Does the Windows Experience Index Number Mean Anything?

I dont think the number really means as much as it is supposed to. My laptop is rated at 2.5 and runs Vista and most games just fine. I think its a good idea, but not well executed. The plus side of using a PC is, its not a fixed price market like for Mac hardware

the performance rating won’t be taking into account the size of the ram, it’ll be using the performance of it (how quick it is basically).

So, while you have double the amount it’ll still have the same performance because it is of the same type (clock speed, cas latency etc..) as the one with half the amount of ram as you – the problem is that the average user doesn’t care about whether their ram is the same speed as another and takes the quantity as the overall marker for performance.

At least the experience index works for you on my computer it wont work at all. I can’t wait until Windows Vista SP1 is released hopefully it will fix the error I’m having. I personally think the index doesn’t even have a range of how it’s rated (ex. 1-10) but that’s just me.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I just don’t see why people need a HD Tv Tuner and a movie trailer playing at the same time.

On topic, I agree that MS had a great idea on paper with the experience rating. However, I feel that making an OS that actually works without crashing should be a higher priority. But hey, that must just be me.. I mean it must be all my fault the problems I had with vista. Honestly, I don’t know anyone who ever has problem, with it. Oh noes, did you just get a blue screen. My computer musta have got your sick. Here, have your computer take two blue pills and call Bill Gates in the morning.

I think that the Windows Experience index is a good way to see where your computer is on the performance scale. I also think that it is good for beginning users to understand why their computers cannot do certain things. But, it is pretty much worthless to advanced users.

The idea of what it’s supposed to do is good. The execution is terrible. There isn’t even a place to find out what the specific specs of your hardware is. There is also no detailed explanation of what the real problem is, for instance if your memory card is too slow or if you need a new driver. Who ever came up with this scheme is very simple minded. At times it also rates hardware with the same or similar spechs differently if they are from differfent manufacturers. Fishy if you ask me.

I think this is another attempt at Microsoft to get it’s hand on something. Seems like they want to start a standard of benchmarking for Marketing and Software companies to use. Joe Shmoe can now say “My computer rates a 7.5 average!”

no it dosnt mean anything. microsoft is just rating your experience with windows in a way that i dont know. my laptop used to run vista and windows experience index number said 5.2. but everything ran ok, i had a few problems with compatibility issues. so i installed xp and it was ok. it ran much smoother and much faster than vista. but then again, i gave vista another try and i was ok with it.

It does not mean much. I believe that microsoft is just pushing people to use their product as much as upgrading their softwares and spend some cash doing so. I am also hooked on microsoft for now..

The highest you can recieve is a 5.9 on the scale. These numbers do mean a great deal once you understand them. Microsoft really needs to go more in depth to what certain numbers mean. I just got an XFX 8600gt xxx overclocked graphics card and my rating went from a 3.2 to a 5.9 (highest). Now my graphics card isnt the best, but its pretty dang good. It should be no where near the highest rating considering there are 9800’s already out, not to mention sli configs. I also just overclocked my old pentium D 2.8 to 3.1 and that brought my rating up .2 on the chart. Just a little info :)

i have to say, i seen that on my parent’s Vista laptops and never knew what it meant but now i got an understanding.

your computer should be around what u expected but remember that the rating its based on the lowest subcore hardware so i think the lack of rating its because your video card

I agree with some of the above comments, that Microsoft is trying to start a trend!

I think this index helps people understand the value of a good configuration.It is a very useful index for people pasionate on overclocking because it hepls them knowing how much difference makes different settings

i have a total available graphics memory of 1407mb because of my 3gb ram, and 128 dedicated video memory. yet my rating for graphics is only 3.4 and it is also my base score. why is this so?

A graphics card that only has 128MB dedicate video memory and is using a big chunk of shared (system) memory is unlikely to be a good performer. All of the high end graphics cards use only dedicated memory and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good performing graphics card with less than 256MB dedicated. As of June 2008, I think all the good performers have at least 512MB.

See if a new video driver is available, as that can make an appreciable difference to performance.

Base score is always based on the lowest score for any component, as that indicates an area of slowdown or a bottleneck in your computer.

I got 4.6 with 2×2 GB Ram 800Mhz Transcend RAM. My MEMORY was the lowest score in all the other fields. Others were 5.9 , top of the line ;) . Few days back I installed OCZ XTC Thermal Ram Cooler . It is basically meant for those who overclock ram frequencies but for normal users it increases your ram life by keeping it cool and cool bright LEDs to brighten your cabinet. I just rechecked my results now i am getting 5.0 in MEMORY and 5.9 in other sections.

My Rig
Intel Q6600 Quad Core @ 2.4Ghz
4GB 800Mhz with OCZ XTC RAM Coooling
Asus P5NE SLI
MSI GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 OC Edition
HDD 2×250 GB + 160GB + 40GB
PSU Cooler Master 600W
Cabinet Cooler Master CM 690

magicmicro is pretty good eh Akshay?

Window’s Vista Experinence does not mean much, if you want a true result to see if your laptop is any good, try using 3dMark 06 to see a true benchmark score. Even gaming laptops have been listed with a 2.7 score.

They should rename it CEI for CPU Experience Index. No matter how good your hardware is Im am getting all 5.x but my AMD 64bit 3700+ is 4.2

So my WEI is 4.2 so really all it cares about is the rating of the CPU. So it’s really a waste to scan the memory, hard drive, video Card.

@ Randall, The base score is the lowest score you get in all the categories. In your particular case it was for the CPU. For some one else the lowest score might be for the RAM, and that score will count towards the experience index

Numbers are always a guideline, and most of they time they arent a good guideline. Even system requirements for games dont mean much. My processor is a core2duo at 1.86 ghz, and I have 4 gigs of ram, but then I have a 512mb 8800GTS. According to minimum system requirements, I shouldn’t even be able to play crysis on low. My processor doesn’t meet the min requirement. But I can play it on medium with some of the options on high at 30 frames per second. Back to numbers, you can’t look at one single component to determine whether or not your system is good. You have to look at the whole thing, as one whole machine.

My desktop tops out in every field at 5.9
I have a quad amd proc 8200mhz , 2*ATI 768mb graphics SLI
asus delux motherboard and 8gig 1000mz ram and 2 *1.5 sata2 3gb hard drives and 7.1 pci sound blaster

running on vista 64bit and i get no problems. Brilliant setup for everything

the above processor should ay GHZ not MHZ sorry

core i7, asus gtx295, 6GB corsair 1333 (3*2), 1Tb WD 7200rpm, with a lowest score of 7.1, and aa maximum score of 7.9, which is the maximum I could get.