The Definitive Windows 7 vs Vista Performance Comparison

The official launch of Windows 7 is upon us, and there has never been so much hype for a new Microsoft OS since XP was first revealed. To most people, Vista is either a complete piece of junk, or a necessary evil, although I think that is somewhat unfair. To me, Vista is an improvement over XP in every conceivable way, and I really can’t think of any good reason for someone to be using XP in the last 3 years. Many people do though, and Microsoft wasted no time in working on a replacement for Vista.

The result of dozens of hours of benchmarking and over a hundred charts will answer quite a few questions:

1) If performance is improved, will it be due to improved multitasking and/or multithreading?
2) Can users of old systems (and single-threaded Netbooks) expect a performance increase as well?
3) Will gaming improve on an older CPU with a newer graphics card?
4) Will any gaming improvements be related to driver software (Nvidia vs AMD)?

And probably a lot more!

The system specs were as follows:

Core i7 965 Athlon II X2 550 Athlon 64 3000+
Motherboard Intel DX58SO (X58, DDR3) Asus M3A78-T (790GX, DDR2) Asus M3A78-T (790GX, DDR2)
Memory 4GB Corsair Dominator
DDR3-1333 @ 7-7-7-20 4GB OCZ Blade
DDR2-1066 @ 5-5-5-18 4GB OCZ Blade
DDR2-1066 @ 5-5-5-18
Video Card ATI Radeon HD4890 1GB, Catalyst 9.8
Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB, Forceware 190.38
Audio Disabled
HDD Hitachi DeskStar 250GB 7200 RPM SATAII (reviewed here)
OS Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 RTM
Windows Vista Ultimate Edition x64 SP2

All benchmarks will be shown in this order: Core i7 (red), Athlon II (orange), Athlon 64 (blue). You can hover each image if you lose track (sorry, I’m not used to posting 3 sets of data in my articles, and the charts aren’t labelled optimally).

Windows Xp vs Vista vs 7

Windows is without a doubt the most popular operating system out there today. With the release of Windows 7 just around the corner I thought why not compare all three operating systems to each other.

I’ll start off with the specs of my system for you.
CPU: Intel Q9650 (3ghz)
RAM: 8gigs OCZ Fatal1ty PC2-6400
Motherboard: EVGA NF-680i
Video Card: Sparkle Nvidia GTX260 (896mb ram) –Main Monitor 22” 1680×1050 Res
Video Card2: EVGA 8600GTS (for PhysX)
Video Card2: ECS Nvidia GTS250 –Dual 20” 1680×1050 Res
The operating systems are:
Vista Ultimate 64bit
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Windows XP 32bit
We’ll start the testing off with Crystalmark 2004R3

I like to use Crystalmark because it basically tests all aspects of the system and then also gives you an overall Mark or Score for your system that you can then compare to others.

Processor Cache and Memory
Benchmark the processors’ caches and memory access (transfer speed).

Results Interpretation:
Cache/Memory Bandwidth (MB/s) – higher results are better, i.e. faster memory bandwidth.

Speed Factor (MB/s) – lower results are better, i.e. less difference between processor cache speed and memory speed.

Combined Index: is a composite figure representing the overall performance rating of the entire Cache-Memory performance in terms of MB/s. The value is the logarithmic average of all the results for the entire address space. (Higher is better, i.e. better performance)

Multi-Core Efficiency
Benchmark the multi-core efficiency of the processors.

The ability of the cores to process data blocks and pass them to another core for processing (producer-consumer paradigm) of different sizes and different chain sizes is measured. The efficiency of the inter-connect between cores is thus benchmarked; however, the number of cores (and processors) also counts as more data buffers can be processed simultaneously (aka "in flight").

Windows 7 It’s like Vista, only less annoying

Today, Microsoft will start official downloads of the Windows 7 Release Candidate. It's the last-planned release of Windows 7 before Microsoft sends the polished code to OEMs and starts boxing up the bits as product.

