Windows 7 build 7048 vs. Windows 7 beta 1 vs. Vista vs. XP performance shootout - which is best?

How does the latest leaked build of Windows 7 (7048) compare to the beta 1 (build 7000), Vista SP1 and XP SP3 in terms of performance? According to my Hardware 2.0 inbox, this is a question that you want answered. Let’s see if I can answer it for those of you who are interested!

Note: Before I go any further I feel I need to make a point, and make it clear. The builds I’m testing of Windows 7 (build 7000 and 7048) are beta builds, and as a rule beta builds are usually more geared towards stability than performance. That said, the performance of this build should give us a clue as to how the OS is coming along.

Important note: I have on several occasions contacted Microsoft for feedback on benchmarking Windows 7. At this point the company is not ready to discuss performance testing.

Rather than publish a series of synthetic benchmark results for the three operating systems (something which Microsoft frowns upon for beta builds, not to mention the fact that the final numbers only really matter for the release candidate and RTM builds), I’ve decided to put Windows 7, Vista and XP head-to-head in a series of real-world tests to find out which OS comes out top.

Let's look at the test systems and the tests ...

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The test systems

I’ve used two desktop systems as the test machines:

• An AMD Phenom 9700 2.4GHz system fitted with an ATI Radeon 3850 and 4GB of RAM
• An Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz fitted with an NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS and 1GB of RAM

The tests

There are 31 tests in all, most of which are self explanatory:

1. Install OS - Time it takes to install the OS
2. Boot up - Average boot time to usable desktop
3. Shut down - Average shut down time
4. Move 100MB files - Move 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another
5. Move 2.5GB files - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from one hard drive to another
6. Network transfer 100MB files - Move 100MB of JPEG files from test machine to NAS device
7. Network transfer 2.5GB files - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from test machine to NAS device
8. Move 100MB files under load - Move 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another while ripping DVD to .ISO file
9. Move 2.5GB files under load - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from one hard drive to another while ripping DVD to .ISO file
10. Network transfer 100MB files under load - Move 100MB of JPEG files from test machine to NAS device while ripping DVD to .ISO file
11. Network transfer 2.5GB files under load - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from test machine to NAS device while ripping DVD to .ISO file
12. Compress 100MB files - Using built-in ZIP compression
13. Compress 1GB files - Using built-in ZIP compression
14. Extract 100MB files - Using built-in ZIP compression
15. Extract 1GB files - Using built-in ZIP compression
16. Compress 100MB files under load - Using built-in ZIP compression while ripping DVD to .ISO file
17. Compress 1GB files under load - Using built-in ZIP compression while ripping DVD to .ISO file
18. Extract 100MB files under load - Using built-in ZIP compression while ripping DVD to .ISO file
19. Extract 1GB files under load - Using built-in ZIP compression while ripping DVD to .ISO file
20. Install Office 2007 - Ultimate version, from DVD
21. Open 10 page Word doc - Text only
22. Open 100 page Word doc - Text and images only
23. Open simple Excel doc - Basic formatting
24. Open complex Excel doc - Including formula and charts
25. Burn DVD - Win 7 beta 1 .ISO to disc using CDBurnerXP
26. Open 10 page PDF - Text only, using latest Adobe Reader 8
27. Open 100 page PDF - Text and images, using latest Adobe Reader 8
28. Far Cry 2 benchmark
29. Call of Duty 5 benchmark
30. Left 4 Dead benchmark
31. Crysis Warhead benchmark

These series of tests will pitch Windows 7 build 7048 and 7000 32/64-bit against Windows Vista SP1 32-bit and Windows XP SP3 32-bit. The scoring for each of the tests is simple. The winning OS scores 1, the runner ups 2, 3 and 4 respectively and the loser scores a 5. The scores are added up and the OS with the lowest score at the end wins.

Let's check out the results ...

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The results

Here are the results for the two systems:

(click for larger image)

(click for larger image)

Conclusions ...

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Conclusions

It's clear that some of the results here are all over the place, and I'm putting this down this the fact that Windows 7 is still a work in progress (and realistically, probably will be for a good 9 - 12 months after launch) and drivers are still pretty new. However, four patterns do emerge:

• Windows 7 is, overall, better than both Vista and XP.
• As Windows 7 progresses, it's getting better (or at least the 64-bit editions are).
• On a higher-spec system, 64-bit is best.
• On a lower-spec system, 32-bit is best.

I'm looking forward to the RC release so we can really see how the 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 editions compares to previous incarnations of Windows!

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