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#11
Virtualization is not a requirement for Windows 10, so that in itself won't rule them out. For processors circa 2004 vintage, lack of support for NX may...
https://www.zdnet.com/article/window...our-pc-run-it/...in order to be able to run Windows 10 (or Windows 8/8.1), you need a processor that supports PAE, NX, and SSE2. Without this, your Windows 10 fun comes to an end...
So, if your CPUs pass this hurdle, are they up to the job? I have run x86 Windows 10 Pro on a machine with only 1GB RAM, it was quite useable. 2GB or more should be enough for 32-bit, provided your CPU has enough power.
Remember, the 32-bit address space is limited to 4GB, and it has to share this address space with the video RAM. There's typically about 1.1GB 'Hardware reserved' for the video, so no matter how much RAM you put in the system, 32-bit Windows will only get about 2.9GB of addressable RAM for its own use.
How much CPU power is 'enough'? Well, the low spec machines I've tried and found 'useable' all had dual core processors and a benchmark of at least 1000, as tested by Passmark and listed here: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
One laptop I have tried Win10 on and would never recommend using had an AMD V120, a single core processor with a benchmark of 622. Windows 10 installs and works, but it was like swimming in treacle...
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php...MD+V120&id=503
Last edited by Bree; 04 May 2018 at 18:00.