Latest actual hardware for Windows XP

[Meowth LVL255]

I'm doing research on what hardware Windows XP was supposed to run on. I've run across some articles that sort of answer this question, but they all end up saying that you can run Windows XP on an Intel i7 7700k, but I don't think that's the answer I'm looking for. The only real answers that I've gotten were Pentium D or Core 2 Duo chips, but those don't seem viable for not bottlenecking an old overkill GPU. I do have an old XP laptop with something called an Intel Atom and it used to run 3ds Max alright with 1 GB of ram back in like 2012 or so. I'll be honest, I'm looking for an XP system to slap some games that otherwise won't work on my W11 machines or anything else I have for that matter. I'm looking for the best CPU to slap in this thing that was actually meant for it, so I don't have to mod anything. I already have a GT730 to throw in it that a friend gave me out of his old computer so that's one component down. Is there like a list of CPUs that actually ran XP because no amount of Googling I do brings this information to me. There doesn't seem to be any documentation from the past that shows XP stuff.

 

Yes, I know XP is out of date and out of support, I don't care about that since I'm using it for a specific reason, and that's not internet browsing.

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

I'm doing research on what hardware Windows XP was supposed to run on. I've run across some articles that sort of answer this question, but they all end up saying that you can run Windows XP on an Intel i7 7700k, but I don't think that's the answer I'm looking for. The only real answers that I've gotten were Pentium D or Core 2 Duo chips, but those don't seem viable for not bottlenecking an old overkill GPU. I do have an old XP laptop with something called an Intel Atom and it used to run 3ds Max alright with 1 GB of ram back in like 2012 or so. I'll be honest, I'm looking for an XP system to slap some games that otherwise won't work on my W11 machines or anything else I have for that matter. I'm looking for the best CPU to slap in this thing that was actually meant for it, so I don't have to mod anything. I already have a GT730 to throw in it that a friend gave me out of his old computer so that's one component down. Is there like a list of CPUs that actually ran XP because no amount of Googling I do brings this information to me. There doesn't seem to be any documentation from the past that shows XP stuff.

 

Yes, I know XP is out of date and out of support, I don't care about that since I'm using it for a specific reason, and that's not internet browsing.

Atom chips were slow as dirt when they came out.  You probably want a high end gaming system for the period.  A core2quad with an intel motherboard so you can overclock it well or something.

[mariushm]

It would work fine on socket AM3+  and FX processors. The latest chipset drivers from AMD are from 2013 (example for 970 chipset, used in higher end socket AM3+ motherboards) : https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/970

 

For socket AM4 (Ryzen) you need Windows 7. It is possible to get Windows XP working on Ryzen, but it's not really worth it. 

You'd probably have to use a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, disable some USB ports on motherboard... 

 

For Intel, yeah, you'd probably be able to get some motherboards up to 6th or 7th gen Intel CPUs but you'll start to have issues with missing drivers for onboard audio, for extra usb 3 controllers etc etc 

 

I've never ran Windows XP on my FX-8320 cpu, I've used Windows 2003 standard edition - but Windows XP 64 bit uses the same kernel as Windows 2003 server editions, so the drivers were compatible.

Then I've moved on to Windows 7 and now on my Ryzen 5800x I've upgraded the Windows 7 retail license I had to Windows 10 home edition. 

[jaslion]

9 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

I'm doing research on what hardware Windows XP was supposed to run on. I've run across some articles that sort of answer this question, but they all end up saying that you can run Windows XP on an Intel i7 7700k, but I don't think that's the answer I'm looking for. The only real answers that I've gotten were Pentium D or Core 2 Duo chips, but those don't seem viable for not bottlenecking an old overkill GPU. I do have an old XP laptop with something called an Intel Atom and it used to run 3ds Max alright with 1 GB of ram back in like 2012 or so. I'll be honest, I'm looking for an XP system to slap some games that otherwise won't work on my W11 machines or anything else I have for that matter. I'm looking for the best CPU to slap in this thing that was actually meant for it, so I don't have to mod anything. I already have a GT730 to throw in it that a friend gave me out of his old computer so that's one component down. Is there like a list of CPUs that actually ran XP because no amount of Googling I do brings this information to me. There doesn't seem to be any documentation from the past that shows XP stuff.

