Introduction:
Here, you will find a list of AMD/Intel CPUs/chipsets and Intel/NVIDIA/AMD GPUs which support Microsoft® Windows Vista™. If you have any additions that aren't currently listed, feel free to reply with them and they will be added as soon as possible.
Supported CPUs:
Intel (Desktop/Server):
Note: Windows Vista has been known to work with Pentium III and even some Pentium II processors, however this configuration is extremely suboptimal and the OS is practically unusable on these processors, so using at least a Pentium 4 (Prescott), plus installing Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is recommended for acceptable performance.
Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott, 2004-2005) *x64 is only supported from the Pentium 4 505 Processor and newer
Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (Prescott, 2005) *Supports both x86 and x64
Intel Pentium 4 HT (Northwood, 2003-2004) *x86 only
Intel Pentium 4 HT (Prescott, 2004-2005) *x64 is only supported by F-series, 5x1, 517, 524 and few OEM models in E-series (SL7QB, SL7Q8)
Intel Pentium 4 HT (Prescott 2M, 2005) *Supports both x86 and x64
Intel Pentium 4 HT (Cedar Mill, 2006) *Supports both x86 and x64
Intel Pentium D & Pentium Extreme Edition, all models
Intel Celeron, all Netburst-based models (Williamette & Northwood-128, 2002-2003) *x86 only
Intel Celeron D (Prescott, 2004-2005) *x64 only supported by 3x1, 3x6, 355 models
Intel Celeron D (Cedar Mill, 2006-2007) *Supports both x86 and x64
Intel Celeron *all Core-based and newer models up to Ivy Bridge based Celerons; Braswell/Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core 2 Duo, all models
Intel Core 2 Extreme, all models
Intel Core 2 Quad, all models
Intel Pentium up to Sandy/Ivy Bridge G series processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core i3 *all models up to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core i5 *all models up to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core i7 *all models up to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Xeon 1.4 "Foster" - Intel Xeon 3.2 "Gallatin" *x86 only
Intel Xeon, all models from 2.8 "Nocona" to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge Xeon processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel (Mobile):
Intel Pentium M, all models *86 only
Intel Pentium 4-M, all models *x86 only
Mobile Pentium 4, all models *x86 only
Mobile Pentium 4 HT, all models *x86 only
Intel Atom *all models up to Bonnell microarchitecture (2012); Silvermont (2014) and later may not properly work with Vista (not yet tested).
Intel Core Solo, all models
Intel Core Duo, all models
Intel Core 2 Solo, all models
Intel Core 2 Duo, all models
Intel Core 2 Quad, all models
Intel Core 2 Extreme, all models
Intel Pentium up to Sandy/Ivy Bridge mobile processors, Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core i3 *all models up to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core i5 *all models up to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
Intel Core i7 *all models up to 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors; Haswell and later do not properly work with Vista.
AMD (Desktop/Server):
AMD Athlon 800 - Athlon 1000 (Pluto/Orion, 2000) *x86 only
AMD Athlon 800 - Athlon 1400C (Thunderbird, 2000-2001) *x86 only
AMD Duron 800 or later (2000-2003) *x86 only
AMD Athlon XP, all models (2001-2003) *x86 only
AMD Athlon 64, all models
AMD Athlon 64 X2, all models (X2 & K10)
AMD Phenom, all models
AMD Opteron, all models
AMD Sempron (Palermo, Socket 754; July/August 2005) *x64 only supported by all models with an OPN ending in BX and CV)
AMD Sempron (Palermo, Socket 939; October 2005) *x64 only supported by all models with an OPN ending in BW
AMD Sempron "Manilla" or later, all models
AMD FX (Bulldozer Family), all models
AMD Ryzen (all Summit Ridge models; Raven Ridge has yet to be tested)
AMD (Mobile):
AMD Mobile Sempron, all models (2003-2006) *x86 only
AMD Mobile Athlon 64, all models (2004-2005)
AMD Turion 64, all models (2005)
AMD Kite Platform - AMD Carrizo Platform, all CPUs & APUs (2006-2015); Bristol Ridge (2016) may work but has yet to be tested.
Supported GPUs:
Intel GPUs:
Intel 915GM/GMS will work with Windows Vista by using XP drivers, however Aero Glass isn't supported due to lack of WDDM drivers.
Intel GMA 950 (Desktop: 945GC, 945GZ, 945G; Mobile: 945 Family) or newer, last Intel GPU to support Vista is Intel HD 4000 series (Ivy Bridge; Desktop and Mobile). Download Intel HD 4000 Graphics Drivers for Vista: 32 bit - 64 bit
ATI/AMD GPUs:
ATI Radeon 9250 and all later GPUs released prior to the 9500 will work with Vista using XP drivers, however Aero Glass isn't supported due to lack of WDDM drivers.
ATI Radeon 9500 or later; last AMD GPU to support Vista is AMD RX 300 series; drivers are coming soon.
The first official version of ATI Catalyst to support Vista is version 7.1. The last official version of AMD Catalyst to support Vista is version 13.12 (Download: 32 bit 64 bit). However, newer versions up to 15.6 Beta for Windows 7 can be modified to work on Vista. View this thread for more details.
NVIDIA GPUs:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 and later
NVIDIA GeForce 8 series to GeForce 300 series; download recommended driver here: 32 bit 64 bit
NVIDIA GeForce 400 series and later; last NVIDIA GPU to officially support Vista was the GTX 980 along with driver version 365.19. Download here: 32 bit 64 bit - Note: Vista 3D Vision support was dropped around version 310.00.
The GTX 1060, 1070, and 1080 can also be made to work with Vista, as driver versions up to 372.70 work with Vista, albeit not officially supported by NVIDIA. Download here: 32 bit 64 bit - Note: DirectX applications aren't properly utilized by these drivers under Windows Vista, so this will cause a bottleneck in performance over using the GTX 980 or older, where the 365.19 drivers (more optimized for Vista as they're officially supported) can be used.
Final Apple Mac Computers to support Vista via Boot Camp:
iMac; all Late-2009 models
Macbook Air; all Mid-2009 models (32-bit only)
Macbook and Macbook Pro; all Mid-2010 models
Mac Mini; Mid-2010 (This is the only Mac Mini to support Windows Vista 64-bit; earlier models are 32-bit only.)
Mac Pro; Mid-2010
Miscellaneous Hardware:
Looking for an Xbox One Controller driver for Windows Vista? View this thread for download + how to install (HUGE THANKS TO @GTAGAME for this.)
Download Elgato HD 60 S Capture Card drivers here - to install, extract the exe with 7-ZIP and manually install the drivers in Device Manager (thanks again to GTAGAME for pointing this out).