable of using a discrete module for those that have even higher security needs. For Windows 11, PTT is all that Microsoft requires!

My two cents :)

Isn't PTT an intel's version of AMD's fTPM? That's how I distinguish the two.

SuperConker · Aug 9, 2021

sgage said:
Thanks for replying. That article is nothing new, nor is it definitive. I don't think that MS is going to budge on the TPM and SB requirements, but they themselves stated that they were considering allowing 7th gen Intel. I'd like to know where they are in their deliberations.

It's written after they said that they "might" allow 7th gen Intel (and 1st gen Ryzen) CPU's
(and they are now saying that they are "sticking to the requirements").

I take it they have decided not to support said CPU's after all because of that.

sgage · Aug 9, 2021

SuperConker said:
It's written after they said that they "might" allow 7th gen Intel (and 1st gen Ryzen) CPU's
(and they are now saying that they are "sticking to the requirements").

I take it they have decided not to support said CPU's after all because of that.

The article was written quite recently. The quote from the MS spokesperson is quite old. In any case, I would like to see a frank declaration one way or the other, because if there is no chance that this machine is going to be able to get Win11 (Core i5 7400), then, rather than wasting my time, I will get off the bandwagon and just wait until my next computer purchase.

Dru2 · Aug 9, 2021

badrobot said:
Isn't PTT an intel's version of AMD's fTPM? That's how I distinguish the two.

I thought Intel was out first, but can't speak on AMD since I don't use their CPU's or boards. But Intel's Platform Trust Technology was released in 2013, so....