 

Yes, I know XP is out of date and out of support, I don't care about that since I'm using it for a specific reason, and that's not internet browsing.

Sandy bridge still had native support so an i5 2400 would be nice.

[RONOTHAN##]

The latest stuff I'm aware of with native support for XP was X58 or AM3+, X58 being the faster of the two. 

 

That said, you can get Windows XP to run on modern hardware if you're willing to deal with PS/2 keyboard, mouse, and possibly a SATA HBA you can get XP installed even on a 12900KS machine (it's not super uncommon to see in the XOC world, benchmarks like SuperPi 32M just run faster on XP so people manage to get XP to work on them). 

[Kilrah]

I have XP working great on both 1st and 4th gen Core i systems.

[Meowth LVL255]

So my best bet would be a Core i5 2400 as the thousand and one articles are saying? If I bought this CPU and a MOBO to go along with it, I won't have to do any modding for everything to work properly or install? I can just slap the disk in and go?

[Somerandomtechyboi]

18 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

Yes, I know XP is out of date and out of support, I don't care about that since I'm using it for a specific reason, and that's not internet browsing.

I feel your pain bud

IM USING MY GOD DAMN WINDOWS 7 OS FOR BENCHING MY DAMN C2DS NOT DAILYING IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

 

Aside from that i doubt an overclocked c2d will bottleneck a 730, i think 1155 cpus like sandy and ivy still support xp which should be alot better than an old c2d but since old games are mostly single core a c2d oced will still be able to beat a stock speed ivy

 

Just stick with a 1155 cpu

[8tg]

Note that “native support” is basically “key motherboard drivers”

ie your USB, audio, storage devices, etc all working as they should

Technically you can get windows XP to install on just about anything up to around coffee lake from my experience where it starts just blue screening.

But then it’s non functional otherwise even on most hardware past Sandy/Ivy bridge. Since most of your I/o doesn’t work anymore.

 

For function over form for native XP installs I recommend Sandy bridge, for a laptop get an old business machine like a thinkpad T420. For a desktop just get an optiplex with a GT 440 or something.

[Needfuldoer]

I believe Ivy Bridge was the last Intel generation with full official support for XP. 

 

The writing was on the wall for XP by the time Haswell came around. (7 had already been on the market for 4 years by that point.) It will generally install and run, but driver support starts petering out. Once you're up into Skylake and beyond, you're pretty much reliant on unsupported "community patched" drivers.

 

https://www.dfi.com/Uploads/DownloadCenter/b0984399-c28a-4e27-835a-75842cd7b81e/Windows XP Support on 4th Gen Intel Core.pdf?timestamp=1517206980.33683

 

 

[Meowth LVL255]

Thanks for all your replies. So, back in 2011, there were computers that were being sold with XP running on an i5 2400 or was XP already off the shelves by then? I do in fact want the USB ports to work on this machine, but I don't want to have to connect it to the internet ever. I will use PS2 ports for keyboard and mouse, that's not a problem at all, but I'd like to be able to have the option to slap a USB stick in it. I really don't want to use the disk either, but we'll take one step at a time.

[Kilrah]

SDIO is a blessing for installing drivers in these settings:

 

https://www.snappy-driver-installer.org/

 

Download the whole package onto a USB drive.

 

One thing that can cause you to run into issues is the storage controller mode, if possible set it to plain IDE emulation in the BIOS. AHCI needs driver disks or install will just BSOD and they can be hard to find.

[mariushm]

I've used nLite  to integrate SATA drivers into the Windows ISO to get drives working with proper SATA in AHCI mode, not IDE compatibility mode : https://www.nliteos.com/download.html

 

It's quite user friendly, had no problems with it.

You basically have to download the chipset drivers or "text-mode" drivers from the motherboard manufacturer, unpack them and point nLite to the folder with the drivers (select the INF file with the driver definition), and tell it to include the one for your chipset (you want the "text mode" version of the driver included, or both text and pnp versions)  on the Windows CD/DVD

 

You can read / see  a  guide/tutorial using nLite here : https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/72185-sata-drivers-slipstream-into-windows-xp-cd.html

 

[Meowth LVL255]

I have a build in the works, some of these are placeholders and are VERY open to suggestions. I haven't found a good MOBO yet, but I understand that I'd need to get the drivers from the manufacture's websites unless I want to use a driver program or download community drivers. Some of these MOBOs are expensive and the ones that aren't don't seem to have brand names. If anyone sees any issues I might run into with these things, please be loud about it.

