Windows 7's WEI Gets a Boost
Posted 01/23/09 at 06:24:46 PM by Mark Edward Soper
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As noted by Gizmodo, Windows 7 has made quite a few tweaks to the Windows Experience Index (WEI) first introduced by Windows Vista. For those of you tuning in late, the WEI tests hardware performance of five subsystems (processor, memory, desktop graphics, 3D gaming graphics, and hard disk), calculates a score for each one, and uses the lowest subsystem score as your WEI base score.
Since just after Windows Vista shipped, users of high-performance components, especially graphics cards, have been complaining loudly about Vista's WEI top score being capped at 5.9. While the Minpaso database of Vista WEI scores calculates a "presumption score" to try to make allowances for today's faster hardware, there hasn't been an official move from Microsoft until now. The code jockeys in Redmond heard you, and the top WEI subsystem and base score in Windows 7 is 7.9.
Windows Vista's WEI scores reflect mid-2006 technologies, and a lot has happened since then. As discussed by our friends at the Engineering Windows 7 blog, rankings in the 6.0-7.9 range are designed to handle these new technologies:
As an example for gaming users, we expect systems with gaming graphics scores in the 6.0 to 6.9 range to support DX10 graphics and deliver good frames rates at typical screen resolutions (like 40-50 frames per second at 1280x1024).
In fact, you must also have a WDDM 1.1 driver and DirectX 10 GPU support or your graphics score is capped at 5.9.
That makes sense, but what has a lot of Windows 7 users who previously ran Windows Vista confused is the difference in how Windows 7 tests hard disk performance. Don't be surprised to see lower WEI hard disk subsystem scores on an identical system if you move from Windows Vista to Windows 7. Windows 7's WEI subsystem tests are designed to more accurately test how drives react to mixtures of typical operation than the tests used in Windows Vista's WEI.
As you might expect with a beta, there are still a few hiccups in the Windows 7 WEI, particularly in the hard disk test. As comments at the Engineering Windows 7 blog post point out, some hard disks get higher WEI subsystem scores if write caching is disabled (which should actually lower performance).
So, if you're running Windows 7 on the same hardware you used for Vista, how do your WEI subsystem and base scores compare? Hit Comment and tell us.
9600 GT scoring a 7.9
Submitted by djremix71 on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 2:10pm
I ran my Windows 7 WEI and got a 7.9 on gaming graphics with my EVGA 9600 GT card. Now granted, I know that this card isn't too bad, but it in no way compares to an EVGA 8800 GTS. ??!!??
Edit: I also have Win 7 on my laptop, and every single score is the same, so the grading on the benchmark is no different than vista's it just has more room for better hardware.
Submitted by teh1583 on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 12:04pm
Running Windows 7 with a 5400 RPM notebook drive yielded a 2.0 for me but a 4.8 in Vista. I believe that some of it has to do with the drivers not being fully baked yet causing a bit of a performance hiccup.
Submitted by Cyberdiver on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 5:51am
My over all is 5.9.. HDD scored a 5.9 without any tweaks. but what surprised me was a the 5.9 on my memory. and the 6.0 on gaming graphics and a 7.2 on my cpu..
Very surprised with my results.. Running a q9450, 4gb ddr 2 1066, 8800gts 512 and a wd sata 320gb drive. I really expected higher in everything but the HDD.
Submitted by NAYRhyno on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 5:30am
The updated Seagate firmware improved the WEI/write caching problems for me. Before the firmware update on my three 7200.11 500gb drives, i had WEI 2.9 or 3.0 with write cahing on. With it off it was 5.9. After the firmware update, write caching on is 5.9, write caching off is 5.9. Apparently the WEI score was capped if the drive did not handle caching "properly." Similar to how graphics is capped if the driver is not up to date. This was reported on some MSDN blog, but I can't find the link.
What's the difference? Does
Submitted by gatorXXX on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 5:40pm
What's the difference? Does a higher score make everyone feel better? So if your hardware tops out at 5.9 on vista but on win 7 a 7.9, does that make your hardware automatically and magically 2 points faster?? There are 2 different tachometers in the world. One that's x100 and one that's x1000. They both tell you same thing...RPM's, but for some reason, some people think the x1000 means your car runs faster.....
Vista's WEI doesn't reflect high performance as well as Win7's
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 6:28pm
It's not that your hardware is "faster," it's just that the measurement is no longer capped at a low level. Under Windows Vista's WEI, people with brand-new DX10.x GPUs were getting the same 5.9 score as users with two or three year old once-state-of-the-art GPUs.
Imagine if all auto speedometers would only register a maximum of 70mph, no matter how fast you actually went. In such a case, I could claim my '97 Escort was "just as fast" as a 2009 Corvette. That's roughly what was happening with Vista's WEI. In reality the speedomers read much higher, making it plain that my old Escort's never going to catch a Corvette at top speed. And moving up the maximum score cap is what Win7's WEI has done.
