Is Windows 8.1 faster for gaming than Windows 7?

rafael1979 · Mar 23, 2014

After a couple of weeks using 8.1 (x86) and after Windows 7 Ultimate (x86), I have come to the conclusion that it is a much lighter and faster OS than 7. Mafia 1 for instance runs on full specs without a single hiccup no matter what. I know it's an old game but it's also very demanding, especially on my system which is not exactly up to date. I can also play Splinter Cell Chaos Theory on medium settings very well indeed, and that's a demanding game on the system. GT Legends by Simbin is a reasonably demanding game especially on full graphics options and with a full grid of cars and it's running well on Windows 8.1. My onboard Intel graphics adapter is coping a lot better with these games than it did on Windows 7 Ultimate. I had to find a Windows 8 driver for it (I've found it on here) then all my games started to run very well considering my old laptop specs.

Are you having the same experience?

Thx in advance!

MilesAhead · Mar 23, 2014

I'm not into gaming. But I would expect W8 to be faster since it dispenses with Glass rendering. Window borders that look metallic or reflective in Windows 7 look light gray in W8. That's got to save some time.

rafael1979 · Mar 23, 2014

MilesAhead said:
I'm not into gaming. But I would expect W8 to be faster since it dispenses with Glass rendering. Window borders that look metallic or reflective in Windows 7 look light gray in W8. That's got to save some time.

Yes, the UI of the desktop at least is a lot plainer, which must have something to do with the fact that the OS is a bit quicker. It seems to use less ram.

Surfing the net seems a lot quicker on Windows 8.1 too.

MilesAhead · Mar 23, 2014

Surfing the net seems a lot quicker on Windows 8.1 too.

Yeah but at a cost of looking even more drab than XP. If you want really fast run Linux in console mode. Not great for games but it would process payroll pretty quickly.

rafael1979 · Mar 23, 2014

MilesAhead said:
Surfing the net seems a lot quicker on Windows 8.1 too.

Click to expand...

Yeah but at a cost of looking even more drab than XP. If you want really fast run Linux in console mode. Not great for games but it would process payroll pretty quickly.

I've tried dual booting Linux with Windows XP on my old laptop but I couldn't install the two distros I tried for some reason. Incompatibility with Windows programs and specially games is what stops me from using Linux.

I would like to install Windows XP on this partition to see how faster than 8.1 it would be given it's so much lighter on resources and that it's not dead yet. Maybe I'll give it a shot sometime.

MilesAhead · Mar 23, 2014

Maybe because it was a laptop. Linux has come a long way with installs that boot you right into an X Window manager. First time I got X running I had to downlod it and configure it myself using a book and example config files. The main thing that put me off was text editing. It was awkward. I should have bit the bullet and mastered the vi editor. It's very powerful. I was using kylix IDE to edit everything since it had the Windows key bindings.

One of these days I'll get into Linux again. When I have a dedicated computer room and don't have to crawl under tables to stick an expansion card in or connect a printer.

TairikuOkami · Mar 24, 2014

MilesAhead said:
I'm not into gaming. But I would expect W8 to be faster since it dispenses with Glass rendering. Window borders that look metallic or reflective in Windows 7 look light gray in W8. That's got to save some time.

Microsoft said so as well, but when a full screen application started, Aero disabled itself, so it should not affect gaming, but I guess, you are right, I tested it according to one article and Windows theme without Aero was actually faster, even though, it was supposed to use CPU, it used GPU, so it probably affected running applications as well. Anyway, 8.1's performance will get only better with newer drivers.

MilesAhead · Mar 24, 2014

I hope they bring back the glass or do it a better way on new OS. Everything pre GPT is counting down to obsolescence due to the HD size and partition limits inherent in the MBR scheme. There's plenty of speculation what's coming on the Windows 9 Forums.

Dude · Mar 25, 2014

I play Battlefield 4, and it does seem better on 8.1

madmax1100 · Mar 28, 2014

Sounds more like a placebo effect.
Seeing the same games on Windows7 run slower on Windows 8 tells me there are many variables that affect the speed of a game.

I wouldn't expect a program to run faster in Windows8 unless its been programed to take advantage of the changes. And few have.

With regards to the ugly desktop of Windows8, Windows7 and Vista can both turn off the pretty Glass. It makes a difference, but that difference changes depending on teh spec of the computer. A lower spec computer gains more when turning off the "Luxuries"

So far, what i have seen is Windows8 causing as much grief as relief, but when it works, it works good, which it should.

It will be awhile yet before anything actually takes advantage of it, and the Metro Desktop is actually causing unnecessary cpu useage, so while faster at some things, its slower on others. When its faster, its marginally , marginally faster, and when its slower...
Its slower then an 8bit running a modern game...

rafael1979 · Mar 29, 2014

madmax1100 said:
Sounds more like a placebo effect.
Seeing the same games on Windows7 run slower on Windows 8 tells me there are many variables that affect the speed of a game.

I wouldn't expect a program to run faster in Windows8 unless its been programed to take advantage of the changes. And few have.

With regards to the ugly desktop of Windows8, Windows7 and Vista can both turn off the pretty Glass. It makes a difference, but that difference changes depending on teh spec of the computer. A lower spec computer gains more when turning off the "Luxuries"

So far, what i have seen is Windows8 causing as much grief as relief, but when it works, it works good, which it should.

It will be awhile yet before anything actually takes advantage of it, and the Metro Desktop is actually causing unnecessary cpu useage, so while faster at some things, its slower on others. When its faster, its marginally , marginally faster, and when its slower...
Its slower then an 8bit running a modern game...

So far, after 3 weeks using 8.1 I can report that I've been using the Mail app, the Video app, IE11 and still playing games all at the same time and the games play very well, if anything the same as on Windows 7. On 7 YouTube used be a constant headache for me as it wouldn't play videos without constant hiccups, on IE11 on 8 YouTube is a peach.
But at times, with certain games I do agree with you that it's probably just a placebo effect. Maybe it's due exactly to the fact that Windows 8 can do so many things at once without ever 'complaining' and still being fast(despite the eventual hiccups) even on low end machines such as mine.

Lichking · May 8, 2014

BF4 plays better on Win 8 than it does on Win 7..as for the rest no idea..6 of one, half dozen the other etc etc.

CountMike · May 9, 2014

Those "resource savings" coming from reduced visual effects are just for very marginal systems, any half decent machine can run just as fast with many visual enhancements.

LMiller7 · May 9, 2014

CountMike said:
Those "resource savings" coming from reduced visual effects are just for very marginal systems, any half decent machine can run just as fast with many visual enhancements.

Very true

The full Windows 7 GUI wasn't designed for high end systems. It was designed for the typical system of the day with average integrated graphics. And don't forget that was in 2009. For any reasonably modern system capable of running modern games with decent performance handling the Windows 7 GUI is a trivial thing.

Dude · May 10, 2014

Everyone thinks it's a "placebo effect" but for me the games I have been playing recently all play better on 8.1 compared to W7. I didn't take FPS screenshots to prove my point but I can feel the difference.

Nothing against W7, I have always had great performance with it. Since moving to 8, I still do all the things I did with W7...benchmarking and gaming for example. Windows 8 outperforms Windows 7 flat out in everything.

I don't mean to rant but I had this conversation with a few people today. It's always the same thing that turns people off from W8... the start button, and the way it navigates compared to W7.

Spend a very little time on W8 and you will realize you don't need a start menu, and it is better.

End of the rant

Is Windows 8.1 faster for gaming than Windows 7?

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