Microsoft released a freely accessible developer preview of its forthcoming Windows eight operating system last week. Our own Seth Rosenblatt features a video below giving an summary of the new OS. What we've not seen however is an summary of Windows 8's impact on general computing performance.
Microsoft has promised improved potency in Windows eight, due a minimum of partly to the new OS counting on fewer background operations sucking up memory and processing power. A scan at the method tab in Windows 8's new task manager bears this out. With Windows eight, we have a tendency to see twenty one operating system processes running. With Windows seven we have a tendency to count thirty one.
That slimming down alone ought to facilitate overall performance. If Microsoft has done additional to enhance Windows 8's operating speed during this developer build, we've not been told regarding it. We'll think about our benchmark tests connected that out.
Caveat time. grasp that the version of Windows eight we have a tendency to tested may be a 64-bit developer's preview build. Any check results below may okay look completely different when the ultimate version ships. take into account our performance comparison, just like the operating system preview itself, a glance at a piece in progress.
Our check bed may be a hand-built Intel Core i3-based desktop. Specs include: three.1GHz Intel Core i3 2105; 8GB one,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; Intel DZ68D8 motherboard; 500GB, 7,200rpm Western Digital SATA II arduous drive; 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card (for 3D gaming tests)
Application tests
Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
110
Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
87
Multimedia multitasking (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
380
Cinebench 11.5
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
| Rendering multiple CPUs | | | Rendering single CPU | |
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
3
1.24
We needed to check the Windows eight preview the maximum amount for its performance on check its compatibility with our current suite of benchmark applications, and sadly each 32-bit and 64-bit Photoshop CS5. crashed on every occasion we have a tendency to tried to load a picture file. that is unfortunate, since that check may be an honest indicator of memory performance.
Instead, our iTunes/Quicktime multimedia multitasking check was the sole case where we have a tendency to saw Windows eight build an evident speed impact over constant check in Windows seven. we have a tendency to welcome any speed improvement, and it shows that a minimum of during this build, Microsoft seems to be on the proper track for providing some noticeable application performance edges, a minimum of where memory utilization plays a job. We'll have an improved plan once/if we are able to check out 64-bit Photoshop CS5.
Gaming tests
Metro (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
| 2,560x1,600 (very high) | | | 1,920x1,00 (very high) | |
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
10
18
Far Cry 2 (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
26
Crysis (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 (64-bit)
51
58
In addition to our CS5 difficulties, we have a tendency to were additionally unable to run 3DMark eleven, and that we additionally had problem with way Cry a pair of. The latter would not run our lower-resolution check, and therefore the scores between the operating systems on the higher-resolution check are wildly divergent. the rationale for our issues with each programs might be due to the operating system, the individual applications, the graphics card drivers, or a mixture.
For the games that did work, we have a tendency to were most impressed by Windows 8's handling of the initial Crysis. That game is notoriously arduous for PCs, partly as a result of it is a known system memory hog. We'd expect a Core i3-based desktop with 8GB of RAM and a good midrange graphics card to handle Crysis moderately well, however even at high resolution, the Windows 8-based testbed showed spectacular frame rate gains over the Windows 7-based system. Crysis isn't the foremost relevant title anymore, however the actual fact that this build of Windows eight makes straightforward work of this memory-chewing game suggests once more that Microsoft's new OS will indeed bring with it some noticeable edges to memory potency.
For newer games, do not take the way Cry a pair of scores seriously. we have a tendency to show them solely to demonstrate the disconnect with that game between operating systems. The Metro 2033 results are additional encouraging for gamers. we have a tendency to run that check in DirectX 11-mode with full detail and at the best resolutions we are able to muster on one show. we have a tendency to did not expect it to examine a lot of of a performance boost between operating systems, however a minimum of for this game, and with this OS build, Windows eight does not appear to possess lost a step on more-demanding 3D workloads.
It's not stunning that we have a tendency to had some issues with sure programs in Windows eight, and it's affordable to expect that almost all problems are resolved as Microsoft and application developers update their code. What we have a tendency to didn't essentially expect is that the noticeable performance boost between operating systems to applications and tasks that rely upon system memory.
Most of the point out Windows eight to this point has focused around its new Metro bit interface and its potential as a cross-platform operating system. We're additionally interested to examine how the mouse-driven interface develops over build iterations, as a result of immediately it feels too-heavily touch-centered. however even though Windows is undergoing an interface identity crisis, based mostly on what we have seen in our testing, computing traditionalists ought to anticipate to the streamlining Microsoft has achieved in Windows 8's memory utilization. Let's hope Microsoft will droop on to those performance gains when it ships final code.
