Which AMD CPUs Support XP Mode Virtualization?

By Marcus Yam
published

AMD makes things a little easier to identify virtualization hardware CPUs.

Now that we have both Windows 7 RC and the XP Mode beta, we’re all ready to rock out to Windows XP all over again, right? Well, only if you have the requisite hardware.

If you have an AMD processor, you’ll need something called AMD-V for the hardware virtualization that XP Mode calls for. If you have a fairly recent AMD CPU, you should be ok.

"All CPUs AMD is currently shipping, except Sempron, include AMD-V and therefore support XP mode," an AMD spokeswoman said to CNet.

AMD then laid out which of its CPUs support AMD-V:

“With the exceptions of Sempron-branded processors and Turion K8 Rev E processors, all notebook processors shipped by AMD include AMD-V and therefore support Windows 7 XP mode.""With the exceptions of Sempron-branded processors and pre-Rev F Athlon branded processors, all of the desktop processors shipped by AMD include AMD-V and therefore support Windows 7 in XP mode." "Also, all AMD Opteron processors shipped by AMD from Rev F forward include AMD-V."

In a previous article, we looked at all the Intel processors that supported virtualization. The picture wasn’t as clear as AMD’s, however, with some Core 2 Duo and Quad chips with and without Intel-VT. See the Intel CPU list here.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hellwig
    So basically any Athlon, Phenom, or Opteron made since 2006. Good to know.
    Reply
  • deltatux
    lol, I thought this was a lil' obvious. It seems that AMD believes that it's beneficial that everyone gets virtualization technology. Seems like AMD is more aggressive in virtualization technology than Intel is.
    Reply
  • kschoche
    @ deltatux
    Yes and no, or maybe AMD is just trying to capitalize less on the 'VT' flag like Intel does, you have to pay for an extreme edition cpu to get that VT flag turned on.
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    If you've got an AM2 CPU, other than a Sempron, you're good. Guess only pretty early AMDs get left out. Don't know why Intel made theirs so confusing.
    Reply
  • mrubermonkey
    I am kind of new to this virtualization business proposed by Windows 7, but can you not do the virtualization in software on cpus that do not support hardware vitualization? Granted, it will not be as efficient as hardware virtualization, but for the sake of having it just work can it not be done within Windows 7?
    Reply
  • mrubermonkey
    megamanx00If you've got an AM2 CPU, other than a Sempron, you're good. Guess only pretty early AMDs get left out. Don't know why Intel made theirs so confusing.I think Intel wanted hardware virtualization to be a value added feature whereas AMD realized that it was a possibly necessary feature that should not be denied to those with lesser budgets for cpus. Just a guess.
    Reply
  • astrotrain1000
    I agree
    Reply
  • zaratustra06
    This seems to me like a clean win for AMD. Too many Intel processors lack virtualization. I think that E7200 and E7300 are definitly among those that lack this feature for no reason.
    Reply
  • astrotrain1000
    Weird, i started typing then realized i needed to log in. When I did it submitted my comment(which wasn't finished.) Anyways, I agree with megamanx. I remember seeing feature lists for some Intel CPU's and thought hmmm no virtuallization, oh well I'll never need that feature. Problem is now I can see myself using it, as it integrates XP applications and you run them just like you would any windows 7 app.
    Reply
  • hellwig
    mrubermonkeyI am kind of new to this virtualization business proposed by Windows 7, but can you not do the virtualization in software on cpus that do not support hardware vitualization? Granted, it will not be as efficient as hardware virtualization, but for the sake of having it just work can it not be done within Windows 7?You can use software virtualization, but you would have to manually install a host (like VMWare or VirtualPC), and then obtain a legal copy of Windows XP. You would also then be limited by the virtualization software you were using. Why Windows7 doesn't do software-only is a question for Microsoft.
    Reply