Microsoft recently released the new update for Windows 8 in form of version 8.1 which comes with several new things like the Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 and the Start Menu. But the Windows 8.1 also has many things removed from it, for example, the Windows Experience Index no longer exists in Windows 8.1. If you are a Windows 8.1 user and miss the Windows Experience Index, then you can use the ChrisPC Win Experience Index which shows hardware index ratings in a similar look as the Experience Index feature from Microsoft.
The Windows Experience Index is a measurement utility that can help you get an idea about how fast and responsive your computer system is. The higher the Index score, the better performance you should expect from your PC. This feature evaluates your system hardware based on some tests and assigns a rating to the processor, RAM, graphics, GPU and the primary hard disk. ChrisPC Win Experience Index brings back this feature in Windows 8.1.
ChrisPC Win Experience Index can be downloaded from the ChrisPC website. The download is a small installable application. After the installation, you can access the ChrisPC Win Experience Index from the Start Menu or from the Search Charms. It shows the experience index rating stored on your computer.
Just like the original feature from Microsoft, you can re-assess the index ratings for all the components by clicking on the Re-run the assessment button. This runs different sets sequentially which takes more than 3-4 minutes. The tests include various DirectX tests, audio tests, CPU and GPU tests and the hard disk test. After all the tests have been run, it shows you the new index values for your system.
The Windows Experience Index can give you a general idea if your system has good quality hardware or not. If you want much better performance from your system, then you can upgrade your system hardware (e.g., buy better GPU, add more RAM etc.) and then run the assessment again to see if the experience index has gone up.
ChrisPC Win Experience Index is a free application that can display your system’s Windows Experience Index ratings without having to dig deep into system settings. It replaces the missing Windows Experience Index feature in Windows 8.1, but can also work in earlier versions of Windows.
You can download ChrisPC Win Experience Index from http://win-experience-index.chris-pc.com/.