Because Windows 7 has a scalable user experience, there
needed to be a way to determine the capabilities of a computer. The
solution Microsoft developed was to capture a performance baseline based
on specific performance metrics during installation of the operating
system and after hardware or driver upgrades.NOTE
If you’ve upgraded a component that affects the Windows
Experience Index, you can click “Re-run the assessment” to run the
assessment again. If Windows decides that the current index information
is out of date (as is likely to happen after upgrading hardware or
installing a new driver), you’ll have an option to Refresh Now. Changes
to the computer’s working environment can affect the index scores. Don’t
be surprised if your Windows Experience Index needs to be refreshed
after setting Windows 7 up on a computer and installing new device
drivers or hardware as may be required to complete the
installation.
1. Getting Your Windows Experience Index Score
During installation, Windows 7 assigned your computer a
Windows Experience Index. This index is a relative rating of your
computer’s capabilities with regard to its:
Processor
Physical memory (RAM)
General graphics
Gaming graphics
Primary hard disk
NOTE
The “general graphics” and “gaming graphics” component titles
are misnomers; more appropriate titles would be “general graphics” and
“multimedia graphics.” Graphics is meant to reflect overall
performance for Windows interfaces. Gaming graphics is meant to
reflect performance for
graphics-intensive applications, such as 3D business applications and 3D games.
To assign the Windows Experience Index, Windows 7
determines:
The number of processors/processor cores installed on your
computer and the processor type
The number of calculations per second that your computer’s
processor can perform
The total amount of physical memory installed on your
computer
The number of memory operations per second that your
computer’s memory can perform
The total amount of graphics memory installed on your
computer
The relative performance of your computer’s graphics
adapter
The data transfer rate of your computer’s primary hard
disk
These performance metrics help Windows 7 determine the relative
performance of your computer. You can view your computer’s Windows
Experience Index and the related subscores by completing the following
steps:
Click Start and then click Control Panel.
In the Control Panel, select System and Security.
Under the System heading, click Check the Windows Experience
Index.
As shown in Figure 1, your computer’s
performance scores are listed by component in the Performance
Information and Tools console.
2. Understanding Your Windows Experience Index Score
Your computer’s base score is determined by the lowest
subscore. The computer being rated in Figure 3-1 has a Windows
Experience Index base score of 5.9. The base score can help you
determine the type of software programs you can run on the computer. The
base score also determines the level of performance Windows 7 delivers.
Certain operating system features will work only when your computer
meets the minimum base score requirements, and the use of certain other
features, such as high display resolutions with Aero Glass or themes on
multiple displays, will have a severe impact on your computer’s
performance.
Whether or not you use Aero is important. The Aero interface
provides enhanced features including:
To use Aero, your computer’s graphics card must support
the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) and DirectX 9.0 or later. WDDM 1.0 and DirectX 9.0 were both
released around the same time as Windows Vista. Both have been updated
for Windows 7. Windows 7 display drivers that support WDDM 1.1 or later
offer improved performance while also reducing the per-window memory
usage by up to 50 percent. WDDM 1.1 supports DirectX 11. DirectX 11
offers enhancements and performance improvements over earlier
versions.
Most current computers will have a base score of between three and
five. The Windows Experience Index is designed to scale as computer
technology advances. Thus, current computers have top scores in the 6s
and 7s, and tomorrow’s computers may have top scores in the 9s and
10s.
Table 1 provides
an overview of what the base scores mean. If you want to improve your
computer’s base score, you can upgrade the hardware component
responsible for the low score (most laptop computers cannot be upgraded in this way, however).
For example, if gaming graphics is your lowest score, you could upgrade
your graphics card to improve your rating. Don’t do this, however,
without first consulting the performance details to determine exactly how the
component is configured currently.
