KB-Windows System Assessment Tool

Knowledge Byte

The Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT) is a module of Microsoft Windows Vista which measures various performance characteristics and capabilities of the hardware it is running on and reports them as a Windows Experience Index (WEI) score, a number between 1.0 and 5.9 for Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 and between 1.0 and 7.9 for Windows 7 (build 7000). The WEI is due to increase its maximum score with future updates. The WEI includes five subscores: processor, memory, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, and disk; the basescore is equal to the lowest of the subscores.

The current version of Windows Vista (Build 6001) version of WinSAT performs the following tests:

·       Aero Assessment

·       Direct3D Alpha Blending Assessment

·       Direct3D Texture Load Assessment

·       Direct3D ALU Assessment

·       Windows Media Playback

·       CPU Performance

·       Memory Performance

·       Disk Performance