Windows 7 versus Windows 10 – gaming performance comparison

20 July 2016
Windows 10 has reached more than 110 million devices

Windows 10 is becoming more popular among PC gamers, probably due to a combination of Microsoft’s aggressive marketing push and the exclusivity of DirectX 12.

However, a fair proportion of gamers still choose to use the more familiar Windows 7.

We decided to do some research and find out which of the two Windows operating systems are objectively better for gaming.


Benchmarks

The only way to accurately measure a difference in gaming performance between the two operating systems is to find hardware-identical benchmarks.

Luckily, Techspot and PCGamer have both conducted in-depth tests to see if a performance difference exists.

Check out their benchmark results below (click to enlarge):

PC Gamer 1

PC Gamer 2

BioShock Infinite Techspot

Metro Redux Techspot

Hitman Absolution Techspot

Tomb Raider Techspot

Crysis 3 Techspot


The Verdict

The collection of benchmarks above shows no discernible performance difference between gaming using Windows 7 or Windows 10.

According to the above data, gamers should use whatever operating system they prefer, regardless of performance concerns.

However, it is important to note that DirectX 12, the newest API developed by Microsoft, will be exclusive to Windows 10.

This means that Windows 7 users may miss out on performance improvements implemented by the new API.

Do you use Windows 10 or Windows 7 on your gaming PC? Let us know in the comments and forums.


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  1. Nadt Boonmee
    07.07.2017 at 06:56

    what really annoy me the most is the fact that even today is the fact that there still many small softwares not really compatible with win10. some hardware such as usb wifi still malfunction and not have the driver that really support win7. and when come to windows problem such as hanging, crash or bsod in the end win7 clearly easier to fix when win10…..most of times you have to reinstall it again.

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