Table 1. Understanding your computer’s Windows Experience Index
score
| Base score | What the score
means | Description of
experience |
|---|
| 1.0 to 1.9 | Degraded user
experience | You can use the computer
for general computing, word processing, and music playback. The
computer probably isn’t suited for more advanced tasks, such as
gaming or multimedia. The user experience will be severely
limited. |
| 2.0 to 2.9 | Reduced user experience | You can use the computer
for general computing, business applications, basic gaming, and
basic multimedia. The computer probably isn’t suited for more
advanced tasks, such as multiplayer or 3D gaming and advanced
multimedia. The user experience will be limited. |
| 3.0 to 3.9 | Basic user experience | You can use the computer
for general computing, advanced business applications, expanded
gaming, and expanded multimedia. The computer probably isn’t
suited for advanced gaming, such as multiplayer 3D gaming, or
advanced multimedia, such as recording HDTV and playing HD
video. |
| 4.0 to 4.9 | Full user experience | You can use the computer
for advanced computing, advanced business applications, advanced
gaming, and advanced multimedia. The computer can use all the
new features of Windows 7 with full functionality. Aero Glass
will display higher resolutions while achieving good
performance, and using themes on multiple monitors shouldn’t
affect performance. |
| 5.0 to 5.9 | Superior user experience | You can use the computer
for the most demanding tasks, including those that are both
graphics-intensive and
processor-intensive. The computer can use all the features of
Windows 7 with full functionality. Aero Glass will display
higher resolutions while achieving good performance, and using themes on
multiple monitors shouldn’t impact performance. |
| 6.0 to 6.9 | Outstanding gaming and
graphics experience | You can use the computer
for 3D graphics and 3D applications, including those that are
both graphics-intensive and processor-intensive. The computer
should deliver an outstanding gaming experience and good frame
rates for video playback at 1,280 × 1,024. |
| 7.0 to 7.9 | Excellent gaming and
graphics experience | You can use the computer
for 3D graphics and 3D applications, including those that are
both highly graphics-intensive and highly processor-intensive.
The computer should deliver an excellent gaming experience and
excellent frame rates for video playback at high screen
resolutions. |
3. Improving Your Windows Experience Index Score
In the Performance Information and Tools console, you can
view detailed performance and configuration information by clicking
“View and print detailed performance and system information.” As
Figure 2 shows, the
configured details are provided for each hardware component being
tracked—you can print this information for future reference by clicking
“Print this page.” For many computers, gaming graphics will have the
lowest subscore. By examining the details, you can see the key reason
for this and typically, it is because the video card has a limited
amount of dedicated graphics memory. In the example, the computer is
listed as having 2,302 MB of graphics memory available. However, 1,790
MB is coming from shared system memory and only 512 MB is dedicated.
During graphics-intensive gaming, this means the computer may borrow up
to 1,790 MB of RAM from the available physical memory, leaving less
physical memory available for applications and the operating system.
For a better gaming experience, you’d want to upgrade to a
graphics card with 1 GB or higher of dedicated memory. Alternatively,
you could purchase a second graphics card for your computer, but there
are several caveats to ensure proper operation. You’d want to check the
computer to ensure a card slot is available and you’d want to ensure
your computer can support two graphics cards. You’d want to check with
the graphics card manufacturer to determine the proper configuration
required to use the existing graphics card with another graphics
card.
If your computer has no or low dedicated graphics memory,
installing a new graphics card with 512 MB or more of dedicated RAM on
the computer would increase substantially the graphics and gaming
graphics subscores. You could then have Windows 7 recalculate the
performance scores by clicking “Re-run the assessment.” Windows 7 would then begin rating
your computer by evaluating the performance of each tracked hardware
component. When this process is completed, each component is listed with
an appropriate subscore and the computer’s new base score is listed in
the Performance Information and Tools console. The rating process can
take several minutes to complete.
The scores are meant to be helpful guidelines, and you can squeeze
extra performance out of your computer in a variety of ways, but
typically, this extra performance comes at a direct sacrifice to the way
Windows 7 looks and behaves. For example, if your computer’s base score
is low because of graphics/gaming graphics, you can improve overall
performance by turning off graphics-intensive features of the operating
system, such as Aero Glass, visual effects, live previews, backgrounds,
and themes.
The detailed information tells you whether the display adapter
supports WDDM and DirectX. In the Component list under Graphics, you’ll see
the display adapter type and the level of WDDM support. In the expanded
list under Graphics, you’ll see additional details, including the
DirectX version supported.
