Skylake Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0 GHz 8MB Windows 7

[bookie32]

Hi guys!

There is so much information about what is supported and what is not but has anyone the genuine stats for support with the above processor and Windows 7.

Building a new work computer that is going to be quite good with:

Chassis: Fractal Design R5 Black

Motherboard: Asus 7170 Pro Gaming

Processor: Skylake Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0 GHz 8MB

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Lpx 16GB 2666MHz DDR4

PSU: Corsair RM750X RMX 750W

Hard drive: Samsung SSD 950 Pro M2 256GB

Processor cooling: Noctua NH-D15

Just want to make sure about the processor....;)

bookie32

[WinClient5270]

The Core i7 6700k should work fine with Windows 7. It is of the Skylake family of processors and chipsets, and Intel continues to provide driver support for Windows 7, so I think you'll be fine. Installing Windows 7 may be a bit of a challenge though if your motherboard lacks USB 2.0 or PS2 ports (Windows 7's installer lacks built-in USB 3.0 drivers so your mouse and keyboard won't work out of the box on USB 3.0-exclusive systems), but I believe several motherboard manufacturers have "Windows 7 usb 3.0 patcher" programs that integrate the needed drivers to allow Windows 7's installer to detect USB 3.0 devices, as well as guides on how to overcome this restriction. 

For Asus, this may be of use to you: https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1015837/

https://www.asus.com/support/Download/1/50/1/5/JIM9ojJyz4lZRy4k/30/

Hope I helped 

Edited December 8, 2016 by 2008WindowsVista
Added drivers link for Z170 for Windows 7

[bookie32]

Hi 2008WindowsVista!

I thank you for your time and links...

Much appreciated!

bookie32

[WinClient5270]

7 hours ago, bookie32 said:

Hi 2008WindowsVista!

I thank you for your time and links...

Much appreciated!

bookie32

You're welcome!

Also, according to this: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING/specifications/ your motherboard should have a combination of USB 2.0, 3.0, and 3.1 ports. 
So basically, to install Windows 7, just be sure to plug your peripherals into the USB 2.0 ports (they're normally grey, whereas 3.0 ports are blue. Also, if you're installing Windows 7 via a thumb drive, be sure to plug that into a 2.0 port as well) and the installation should work fine. Then after installing Windows 7, just install the drivers from the second link I posted in my previous reply, and everything should be good to go. 

Good luck!

Edited December 9, 2016 by 2008WindowsVista

[bookie32]

Hi again!

Yes, I had checked to see if I had USB 2.0 on this mobo....

Just so you know (no offence intended and grateful for so much info) I run a small computer company...building, repairing and solving problems....

I do come here if I get stumped on something...quite often...lol

I have recently built some .wim files and one of them is for my Ultimate Windows 7 version....so I will probably boot to a PE boot cd and apply my .wim to my new m2 after creating the start and C: partitions...

I was curious about Skylake because as you are aware Microsoft contradict themselves all the time....on one web page they will say they are not supporting something and on another they are.....but that is typical of Microsoft...

Now for building the computer....I hit a snag....I forgot in my haste to utilise some sales.... to order the processor.... something to do with old age some of the members here will point out to remind me....

So I rectified that yesterday evening and it is on its way to me now....

I have, however, built the computer apart from the processor and CPU cooler....so I am nearly ready to go...

I will update this thread when I have installed Windows.....

Thanks again!

bookie32

[WinClient5270]

2 hours ago, bookie32 said:

Hi again!

Yes, I had checked to see if I had USB 2.0 on this mobo....

Just so you know (no offence intended and grateful for so much info) I run a small computer company...building, repairing and solving problems....

I do come here if I get stumped on something...quite often...lol

I have recently built some .wim files and one of them is for my Ultimate Windows 7 version....so I will probably boot to a PE boot cd and apply my .wim to my new m2 after creating the start and C: partitions...

I was curious about Skylake because as you are aware Microsoft contradict themselves all the time....on one web page they will say they are not supporting something and on another they are.....but that is typical of Microsoft...

Now for building the computer....I hit a snag....I forgot in my haste to utilise some sales.... to order the processor.... something to do with old age some of the members here will point out to remind me....

So I rectified that yesterday evening and it is on its way to me now....

I have, however, built the computer apart from the processor and CPU cooler....so I am nearly ready to go...

I will update this thread when I have installed Windows.....

Thanks again!

bookie32

I'm sorry, I was not aware of that... lol

I've installed 7 on several broadwell/skylake systems for friends and family members, so I try my best to help with that when I can, since many people seem to believe it's impossible, and Microsoft trying to force people to use the abomination that is Windows 10 by setting all these confusing "end of support" deadlines for 7/8.1 on Skylake and then backtracking on them doesn't help  

This reminds me of the Vista days when SATA was starting to become more ubiquitous and XP became more difficult to install on modern systems, forcing people to integrate SATA drivers... Except in this case it's USB 3.0 drivers. It may be a minor inconvenience if your system lacks USB 2.0 but it sure beats settling for 10  

Anyway, good luck (again)! 

[bookie32]

Thanks!!

bookie32

[bookie32]

Hi guys!

Been busy just lately and have just got around to installing Windows 7...

I will point out that drivers for the new Samsung 950 Pro m2 SSD (NVMe) need to be added to your Windows installation...

I was lazy and used the Windows Installation USB Tool from Gigabyte...

I had my Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit ISO on the computer and mounted it as a CD/DVD with Ultra ISO and just followed instructions... there is a directory in the directory for the "Windows Installation USB Tool" called "Storage Controllers" and in that directory is another called "Samsung NVMe" I downloaded the latest NVMe from Samsung and put it in this directory.

After creating my Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit USB with NVMe support I could boot to Windows installer and see my m2....no problems after that....

Now I just need to install everything I have on my works computer and then transfer the other drives from it to the new one...

One extra addition to my build is a Samsung 750 EVO SSD I had lying around for customers....I will use that specifically for my "User" account

Now to find the time to install everything... 

bookie32

[pointertovoid]

Last time I checked the performance (measured by other people) of Samsung's SSD they were bad. Has this improved? Or would you better have a second look at other brands and models?

You didn't mention any graphics card. Is this unimportant to you? Or does the integrated graphics suffice?

[bookie32]

Hi pointertovoid

I find that some of the so called tests are crap...not really tested the computer yet...

Samsung is coming up best in most tests and they are the leaders in this technology at the moment...

Graphics card not important on this computer...installed an Asus 210 which will do me for a work computer...

bookie56

[pointertovoid]

OK, I didn't read recent tests. To my experience, tests using IOMeter tend to represent the performance of SSD observed on a workstation - especially random 4k writes and reads with a small queue depth, like Q=1 for W2k and Q=1 or 2 with Xp.