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General discussion

Vista Performance Score...

Mar 11, 2007 3:43AM PDT

I have XP and am thinking about upgrading to Vista Home Premium. I know there is a scale in Vista out of 5 that shows where your PC ranks in peformance. I want to know what my score would be before I upgrade so I can make any hardware upgrades before installing. Is there a way I could check this in XP? A download? Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Such does exist...
Mar 11, 2007 4:58AM PDT

Microsoft has offered the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor for the past several months, which essentially rates your computer's performance, recommends a specific edition, and highlights any major caveats in your system before upgrading. There is also this online test from ATI/AMD, which I consider to be slightly superior to the Microsoft offering. Just keep in mind that neither is foolproof, so you may encounter difficulties/incompatibilities that neither test foretold. If such occurs, we're here to help.

Good luck.
John

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Thanks but...
Mar 11, 2007 5:46AM PDT

I have used both, but what I'm looking for is the exact number score out of 5 that I would get if I was using Vista Home Premium. I know the Upgrade Advisor tells me what I need to change, but I want to know what Performance score I would receive.

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You would receive a "1"...
Mar 11, 2007 10:03AM PDT

All versions of Vista use the same method of obtaining your Windows Experience Index, so the version you intend on choosing would not influence the performance score. It's actually the reverse; the performance score should influence what version you get.

Now, the tool calculates a score for each of the 5 categories (processor, RAM, hard drive, graphics, and gaming graphics), and then gives you an overall score. The overall score is simply the lowest score from any one of the 5 categories.

From the screenshot of the AMD test you posted in your other thread your graphics card would receive a "1," meaning your overall score would be 1. (Note that 1.0 is the lowest score possible.) However, I would immediately say that the score is incorrect, for the test is evidently not properly detecting your graphics card. (It states you have no VRAM, no version of Pixel Shader, etc.) Thus, I would try installing the latest drivers and the like and then run the test again.

John