What modern hardware is good for upgrading my Win7 rig?

I want to upgrade but keep Windows 7 for the foreseeable future. The problem is, I now can't trust modern hardware not to cause problems.

What's some good modern hardware that is known to be compatible with Windows 7? Given that this forum is still alive and several of you are still active here, what do you Win7 gurus got rolling?

Is legacy mode in BIOS mandatory for being able to boot into Windows 7? If so, what brand motherboard is most likely to have this? Any particular ones I should avoid?

Note I am not installing Windows 7 but just plugging my OS SSD into a new, modern rig. This worked perfectly fine when I upgraded to a 7th gen i5 box.

I was also told to avoid 12th gen and newer because Win7 doesn't recognize E-cores or something.

Welcoming clarity and advice from all you gurus.

Thanks!

So I should stick to Intel 300-series motherboards? I saw a cheap Dell Optiplex with a 10th gen i5, should I go for it or avoid?

Any good custom PC builder sites? I intend to go barebones since I already have all the components except the case, mobo and CPU.

Can you read my signature below? I list the last CPU and chipset motherboard manufacture's supported with Windows 7. Generally 2017. Like the first quarter of 2017 if I'm not mistaken. Could be the third quarter of 2017. You could use more modern hardware too, but you're then having to use hacked drivers.

I'll just post my signature here since I don't think guests can see signatures let alone the avatar.



A very versatile and powerful alternative to Windows Search.
Highest motherboard support for Windows 7: Intel socket and chipset 2066, X299. AMD chipset X470. All for Gigabyte motherboards. Others are probably the same. Windows 7 laptops.

What makes you think I'm a guest? I've been here for 10 years. :)

All I see in your signature is an ad for an alternative to Windows Search and "Windows 7 laptops" which I don't need. I'm seeking a desktop.

I don't mind using hacked drivers as long as they work, but I need to know whatever I need to know in advance before just impulsively buying hardware, paying expensive shipping fee only to find out that it's unusable for reasons I could've found out if I just bothered to ask, so here I am.

So far, I'm getting the impression that anything after 11th gen is to be avoided due to Win7 not recognizing E-cores properly and that I should avoid motherboards without CSM/legacy boot support, but how do I know in advance which mobo has CSM and which doesn't? Does this only apply to installing Win7 as opposed to just booting into the SSD that I already have my Win7 OS installed on?

BlueBonnett said:

What makes you think I'm a guest? I've been here for 10 years. :)

All I see in your signature is an ad for an alternative to Windows Search and "Windows 7 laptops" which I don't need. I'm seeking a desktop.

I don't mind using hacked drivers as long as they work, but I need to know whatever I need to know in advance before just impulsively buying hardware, paying expensive shipping fee only to find out that it's unusable for reasons I could've found out if I just bothered to ask, so here I am.

So far, I'm getting the impression that anything after 11th gen is to be avoided due to Win7 not recognizing E-cores properly and that I should avoid motherboards without CSM/legacy boot support, but how do I know in advance which mobo has CSM and which doesn't? Does this only apply to installing Win7 as opposed to just booting into the SSD that I already have my Win7 OS installed on?

I wasn't going to address this, but feel I need to.

BlueBonnett said:

What makes you think I'm a guest? I've been here for 10 years. :)

I wasn't referring to you...


There are many others all around the world that visit this site. Thus I wanted to make sure others that visit can read what I had put in my signature since guests can't read signatures due to forum permissions...

BlueBonnett said:

All I see in your signature is an ad for an alternative to Windows Search and "Windows 7 laptops" which I don't need. I'm seeking a desktop.

That's all you see? An Ad? Really?! Get your eyes checked I thinks... And it's not an Ad.

I posted what chipset and CPU socket motherboard manufactures stopped supporting at for Windows 7 compatibility. It's clear you don't know what that is. Basically, you're looking at hardware from 2017 when motherboard manufactures stopped supporting Windows 7. Or you can go hacked drivers for newer hardware. The choice is yours. Refer to SIW2.

I didn't mean the latest official ones. My current system is circa 2017 and doesn't officially support Windows 7 yet it worked fine. I am looking to upgrade, so all of the best officially-compatible systems would be out.

Can someone answer my question, do I require a motherboard with CSM support? If yes, how do I know in advance if the mobo supports it or not?

Is there a list of motherboards with CSM?