Test System And Benchmarks
Testing for this article was performed on a high-end Sandy Bridge-E-based system at 4.2 GHz. We chose the Radeon HD 7850 1 GB and GeForce GTX 660 to represent performance from AMD and Nvidia.
Because Windows 7 and 8 employ the same graphics drivers, that variable remains constant between both operating systems. The only thing changing is the OS itself.
As an aside, we're testing AMD's new Catalyst 12.11 build for this comparison. The company claims significant performance increases from this version, so we're curious to see if it brings the Radeon HD 7850 1 GB any closer to Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660.
| Test System | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E), 3.3 GHz, Six Cores, LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Overclocked to 4.2 GHz | |||||||
| Motherboard | ASRock X79 Extreme9 (LGA 2011) Chipset: Intel X79 Express | |||||||
| Networking | On-Board Gigabit LAN controller | |||||||
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LP PC3-16000, 4 x 4 GB, 1600 MT/s, CL 8-8-8-24-2T | |||||||
| Graphics | Reference GeForce GTX 660 980/1033 MHz Base/Boost GPU, 2 GB GDDR5 at 1502 MHz XFX R7850 Core Edition, Radeon HD 7850 1GB 860 MHz GPU, 1 GB GDDR5 at 1200 MHz All overclocked cards reduced to reference specification for testing | |||||||
| Hard Drive | Samsung 470-Series 256 GB (SSD) | |||||||
| Power | ePower EP-1200E10-T2 1200 W ATX12V, EPS12V | |||||||
| Software and Drivers | ||||||||
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 x64, Service Pack 1 Microsoft Windows 8 RTM x64 | |||||||
| DirectX | DirectX 11 | |||||||
| Graphics Drivers | Nvidia: 306.97 WHQL AMD: Catalyst 12.11 Beta | |||||||
| Benchmarks | ||||||||
| Battlefield 3 | Campaign Mode, "Operation Swordfish" 60-second Fraps | |||||||
| Crysis 2 | DirectX 11, 60 second Fraps | |||||||
| Batman: Arkham City | Version 1.0.0.0, Built-in DirectX 11 Benchmark | |||||||
| Metro 2033 | Full Game, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene | |||||||
| DiRT Showdown | Version 1.0.0.0, DirectX 11 Benchmark | |||||||
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Update 1.4.27, THG Benchmarks save, 25-second Fraps | |||||||
| Max Payne 3 | Version 1.0.0.4.7, Chapter 3, save 16, 65-second Fraps | |||||||
| World Of Warcraft | DX 11, Elwynn Forest area, 30-second Fraps | |||||||
| Sleeping Dogs | High Detail Preset, Built-in Benchmark | |||||||
| Borderlands 2 | Highest Settings, 8x AF, PhysX low, Fraps | |||||||
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Only the fast boot time is noticeable in win 8. But still win7 is great and i love it as its 1years+ old running in my system, no crash, still fast.
Another reason NOT to buy Windows 8...I mean Windows Vista 2.
It's good to see that there aren't any major performance deficits when moving to Windows 8, like some past Microsoft OS's. For the most part everything looks to be within the margin of error.
I still plan on sticking with Windows 7 for a few more years...
Another reason NOT to buy Windows 8...I mean Windows Vista 2.
And what reason is that? It seems pretty positive from a performance standpoint, which was the purpose of this article.
Hmmm...wasn't expecting anything else.
No compelling reason to upgrade for me yet.
Windows NT 7 is where it's at. B-)
EDIT: I KNOW Vista, 7 & 8 are NT 6.
My current win7 installation is more than 2 years old. I never used windows installations that are older than 4-5 months. Yes, win7 ages too but it's too slow and well managed compared to old windows OS.
And yes win8 has better RAM and processor management as touted, but then you lose more time navigating through blocky interface. You complete your work a 3 seconds more with win8 but you had taken 5 more seconds to start that program from blocky interface.
My current win7 installation is more than 2 years old. I never used windows installations that are older than 4-5 months. Yes, win7 ages too but it's too slow and well managed compared to old windows OS.And yes win8 has better RAM and processor management as touted, but then you lose more time navigating through blocky interface. You complete your work a 3 seconds more with win8 but you had taken 5 more seconds to start that program from blocky interface.
You do know that you can use a program called Star8 by StarDock to get your desktop and toolbar back...it works quite well, no problems over here.
You do know that you can use a program called Star8 by StarDock to get your desktop and toolbar back...it works quite well, no problems over here.
The problem is that Star8 and other 3rd-party tools haven't been able to fully replicate Win7's Start function.
looks like M$ is going the route of Apple and making a idiot proof OS, which is, well, good for IDIOTS
anyone who actually wants to more than check email and play a game needs to stick to windows 7
Seems like DirectX 11 only testing. What about DirectX 9?
Another myth busted. Even the faster boot times are about making tradeoffs.
Hmmm...wasn't expecting anything else.No compelling reason to upgrade for me yet.Windows NT 7 is where it's at. B-)
Well, Windows 7 is actually NT 6.1, while Windows 8 is NT 6.2...
laugh, windows 8 works fine and i love it on my 50" bigscreen. enjoy your small Start menu.
what i really don't like on windows 8 is just the start menu. i hope they'll introduce an option if you want to have the metro style or the windows 7 style.
The main concern over Win8 is the question that is still unresolved...what is MS's approach to their Windows Store going to be. If they intend to try to close off outside development, well, it will kill Windows. What they need to do is come out and answer the question one way or another or else Win8 may very flop to begin with.
I'm still confused about the interface and UI. Some articles say MS is trying to make it hard to have a classic desktop yet I've seen articles with screenshots showing a very Windows 7 like desktop.
lol I am pretty sure I get more performance upgrading RAM than paying upgrade cost to upgrade from win7.
Well, Windows 7 is actually NT 6.1, while Windows 8 is NT 6.2...
I meant Win NT 7 when it releases.
The main concern over Win8 is the question that is still unresolved...what is MS's approach to their Windows Store going to be. If they intend to try to close off outside development, well, it will kill Windows. What they need to do is come out and answer the question one way or another or else Win8 may very flop to begin with.I'm still confused about the interface and UI. Some articles say MS is trying to make it hard to have a classic desktop yet I've seen articles with screenshots showing a very Windows 7 like desktop.
Win 8 is pretty much identical to Win 7, Start menu has just been replaced with Start screen. Win RT does not allow applications to be installed to desktop ( people would just get confused why their x86 applications don't work on ARM ). Every store that currently works on Win 7, will work on Win 8.