(Hardware) Is your motherboard among those compatible with Windows 11?

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Microsoft's announcement of Windows 11 came with a jug of cold water, a hardware requirement that leaves many people unable to install Windows 11. But, your PC may already have that part and not you know it. That is why we have thought about compiling a list of motherboards from various manufacturers that are compatible with Windows 11.

Until now, the TPM module was a piece of hardware, at least useless inside a PC, hardly any software has used it, but Microsoft has decided to make it an indispensable piece to be able to run Windows 11 and therefore if you do not have a TPM 2.0 module you will not be able to run the next version of Microsoft's operating system.

TPM requirements Windows 11

The official explanation is to create a more secure system, the reality is that this will give Microsoft more power within our PCs. Since when we speak of a reliable environment, it is not in order for the user to give our trust. to a specific software or peripheral, but rather to Microsoft. The consequences of this decision are a separate issue, which in HardZone we have already talked about previously and does not belong to the space of this article.

The reality is summarized in that if we want to install Windows 11 we need to have a TPM 2.0 module installed on the motherboard of our PC. TPM modules are nothing new and have been on motherboards for a few years. So it is possible that your PC already has one integrated and you are not aware of it.

Some preliminary notes
Motherboard TPM header

The motherboards that are compatible with Windows 11 and therefore have a TPM 2.0 module are those that are based on a series of specific chipsets, since the motherboard where the chipset is mounted is related to the type of processor that we have mounted In our PC then the conclusion is that the limitation in this case does not come from the processor, since the TPM 2.0 module is not included within it, but in a space on the motherboard.

Neither Asus, nor ASRock, nor GIGABYTE, nor MSI and not many others are dedicated to creating the chipset of the motherboard, since this is created by Intel and AMD as a complement to the system CPU. Therefore, rather than existing motherboards of those brands compatible with Windows 11, we have to think about the chipsets of both Intel and AMD theoretically have TPM 2.0 modules installed inside.

TPM connector

However, chipset support does not make the inclusion of the TPM 2.0 chip and / or its activation mandatory, so we recommend a prior check of the status of the TPM module. Regardless of whether you see them in the lists of chipsets and CPUs that you will see in the following sections of this article.

Intel motherboards and CPUs compatible with Windows 11
Intel-Chipset-Generic-Cover

Some of the 100 series and 200 series chipset motherboards are on the tightrope, the reason being the change from ordering a TPM 1.3 module to a TPM 2.0 as minimum requirements.

This makes the list of Intel chipsets with support for Windows 11 thanks to being compatible with a TPM 2.0 module are the following; C621, C422, X299, Z590, Q570, H570, B560, H510, Z490, Q470, H470, B460, H410, W480, Z390, Z370, H370, B365, B360, H310, Q370 and C246.

So if your PC has one of these chipsets you shouldn't worry about installing Windows 11 on your PC. Another way to look at it is through the CPU that these chipsets are compatible with. Starting with the most modest family of Intel CPUs, the Intel Atom, we have that the following models can be used in Windows 11: x6200FE, x6211E, x6212RE, x6413E, x6414RE, x6425E, x6425RE, x6427FE.

Intel Core Processor

As for the Intel Core, all the eighth generation onwards will be able to run Windows 11. Identifying them is easy, they are called Core iN-Mxxx. Where n can refer to whether the CPU is an i3, an i5, an i7, or an i9. While the M must be a number that is 8 or higher. If your Intel CPU meets the requirements then you will have a motherboard with an integrated TPM 2.0 module.