 

Core i5 2400
Rosewill ROCC-16003 (Might do an AIO)
GT 730 2GB

WD Blue (Hopefully SSD)
Crucial 2GB DDR3 1333 x2 (Is very switchable)
Hand build Chassis? (Thinkin about it)
EVGA 500W PSU (500w because it's cheaper than a 300 for some reason)

[jaslion]

7 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

Rosewill ROCC-16003 (Might do an AIO)

Waste of money it's a 2400 those are cooled by almost anything.

 

7 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

EVGA 500W PSU (500w because it's cheaper than a 300 for some reason)

What 500w evga?

 

7 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

Crucial 2GB DDR3 1333 x2 (Is very switchable)

Get 4 big difference

 

7 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

Hand build Chassis? (Thinkin about it)

Cheap used case for authenticity :p.

[Needfuldoer]

41 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

So, back in 2011, there were computers that were being sold with XP running on an i5 2400 or was XP already off the shelves by then?

As I recall, it wasn't sold at retail anymore but you could get XP via 'downgrade rights' on Vista or 7 Enterprise licenses. (Remember, Vista came out in 2007 and Windows 7 hit the market in 2009. XP's replacement was already replaced by 2011!)

 

At the time I was deploying a fleet of new Core 2 desktops running XP, even though they all had Windows 7 COAs. (We had business-critical, semi-proprietary software that relied heavily on legacy system calls. XP executed them natively, but Vista and 7 sandboxed them for security reasons. This made the application run like hot garbage, but I found a workaround by the time XP was completely sunset.) The last machines we did that to were Sandy Bridge.

[Meowth LVL255]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Waste of money it's a 2400 those are cooled by almost anything.

 

What 500w evga?

 

Get 4 big difference

 

Cheap used case for authenticity :p.

The cooler, yeah, but I was thinking an AIO for silence, but I'm not attached to it. I'll slap a 10 dollar fan on it if that'll make it better. 

 

PSU:EVGA 500 W3, 80+ 500W, Compact 140mm Size, Non-Modular Active PFC Power Supply, 3 Year Warranty, 100-W3-0500-K1 - Newegg.com

 

I was going with 2 dimms because I might end up with a board with only 2 slots. I need help with the board.

 

Good idea, I could just throw it in an old case. Hopefully I can find a decent looking one.

[Meowth LVL255]

1 minute ago, Needfuldoer said:

As I recall, it wasn't sold at retail anymore but you could get XP via 'downgrade rights' on OEM PCs licensed for Vista or 7 Enterprise. (Remember, Vista came out in 2007 and Windows 7 hit the market in 2009. XP's replacement was already replaced by 2011!)

 

At the time I was deploying a fleet of new Core 2 desktops running XP, even though they all had Windows 7 COAs. (We had business-critical, semi-proprietary software that relied heavily on legacy system calls. XP executed them natively, but Vista and 7 sandboxed them for security reasons. This made the application run like hot garbage, but I found a workaround by the time XP was completely sunset.) As I recall, the last machines we did that to were Sandy Bridge.

Is it possible with the hardware I listed that I could run into installation issues because of this info?

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

The cooler, yeah, but I was thinking an AIO for silence, but I'm not attached to it. I'll slap a 10 dollar fan on it if that'll make it better. 

Just get a budget decent air cooler? Aio's aren't by default silent. Actually air coolers by design are more quiet. A vetroo v5 or similar is deadquiet.

 

Board get whatever supports the 2400 and isn't an oem board

 

Low end bad quality psu would not get

 

can still do 2*2gb.

[Needfuldoer]

11 minutes ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

Is it possible with the hardware I listed that I could run into installation issues because of this info?

Should be fine.

 

If anything, you might have to slipstream the necessary storage and USB drivers into your XP ISO using a tool like nLite.

[Meowth LVL255]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Just get a budget decent air cooler? Aio's aren't by default silent. Actually air coolers by design are more quiet. A vetroo v5 or similar is deadquiet.

