In context: Nvidia recently rolled out a GeForce driver update that quietly made older Intel processors, specifically the Core 2 family, technically compatible with the latest RTX 50-series GPUs. It initially sounded like a promising "loophole" for retro PC enthusiasts, but unfortunately, things haven't played out as expected.
The key to this surprising development lies in a single instruction: POPCNT, or "Population Count." This CPU-level instruction is used to calculate the number of bits set in a binary value, which is vital for many low-level operations in modern software. Until now, Nvidia's drivers required this instruction, excluding older CPUs from using the latest GPUs.
However, with the new driver dropping that requirement, users can now pair their powerful RTX cards with chips that date back over 15 years. Tinkerer Bob Pony quickly tested this on X using an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 with an RTX 5060 Ti. He found that it "works," at least in terms of getting the system to boot into Windows 11.
The struggles of using a Core 2 Quad paired with NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti... can't play majority of games that use ray tracing due to the processor lacking some instruction sets required for the game to run. 🫠 pic.twitter.com/XcwZFxhHXS
– BobPony.com (@TheBobPony) May 17, 2025
Sadly, things became frustrating as Pony dug deeper. While the setup worked on paper, real-world gaming performance didn't follow. Attempting to run ray-traced games like Quake II RTX led to errors and crashes. Pony stated that the "majority of games" that use ray tracing wouldn't run due to the processor lacking the required instruction sets. Screenshots confirmed the failure.
As it stands, modern games, especially those with ray tracing support, rely on more than just a powerful GPU. Even if the driver no longer requires POPCNT, many games still do, preventing them from running properly.
It's worth mentioning here that this isn't the first time POPCNT has been a hurdle for aging systems. When Microsoft began previewing Windows 11 24H2, it quietly added POPCNT as a required hardware feature alongside Secure Boot and TPM. That move alone disqualified many older processors, even if users could previously install the OS unofficially.
However, all is not lost. While ray-traced titles are a no-go, there's still value in pairing a modern GPU with an older CPU for classic or mid-tier games. There might also be potential for the community to build a compatibility database by outlining which games continue to play well on quirky setups like these.
Nvidia driver enables RTX 5000 GPU support on Intel Core 2 CPUs – with a catch
