"We care more about performance than security," confessed professional overclocker Joe Stepongzi, aka Bearded Hardware, to colleagues at Tom's Hardware USA. “It's about having top level performance. Windows 10 is quite impactful compared to Windows 7, so I see that Windows 7 is still used to earn some points in some benches ”.
Overclocker Allen “Splave” Golibersuch also uses Windows 7 to compete because requires fewer resources. “It is very malleable and its longevity has led many people to find the aspects that help it to be so fast. There is no bloatware in it like Cortana and more. Nothing is more frustrating than when you are chasing a world record with liquid nitrogen cooling and Windows 10 starts doing an automatic update, even when there is no Internet connection!".
The general perception is that older benchmarks perform better on the platform they were originally designed for. Some tests such as PCMark Vantage and PCMark 05 actually don't run properly with Windows 10. "The former requires debugging to work and the latter doesn't work at all," stressed professional overclocker Charles Fugger.
Allen “Splave” Golibersuch plans to keep Windows 7 for certain benchmarks and platforms. “The current generation AMD, for example, doesn't have very good support even for Windows 8, let alone Windows 7. Ryzen Master doesn't even install. For the Intel X299 platform, Windows 7 is undoubtedly my choice”Said Splave.
Also read: Here's what will happen to Windows 7 PCs from January 15, 2020
Stepongzi will also continue to leverage Windows 7, which he has called "fantastic for best performance" since its release, although sooner or later even overclockers will have to upgrade to Windows 10. Meanwhile, some still use Windows XP for testing. such as wPrime, a multithreaded test for x86 and SuperPi 32M CPUs, to test speed and stability.
“An example is… SuperPi XS, where we can see a decline in performance on all operating systems, including Windows 8 and Windows Vista,” said Fugger. "Windows XP is the best operating system for SuperPi and overclockers will go to great lengths (beyond the ordinary) to install Windows XP on the latest hardware."
Also read: Discounted Windows 7 Migration Kit: Upgrading to Windows 10 is a breeze
Is Windows 7 Really Dead? Not for everyone, there is a handful of diehards