 

Board get whatever supports the 2400 and isn't an oem board

 

Low end bad quality psu would not get

 

can still do 2*2gb.

Thanks for the suggestions. With the ram thing, I see boards with nothing but 2 slots until you get over 100 dollars. What PSU would you recommend? 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 hour ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

With the ram thing, I see boards with nothing but 2 slots until you get over 100 dollars

Where the hell are you buying your stuff? Buying new is NOT an option cause this stuff is already over a decade old and used p67, z68, and z77 go <50$ used with lower end chipsets like h61 being more like 20$

 

I assume 4x4 for dual rank, bare pcb ddr3 is ~10$ used per 4gb stick atleast here in indo though dual rank can also be achieved by using dual sided ddr3 dimms. And make sure to ask for a specific ic, i assume you dont care about overclocking so most common ics are samsung 2gbit ics (k4b2g0846d/e/f/q depending on which revision you want, d is the best overclocker). You want to match all ics just so you can make sure it runs stable and no incompatibility issues, dont bother overpaying for 1600 bin as its only the ic that matters (most ddr3 do >2000 anyway other than some really old garbage ics though dont expect >2400 with dual rank)

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, Meowth LVL255 said:

The cooler, yeah, but I was thinking an AIO for silence, but I'm not attached to it. I'll slap a 10 dollar fan on it if that'll make it better. 

 

PSU:EVGA 500 W3, 80+ 500W, Compact 140mm Size, Non-Modular Active PFC Power Supply, 3 Year Warranty, 100-W3-0500-K1 - Newegg.com

 

I was going with 2 dimms because I might end up with a board with only 2 slots. I need help with the board.

 

Good idea, I could just throw it in an old case. Hopefully I can find a decent looking one.

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-cx550f-rgb-cp-9020216-na-550w/p/N82E16817139265

 

This will do

 

if you get 2 dimms get 2x2gb dimms

 

Also if you just wanna do this cheaply. A bunch of dell,hp,lenovo,... towers with the i5 still have xp drivers available. So thats like 100$ tops for a full system including 8gb ram and a ssd (4gb system will probs be more expensive because it's not a desired config).

[Meowth LVL255]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-cx550f-rgb-cp-9020216-na-550w/p/N82E16817139265

 

This will do

 

if you get 2 dimms get 2x2gb dimms

 

Also if you just wanna do this cheaply. A bunch of dell,hp,lenovo,... towers with the i5 still have xp drivers available. So thats like 100$ tops for a full system including 8gb ram and a ssd (4gb system will probs be more expensive because it's not a desired config).

I thought Windows XPx32 only uses 4 GB of ram. If I bought a system with 8GB in it, wouldn't that just be wasting half of it?

[mariushm]

Seriously, you should just look at refurbished computers at Newegg or other places, if you're planning to buy something.

You get case and psu and cooler in the package, for a reasonable price. 

 

For example, a whole HP Z220 pc for $115 : https://www.newegg.com/hp-z-series-z220/p/1VK-001E-3J1E9?Item=9SIAC0F9RM3657

 

Comes with a i3-3770 but you can upgrade to Xeon E3 v2 processors , has 4 ram slots for up to 32 GB DDR3 1600 ECC or non-ECC,  standard atx power supply if what I see on ebay is correct, specs page says 400w gold efficiency psu... windows xp drivers here: HP Z220 Convertible Minitower Workstation Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support

Add your ram, add a small SSD and you're done. 

Specs here: HP Z220 Convertible Minitower Workstation Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

 

May have to use Edge to render the above pages properly, it borks in Chrome in incognito mode and can't be bothered to check in regular mode.

 

or for example Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tower version for $125 : https://www.newegg.com/lenovo-thinkcentre-m93-business-desktops-workstations/p/1VK-0003-18PJ0?Item=9SIA8WVJ316305 

Not many cpu upgrade options, the psu may be proprietary (there's adapter cables to allow you to use regular atx power supply), but it has 4 slots and can do 32 GB of ram and has Windows XP drivers : https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/desktops-and-all-in-ones/thinkcentre-m-series-desktops/thinkcentre-m93p/downloads/driver-list

 

-- 

 

Why would you want to use the 32bit XP, the 64 bit is better and also runs 32bit applications just fine. Shouldn't be any compatibility issue.