Win10 vs Win8: A must-upgrade for DX12 games

It's difficult to figure out Windows 10 performance right now. Testing the operating system, scheduled for release on July 29, is not easy because the public can't install the RTM version yet. Microsoft has been keeping mum on changes to Windows 10's underlying technology. In addition, Microsoft's hardware partners are completely banned from revealing information about Windows 10.

One thing is certain: Among the many changes over Windows 8, Windows 10 is likely to see a significant improvement in graphics performance, as the only Microsoft operating system to support DirectX 12. Early testing suggests that other aspects of Windows 10 will see much smaller performance gains.

To test Windows 10 performance, PCWorld used two identical HP Spectre x360 laptops, one with Windows 10 Home Build 10240 and the other with Windows 8.1 Home Edition.

Both laptops have the same display, battery, 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM, a 128GB SSD, an Intel Core i5-5200U processor, and run the same BIOS. Apart from the operating system, they are identical.

To find out the performance differences between the two operating systems, PCWorld ran a number of test software, including compression tests, chess tests, 3D rendering tests, and DX9 and DX11 tests.

PCWorld expected the two operating systems to show a huge difference in performance, but in fact they are evenly matched and the difference is quite small.

For example, here are the PCMark 8 Creative Conventional test scores for both operating systems. PCMark simulates a variety of "real world" application workloads, and Creative Conventional tests simulated web surfing, photo editing, video editing, gaming, and group video chat. The Home workload adds casual gaming, etc.

As you can see in the above chart, the performance of the two operating systems is almost identical. In almost all categories, the test results of Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 are similar: in most categories, the two are evenly matched, and in some categories, Windows 10 has a very slight advantage.

How's the gaming situation?

Windows 10 "promises" to be better at gaming. DirectX 12 should significantly improve performance for games that support it, but for games that don't support DirectX 12, Windows 10 and Windows 8 are very close.

For example, PCWorld ran Tomb Raider on its zero-point system. The system was equipped with an Intel Core i7-4770K processor, 16GB of DDR3/1600 memory and a GeForce GTX 980 graphics card. PCWorld installed the same Nvidia drivers for both operating systems. However, PCWorld ran Windows 10 build 10162 instead of the current build 10240. PCWorld's testing showed that Windows 10 did have an advantage, although it was not large.

Other tests showed Windows 10 had a slightly bigger advantage, but not a huge one.

Two key things to point out are: First, despite widespread user disinterest in Windows 8, the operating system is fast. For example, when Battlefield 4 was first released, media reports attributed many of its performance improvements to the system running Windows 8 instead of Windows 7. Windows 8 has improvements in video and audio decoding, which also increased its speed. Second, if Windows 8 is fast, Windows 10 will be fast too.

This is not a conclusion

PCWorld's initial test did not cover many items. Microsoft may have also improved the battery life, file system and other items of Windows 10 system. After obtaining the appropriate Windows 10 ISO file, PCWorld can perform a clean installation and have a better understanding of Windows 10's performance in items not covered today.

There are other challenges with OS performance testing. Many of the tests PCWorld runs are designed to test hardware, not OS performance. Cinebench R15, for example, is a pure CPU test, although the OS has some influence. Windows Vista had a significant impact on USB performance before SP1, and the OS overhead dragged down other aspects of performance.

in conclusion

Windows 10 has no performance advantage over Windows 8 in mainstream tests, but we don't have to deny it - there's no reason to. In Windows 7, Microsoft updated the operating system's CPU scheduler, improving performance and battery life on systems with Intel and AMD processors. This won't be a detriment to Windows 10, because Windows 8.1 already performs very well.

Readers need to be reminded again that Windows 10 will usher in the era of DirectX 12. DirectX 12 will greatly improve the performance of games that support it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.