Speed up your PC and get a Windows Experience Index score of 5.9. Part One

jjones | Guides | 22/08/2008 16:02pm
15 Comments

It’s one of the hottest topics on the forums, and one that many people have been and still are struggling with. Just how do you max out your PC with an across the board 5.9 Windows Experience Index score? First introduced with Windows Vista, the Windows Experience Index (WEI) was designed to be a quick guide that let everyone know if their PC could run certain applications by grading its graphics, processor, memory and hard drive. But for some getting a pure 5.9 score (the highest currently available) has become an obsession.

To find out your WEI score, go to Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance. Under System, click on Check your
computer’s Windows Experience Index base score. You’ll see your overall score, plus the individual scores for your PC’s components. The overall score is the same as the weakest link in your system – so for a perfect 5.9, you need every part to be at its best. We show you how.

Increase the RAM score

When it comes to a perfect WEI score, memory has to be the most complex area, so we’ve been playing with a host of different configurations to see just why one system will score 5.9 and another won’t. It seems that memory performance is basically a tale of two systems, as how AMD and Intel processors access their memory differs hugely. AMD processors have hardware that controls the memory built into the processor, which leads to incredibly fast memory speed. Intel architecture, however, leaves this controller built into the motherboard electronics, which simply bottlenecks things.

Catch the bus

This means that even the most basic AMD dual-core system with budget DDR2 memory can easily achieve a 5.9 memory score. For Intel systems, it turns out that it’s all down to the speed of the FSB – the bus that transmits the data from the memory to the processor. Essentially you need a 1,333MHz FSB, which is only officially found on the latest range of Intel CPUs. Roughly speaking these are the E6×40/50, E8xx0, Q9xx0, QX6×50 and QX9xxx ranges. With this bus even affordable
PC2-5300 DDR2-667 memory should be enough to make that perfect score.

If you’re stuck with an old Intel processor, though, it’s possible to reach 5.9 by overclocking. Performance memory such as Crucial’s Ballistix is available for less than £50 for a 2×1GB kit, and will overclock to 1,066MHz. We recommend you buy a 2GB ‘kit’ comprising of two sticks of RAM. This enables dual-channel memory and is the only way to score over 4.5.

Super tip

While we are obsessing about end score here, it’s not everything. People have noticed adding four memory sticks can reduce the score – that doesn’t mean Windows will then run slower. It’s just a technical measurement of RAM performance, not overall application performance.

Adding more memory

1 BE GONE STATIC

Memory is quite hardy but one thing it can’t stand is static. So preferably get yourself an anti-static wrist strap or touch something large and metallic first – such as a radiator. You’re now safe enough to open up the packaging.

2 LOCATE YOUR SLOTS

Handling the RAM by its edges, locate the memory slots on your motherboard. You should have at least two, if not four. Consult your motherboard manual and double check that the two same-coloured slots relate to the same memory channel.

3 PUSH AND PLAY

Align the notch in the memory with the notch in the memory slot. Make sure the white-side clips are open, guide the sides into the slots. Use gentle force to push the memory down into place and then lock the side clips into place.

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