Have you ever wondered how productive your computer configuration is in terms of working with the operating system and the programs installed in its environment? Many can naturally answer that it’s enough to look at the characteristics of the main components such as the central processor, RAM or graphics chip, and then immediately say that the configuration is powerful or weak. Alas, this technique is far from always applicable, especially when you need to evaluate the system’s speed when working with demanding applications. To do this, you can use a special parameter called the performance index. But how to view the performance index in Windows 10? It is further proposed to consider what kind of indicator it is, why it is needed, and how to find it out using a few simple methods.
What is a performance index?
The indicator itself is a kind of averaged score that is exposed to a computer system when testing all the important components. Indeed, points are awarded to the basic hardware components (CPU, RAM, video card, hard disk, etc.), after which a general value is given, which characterizes the speed of the system. It can range from 1.0 to 9.9.
It is believed that the norm of the performance index in Windows 10 is 3.0 or higher, that is, computers with such indicators work normally with most programs designed specifically for the current system. But when installing software that requires increased use of system resources, the index must have higher values. However, there is one significant drawback. The fact is that the final score can be called average only with a very big stretch. If we are talking about how to find out the performance rating in Windows 10 using the system’s own tools, this assessment will be purely conditional, because it is set by the least number of points that a particular device scores.
In other words, all indicators are not summarized among themselves, and the amount is not divided by the number of devices evaluated. In addition, it should be noted that the index viewing tool has lost its familiar graphical interface since the eighth version of Windows, and cannot be called from the system section in the same “Control Panel”.
Where to see the Windows 10 performance index: basic ways
Thus, users can offer several basic techniques that are fundamentally different from the methods used in Windows 7 and earlier versions. The following are considered to be the main ones:
- use of the command line;
- Using the PowerShell console
- the use of third-party programs.
Despite such “abstruse” decisions, there is one tool with graphic design that can give out the value of a performance indicator in relation to computer games.
Windows 10 General Performance Index: How can I find out the simplest method?
To activate the toolkit, you need to call the "Run" console, and then enter the shell: games combination in it .
After that, a window with the title “Games” will appear, very reminiscent of the same tool that was present in earlier systems. Again, the indicator can be called objective (and even with difficulty) only when evaluating the processing of graphics, which is presented in modern computer games (nothing more).
Note: this method does not work in all editions of Windows 10.
Command line usage
Now let's figure out how to look at the performance index in Windows 10 using the command line tools for this. It must be said right away that in this case a more objective assessment will be issued than that which was presented in the past case, but it will take a little longer to evaluate the computer configuration.
Call the command console on behalf of the administrator, using the RMB on the start button for this, and then enter the combination shown above. After that, in the "Explorer" in the main system directory (Windows), find the Performance folder, and in it go to the WinSAT and DataStore subfolders.
The final directory will contain the XML file highlighted in the image above. Now just open it using either the standard Notepad or any of the web browsers available in the system, and then find the section in the content that starts with the <WinSPR> combination .
It will be the first to present a general assessment of the system, followed by points for RAM, processor, graphics mode and graphics decoding, DirectX components, game mode and hard drive.
Note: Similar to the above assessment command, you can run it in the PowerShell console.
PowerShell Console
However, it is in this console that you can use another, no less effective assessment tool. How to look at a performance index in Windows 10 in this case? Simple too. Run the console with administrator privileges.
You cannot do this from the Run menu, so use the creation of a new task in the Task Manager (taskmgr). After that, set the combination shown in the image below for execution.
After processing the command, the test results will appear. As you can see, this method looks much simpler and faster.
WSAT
To many, the tools built into the system may seem somewhat complicated, not giving an objective assessment, or simply inconvenient, so we will dwell on how to look at the performance index in Windows 10 using third-party software. One of the most considered to be successful and simple programs is the portable WSAT application. It can be downloaded from the official resource in the form of an archive, after which it can be unpacked and launched on behalf of the administrator through the PCM menu of Explorer.
Evaluating the performance of a computer configuration is much faster than using Windows tools, and the result looks more readable thanks to the graphical shell.
Winaero WEI Tool App
Finally, this program Windows 10 performance index calculates and displays no worse than the other tools described. Again, the application is portable, and for its use it is enough to simply run the executable EXE-file.
Actually, even the window that displays the results of the evaluation of your system looks almost completely identical to the previous utility.
Epilogue
It is a pity, of course, that the evaluation tool that existed in older versions of Windows did not migrate to newer versions, nevertheless, ordinary users can be advised to evaluate the two programs described at the end as they are as simple as possible. If they are not at hand, the best option would be to use the PowerShell console rather than the command line, because, as you can already see, the actions with it look quite complicated (and this takes more time, and you have to find the report file yourself).