I believe the key element here, will be the kernel config option "CONFIG_X86_GENERIC" (exact spelling may differ) which compiles in code to allow the kernel to run on pretty much any x86 CPU, as opposed to *specifically* being compiled to run on only a select family of CPUs.
Without "x86 Generic", a kernel that is compiled *specifically* for one CPU family, will not necessarily run without problems, on a different CPU family.
Sasha
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