So I recently got a new Dell Mini 10 notebook. I had always planned to rebuild it on Windows 7 but before I did I thought I would take a benchmark test. Everyone thought that Windows 7 would be slower on a Netbook. The following test shows otherwise.
Turns out it was almost twice as fast.
| Windows XP | Windows 7 | |
|
Total Performance Rating |
99.1 |
172.2 |
I don’t have much to explain it. The only thoughts I have are that Windows 7 was designed to run on Netbooks. Also given that selling point they may have tweaked Windows 7 to run better on benchmark tests giving an inflated result. Also the XP benchmark was taken with all of the Dell preloaded software on it which could have been slowing the system down.
In any event, that should show everyone that if you are thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 but are worried about speed, you have nothing to worry about.
| Test Name |
Windows XP |
Windows 7 |
| CPU – Integer Math |
17.7 |
21.6 |
| CPU – Floating Point Math |
81.5 |
94.9 |
| CPU – Find Prime Numbers |
54.4 |
65.0 |
| CPU – Multimedia Instructions |
0.9 |
1.1 |
| CPU – Compression |
618.7 |
708.3 |
| CPU – Encryption |
2.3 |
2.6 |
| CPU – Physics |
14.7 |
16.3 |
| CPU – String Sorting |
307.4 |
382.1 |
| Graphics 2D – Solid Vectors |
1.7 |
0.6 |
| Graphics 2D – Transparent Vectors |
1.0 |
0.7 |
| Graphics 2D – Complex Vectors |
31.2 |
17.2 |
| Graphics 2D – Fonts and Text |
18.4 |
21.8 |
| Graphics 2D – Windows Interface |
21.4 |
11.5 |
| Graphics 2D – Image Filters |
74.1 |
72.9 |
| 2D Graphics – Image Rendering |
73.0 |
83.8 |
| Graphics 3D – Simple |
8.9 |
62.4 |
| Graphics 3D – Medium |
3.4 |
6.4 |
| Graphics 3D – Complex |
1.0 |
1.6 |
| Memory – Allocate Small Block |
681.2 |
682.1 |
| Memory – Read Cached |
626.8 |
715.5 |
| Memory – Read Uncached |
569.1 |
597.8 |
| Memory – Write |
559.6 |
616.5 |
| Memory – Large RAM |
75.2 |
76.1 |
| Disk – Sequential Read |
43.4 |
38.3 |
| Disk – Sequential Write |
47.0 |
43.3 |
| Disk – Random Seek + RW |
2.2 |
2.0 |
| CPU Mark |
254.2 |
305.2 |
| 2D Graphics Mark |
139.8 |
87.3 |
| Memory Mark |
173.9 |
186.2 |
| Disk Mark |
334.7 |
302.1 |
| 3D Graphics Mark |
9.1 |
31.4 |
| Total Performance Rating |
99.1 |
172.2 |
- Dell Inspiron 1010
- Inspiron 1010, Intel Atom Processor Z530, 1.6GHz, 533MHzFSB, 512K L2 Cache
- 1GB RAM
- 10.1 Inch High Definition Widescreen Display (1366×768)
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
- 160GB, 2.5inch, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
- Genuine Windows XP Home Edition SP3
- Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini Card
- Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
- 56WHr Lithium-Ion (larger batter)