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I purchased a new PC with a Gigabye Z68X-UD3H-B3. I had a Radeon HD 5450 graphics card spare, so I've added that instead of using the onboard graphics as I just presumed it would be better.

But, my Windows experience index has gone down. From 5.4 to 5.

Dekstop Performance has dropped from 5.4 to 5, although gaming graphics has gone up from 5.9 to 6.2.

I'm not actually going to be using the machine for gaming, just audio production, but I added the card as I'll possibly be doing video editing in future too.

  • Why would this be?
  • Can I trust Windows Experience Index scores? Or is it possible the onboard stuff is just better for general desktop stuff?

CPU is an Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz 95W Sandy Bridge Quad Core.

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    I've repeated this often, WEI are arbit numbers which don't mean a thing. Use a tool like 3D Mark to benchmark the current and previous system setups.
    – Sathyajith Bhat ♦
    Mar 26, 2012 at 8:37
  • Are you running the latest drivers for your card? That helps. WEI is a marketing exercise anyway and is based more on how recent your devices are than their performance.
    – Beeblebrox
    Jul 10, 2012 at 3:06

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AMD HD5450 is not a great card to use as upgrade for Intel HD3000.

But Windows Experience Index is a strange thing. I replaced HD4830 card with HD7770 overclocked edition which performs 2~3 times better in every aspect (and not to mention the all newest standards) and my index dropped from 7.3 to 7.1.

So don't bother with this... In Windows using higher resolutions you should "feel" better with HD5450.

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Well, since that board utilizes the integrated graphics that are built into the processor (as opposed to older systems where the integrated graphics was built into the motherboard) I can't comment on the specific performance of the IGA you were using. You didn't say what processor you have.

Better performance.... well... by using the dedicated card as opposed to the IGA, you are drawing more power. That could be viewed as a performance drop in some eyes. Did you disable the onboard graphics in the BIOS after you installed the video card? Having both available to the OS could also drop the overall desktop performance, and explain the score.

In general though, that Windows Experience Index score doesn't mean all that much. It isn't an Average of all the smaller sub-scores. It is a reflection of the worst score.

The onboard IGA isn't going to be better for anything, other than using less electricity.

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  • Ah, thanks! CPU is an Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz 95W Sandy Bridge Quad Core.
    – Ludo
    Mar 26, 2012 at 8:22
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There's a chance the onboard graphics (Z68 chipset, so I assume a Sandy Bridge, an Intel HD 2000/3000) is more optimised for the 2D graphics Windows uses for its desktop (Aero) effects. It could even be sacrificing quality for performance, all the computer can tell is it's (or appears to be) faster.

Anyway, Windows Experience Index is not an accurate measure of performance. There are a few proper video benchmarking programs out there.

As it turns out, several Sandy Bridge CPU/GPUs are ranked higher than the 5450 by PassMark: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/mid_range_gpus.html. This may be due to the approximate year gap between the release dates, or the 5450 may be a relatively low end card (I'm not familiar with ATI). Or the rating may be inaccurate. I can't really say.

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  • Thanks for your help. CPU is an Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz 95W Sandy Bridge Quad Core. Will check that link. THanks.
    – Ludo
    Mar 26, 2012 at 8:23
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DCA Digital Cable Adviser runs almost solely off of WEI scores for its system appraisal, so getting an accurate and reflective WEI score is actually a very helpful step in more processes then just getting DCA to pass. I would look into BIOS settings on your primary video display device.

I just recently passed my 5450 through Windows Media Center – Digital Cable Advisory by shutting off my onboard chipset in BIOS, which was tossing me up a really really low Windows Aero Graphics WEI score of 2.3.

Which user above be said it's only for marketing? Because I see no objective and readily provided support for this broad and sweeping assertion, one with explicit intent to convince others of this assertions truth.

Arguing WEI's worthlessness because it goes for a lowest score over average or median scores is a complete misuse of statistics and common sense (which don't go together)... but to argue it serves no broader function then a pretty score for stupid benchmark performance, maybe one should do a bit of research before arguing what is assumed to be mildly informed opinions.

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    This is not a discussion forum – your original post didn't seem to attempt to answer the question in any way and was subsequently deleted. As for calling other posters "idiots", no, sorry, we don't really encourage that. There are more constructive ways to critique others.
    – slhck
    Mar 24, 2013 at 15:52

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