Tested: Windows 10 Wakes Your Laptop Twice as Fast

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It's not the only reason to install Windows 10 on your Windows 7 laptop or Windows 8 tablet, but the new operating system's scorching fast wake-from-sleep speed is a definite perk. In testing 5 different laptops we found that most woke more than twice as quickly once Windows 10 was installed. That could be incredibly useful for students running from class to class or business folks sliding into a big meeting a little late.

The HP Zbook 15u, updated from Windows 7, saw the largest speed increase. It went from 4 seconds to 1.38 seconds. The wallet friendly Lenovo IdeaPad 100, originally running Windows 8.1 on a mechanical hard drive, saw a similar jump in speed, waking in 1.61 seconds after previously taking 3.93 seconds to wake. The Dell XPS 13 and the Microsoft Surface 3 saw the smallest jumps in performance, improving from 4.23 to 2.8 and 1.63 to 1.16 seconds respectively. 

Our other benchmarks of Windows 10 revealed less exciting results. We used Geekbench 3, a popular synthetic benchmark that measures processor, memory and graphic performance, and score changes were statistically insignificant. Boot speed — how long it takes for a computer to start from a powered-off state -- saw inconsistent changes. The ASUS G751JY's stripe RAID SSD loved Windows 10 and jumped from booting in 15.62 seconds in Windows 8 to booting 7.26 seconds in Windows 10. Yet the Lenovo IdeaPad 100, a big performer in our Wake from Sleep test, actually took a little longer to boot, going from a sluggish 22.26 seconds in Windows 8 to an even-worse 25.43 Windows 10 that jumped to an even slower 25.43 seconds.

Curiously there appears to be no exact reason why some devices performed better than others. The ASUS G751JY and Dell XPS 13 are both listed as "Windows 10 ready" devices and had the latest drivers from their respective manufacturers installed, while the Lenovo ideapad 100 and HP Zbook 15u are still waiting on updates from their manufacturers and Microsoft's own homegrown device, the Surface Pro 3, saw some of the smallest leaps in performance.

Apart from the improved wake times, you shouldn't expect significant performance gains from upgrading to Windows 10. However, bringing your computer back to life in under 2 seconds, roughly the amount of time it takes to flip open the lid, could really change your day-to-day computing experience for the better.

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 Having issues with Windows 10? Our sister site, Tom’s Hardware, has a team of staffers standing by in the forums to answer your questions 24/7.

 

Alex Cranz
Now days she spends her hours in the lab developing tests and benchmarks for the latest consumer technologies, but before joining Laptop Mag and Tom's Guide in 2014 Alex Cranz worked as a writer for Lifetime, a contributor for MacAddict and AintItCool News, and the managing editor of FemPop.