Installation was smooth on a Dell M1330 laptop loaned by Microsoft for Windows 7 testing. So it should be - this machine has 3GB RAM - but a common complaint in Windows Vista's early days was that even powerful machines became slow and unresponsive. Windows 7 really is faster. For example, a post on Microsoft's Engineering Windows 7 blog explains how synchronous calls in the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) can cause "a frozen desktop anywhere from 100msec to several seconds".

A better Vista: welcome to Windows 7

Jump Lists, which appear when you right-click a taskbar icon, are now more useful because more applications support them. Control Panel, for example, now has ten jump list shortcuts.

An online ID links your windows account with an online provider, which currently means Windows Live but could be extended. You can then stream media over the Internet to roaming home group members. Spotify strikes me as easier and more reliable.

Under the Hood, Windows 7 is Vistas's twin

At Microsoft's recent Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles, the air crackled with anticipation. On the heels of Vista, arguably the biggest disaster in Microsoft's history, Windows 7 was about to be revealed. A blast of fanfare, and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie took the stage to pull the wraps off the new desktop operating system--which would deliver better performance, an improved user experience, and some nifty media-sharing features. The crowd salivated at the chance to play with Microsoft's latest and greatest.

Note: For a look at some of PC World's Windows 7 coverage to date, see:

•"A Tour of Windows 7 Beta" (video)
•"Windows 7 First Look: A Big Fix for Vista"
•"OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7"
•"Microsoft Redefines the OS: Azure and Windows 7 Explained"
•"Microsoft Plans a Stripped-Down Windows 7"
As Windows desktop blogger for InfoWorld (a sister publication of PC World), I was drooling, too. When I got my hands on the Windows 7 "pre-beta," distributed right there at the show, I immediately installed it and began running tests. For PC World, I did an analysis of the changes (or lack of them) that consumers might see. For a deeper dive into my Windows 7 tests, check out Windows 7 unmasked on the InfoWorld site. The more I dug into Windows 7, the more I became convinced that I was dealing with an OS that was a slightly tweaked, nearly baked revision of Windows Vista.

Bottom line: So far, Windows 7 looks, behaves, and performs almost exactly like Windows Vista. And it breaks all sorts of things that used to work just fine under Vista. In other words, Microsoft's follow-up to its most unpopular OS release since Windows Me threatens to deliver zero measurable performance benefits while introducing new and potentially crippling compatibility issues.

In fact, the kernel in each major new version of the Windows OS has spawned a different, typically higher number of threads. So when I examined Windows 7 and found a nearly identical thread count (97 to 100) for the System process, I knew right away that I was dealing with a minor point-type of release, as opposed to a major update or rewrite.

Windows vista help

Prior to the launch of any version of windows Microsoft get ready with its gun to handle any adverse condition. Similar is the case to Windows Vista launch. Microsoft has provided Windows Vista compatibility Center to address any unfair situation. In fact this is a very responsible step on behalf of Microsoft, so that the users don't have to suffer while making selection regarding any software or hardware.

Windows Vista Compatibility Center is a common platform which brings together Microsoft, other manufacturer and customers. The manufacturers of various hardware and softwares come with all the details of their products so that user can get right information about them before investing a single penny. To assure the retail user Microsoft has also put its logos over the suitable products.

Look to this extensive collection of compatibility information when you upgrade to the Windows Vista operating system. And when you're ready for a new PC, you'll find the downloads you need to run your favorite software and devices. The "Works with Windows Vista" logo indicates that particular product is reliables and tested with Windows Vista. Hence Windows Vista Compatibility Center can also be consider as
Windows Vista Help.

Windows Vista Solution Center is the other significant user-friendly Windows Vista Help platform developed by Microsoft. This platform is to address adverse situation. Any kind of issue be it relates with the hardware or software compatibility, Windows Vista Help has real-time solution. Here the user will get the different categories of issues starting from the Top issues, Install, Upgrade, Performance, Maintenance, Programs, e-mails, Security and Privacy, Networking and so on. Hence nothing is out of scope from Microsoft windows vista support.

After getting the suggestion and implementing those, user can write comments to further improve Windows Vista Help.