Windows 7 and system load/performance

[MrCynical]

I'm currently considering an upgrade from Vista to 7 (not that I'm dissatisfied with Vista, but because I need to go 64-bit for a RAM upgrade) . Can anyone tell me whether 7 (on its own, assuming that other installed software is the same) puts any additional load/strain on a system than Vista does? My main concern is CPU load: my current system works fine (including temperature), but I want to make sure that upgrading to 7 isn't going to place any [additional] strain on it.

If it's relevant, my current system has an Intel Q6600, 2Gb (2x1Gb) DDR2 [possibly soon to be 6Gb: 2x1Gb + 2x2Gb], and a 512Mb 8800GT. Everything (including networking) works fine in Vista, and Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor app says I have no compatibility issues as far as 64-bit is concerned.

 

[jefe323]

you shouldn't see any performance issues going from vista to 7

 

[WR2]

Hello MrCynical;
It's not likely that Win7 would put extra strain on what is an excellent CPU. At least not more than what ever is behind the reason for the RAM upgrade.
Going to 4GB/6GB of RAM would likely reduce the I/O overhead of the CPU working with the HDD swap file.

And since you do want to be able to install 6GB of RAM it only makes sense to buy the Win7 upgrade vs the Vista 64bit upgrade.

 

[MrCynical]

Hello MrCynical;
It's not likely that Win7 would put extra strain on what is an excellent CPU. At least not more than what ever is behind the reason for the RAM upgrade.
Going to 4GB/6GB of RAM would likely reduce the I/O overhead of the CPU working with the HDD swap file.

And since you do want to be able to install 6GB of RAM it only makes sense to buy the Win7 upgrade vs the Vista 64bit upgrade.

That's what I was hoping for - I was under the impression that Win7 is essentially a 'fixed' Vista (though I personally don't have a problem with Vista) which wouldn't put any more load/heat on my CPU (temperatures are fine, but I'm paranoid!) compared to running the same software on Vista.