Nobody's saying the Windows 7 WEI is perfect, but it reflects the differences between an old GeForce 6900 and a new GFX 295 (ATI fans, plug in your favorites) far better than the Vista WEI did.
Thanks very much for reading and commenting.
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Submitted by gatorXXX on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 4:07am
I agree to a certain point. Although, See...if you have a top notch GPU and it scores say, a 5.9 in vista, but in Win 7 it scores a 6.5, there is no difference but less than 1 point. But it's not the actual points that have made any difference, it's the higher number. It's a marketing ploy to make you feel better like the way they use the price of something in advertising. Hearing and seeing 199.99 is more appealing than hearing and seeing 200! So seeing 6.5 instead of 5.9 is more appealing and makes you feel better about your product, BUT to enthusiasts, they have to hit that 7.9 mark making them go spend more money on a new product they don't actually need. But of coarse they will.
These low numbers people are frequenting are basically the product of the higher number in win 7. Scoring a 5.9 out of 5.9 is Awsome! But scoring a 5.9 out of 7.9 is Horrible! You must upgrade NOW! even though nothing has changed (except they upped the cap). Take 2 exact cars with the same speedometer. Both top out at 100mph and both cars can hit that speed. Then replace a speedo in one car with one that tops out at 140. Hitting 100mph in both cars is GREAT But the one car is topped out and the other car still has 40mph left on it according to the speedo. Your thinking, I MUST do something, it says I can hit 140!! So off to AutoZone you go for tweaks and mods.
So what Microshaft has done, is up the limit from 5.9 to 7.9. Scoring a 5.9 in Vista is the same speed as scoring a 5.9 in Win 7. It just seems like your getting bad performance due to the higher cap. Higher numbers (in computer terms) is always better than lower numbers, hence frame rates. You know, even tho both the escort and corvette are topped out at 70mph, that the corvette will smoke that 70mph limit. There is no comparison or arguing that point. But put it in PC terms. That 87 escort scores a 4 in vista and the corvette scores a 5.9. Yeah, you know it's faster. WAY FASTER. But put them in Win 7. That 87 escort still scores a 4 and that corvette scores a 6.5. You knew it was faster to begin with but Just not capped at 5.9. You haven't lost ANY performance NOR have you gained on either side. Just because it went up .6 points doesn't mean you gained performance. It's all a numbers and psychological game.
Submitted by NAYRhyno on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 6:05am
It is simple. Here is an example. In Vista both an 8800GT and a GTX 280 would get 5.9, they are hitting the limit of the scale. In 7 the scale is recalibrates, the 8800gt performs the same, but would be given a 4.5 or something. The 280, which is very fast, may only get a 6.0. They are reclibrating the scale so that future hardware is not capped as soon as it was on the Vista WEI.
An analogy: You have a scale that weighs up to 200 pounds, and you are given a number 1-10 based on your weight. You would get a 10 for anythign between 190 and 200. Say you weigh in at 300 (maybe you like chips and cookies a lot or soemthing). On your scale you would get a 10. Your neighbor has the same kind of scale, but it goes up to 400 pounds. On his scale, you'd get a 7. Your score is lower, but you haven't lost any weight. Time for weight watchers.
Submitted by Budgetperson on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 4:29pm
My hard drive score has drastically reduced... on vista it used to be a 5.7 , but on Windows7 its a <b><i>3</i></b>.
Submitted by mini6090 on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 11:44pm
i got 2 10k raptors stripped and i scored a 6...
and even though it doesn't matter... the fact that my graphics score is lower does piss me off considering i have 896mb dedicated and then for some reason windows vista\7 like to allocate another 2GB for video... you can explain it all you want, it doesn't make sense and it's not needed.
Altek
Asus P6T
Core i7 920
9gb Corsair Dominator 8-8-8-24
4x10,000RMP raptors (2xStriped Arrays)
EVGA GTX260
Fatl1ty X-Fi
Submitted by m4fisher on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 9:42am
Hi mini6090,
I was wondering whats the speed of stripped raptors, ever tried HD Tune or something?
Would you please let me know at:
m4fisher < A T > gmail com
My hdtune result for 7200k stripe:
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4480/hdtuney.jpg
Submitted by LatiosXT on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 6:59pm
They were updated so that SSDs are the only thing that'll give you something higher than a 3.0. Although 3.4 is from a 5400RPM laptop drive, so I'm guessing 4 is for a 7200 RPM drive and 5 for a 10K RPM drive.
Submitted by NAYRhyno on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 5:59am
What you said makes no sense.
Submitted by diamond_ops on Sat, 01/24/2009 - 7:59pm
Makes perfect sense. SSDs are the fastest drives out there now, they get the highest rating.
Submitted by soccer1105 on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 4:57pm
your html is showing
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