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Windows XP SP2 vs. SP1 performance comparison

October 18, 2004 by barbutti 31 Comments

Short Media threw 108 performance benchmarks at Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 2. The results:

The test PC equipped with Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 was an average of 0.5% faster than the same hardware with Service Pack 2 installed. The percentage difference between faster and slower is insignificantly small. Less than 2 or 3 percent in some benchmarks could be dismissed by most but when gamers are looking to squeeze every extra frame out of their machines…it may count.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: Linking, Reviews, Windows, Windows XP

Comments

  1. Jorge says

    August 7, 2011 at 9:19 AM

    There are lots of differences. Firstly, when installing SP2 microsoft’s own java virtual machine gets uninstalled. This is a fisadvantage of upgrading. However, when you upgrade, you get LOTS of benefits, such as a *very* improved security, a better firewall, the microsoft security center, the access to latest updates, IE8, WMP11 (I prefer 10), improved WiFi management, etc. Almost everything relates to security improvements. On the other hand, if your computer is running slow or it isn’t fast, I’d recommend you to stick with SP1 (as I have seen computers with 128 mb RAM running ok with SP1 and 512mb RAM running slow with SP2)

    Reply
  2. subi says

    November 21, 2009 at 5:01 AM

    hurry up!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  3. subi says

    November 21, 2009 at 5:00 AM

    I’ve asked to many persons but nobody give correct answer for my question is that ‘difference between windows xp sp1 and sp2. if anybody know exact answer for this question kindly send me following mail id. [email protected]

    Reply
  4. kamal says

    January 31, 2007 at 5:31 PM

    what is the difference bewteen windos xp sp1 and windows xp sp2 in terms of its installation in mac computer using boot camp because boot camp recommonds sp2 version of windows only.
    I have windows xp sp1 cd how to convert it into sp2
    regards
    kamal

    Reply
  5. athan says

    January 20, 2007 at 11:33 AM

    sp1 sucks…. its prone to all the BUGS we all hate!!!

    Reply
  6. Microsoft.Sucks unrelated says

    January 10, 2007 at 5:57 AM

    I just ordered the sp2 cd and am going to install it because all I want is to upgrade from IE6 sp1 to IE7 or at least ADD IE7, by the way cody an operating system will never die before the people do… :) it just gets ignored and thrown into the closed and locked away for years, and years…

    Reply
  7. Cody says

    January 3, 2007 at 7:55 AM

    Iv been running windowss xp without service packs and found the performance high and for an AMD ATHLON XP 2000+ @1.6GHz that is good but starting to admit it that if i want my computers opperating system to last i need to install xp sp2.

    Reply
  8. Microsoft.Sucks says

    December 5, 2006 at 8:43 PM

    I hate to admit it but I installed Windows XP SP2 instead of SP1. I never had any problems with viruses, spyware, or any other privacy/security threat on SP1. But, with Microsoft discontinuing support for SP1 I was, kind of, forced into it. I don’t care about security updates I manage and keep my system secure myself. The support for IE7 and WMP11 is what got me to switch.

    Reply
  9. dankman says

    November 16, 2006 at 2:17 AM

    high speed usb???

    Reply
  10. muthu says

    September 15, 2006 at 9:49 AM

    this is very useful site

    Reply
  11. Charles says

    May 28, 2006 at 12:06 AM

    I upgraded Windows XP sp1 to sp2 and now my audio doesn’t work! Any suggestions on how to fix this problem? Thx.

    Reply
  12. jolly says

    May 27, 2006 at 12:57 AM

    Ya, I kinda agree with the point of installing premiere 2 with presence of sp2, it’s rediculous… any ideas?

    Reply
  13. John says

    February 28, 2006 at 5:05 PM

    is there a way to install premiere 2 without installing sp2?…I’m working with audio software which has NUMEROUS issues with sp2 and i want to avoid installing it.

    Reply
  14. AJ says

    February 4, 2006 at 7:04 PM

    The only reason I upgraded to SP2 is because you cannot install Adobe Premiere 2.0 unless you have been upgraded to SP2. I don’t like SP2 but I had no choice in the matter and I think it’s rediculous you need it for that program.

    Reply
  15. HELP says

    January 17, 2006 at 11:24 AM

    Hi guys,
    I installed windows xp sp2 few dAYS ago, but now my play speed music is high for all software (win. media player, real player
). HELP, if someone can tell me how to solve the pbm or decrease the play speed.

    Thx

    Reply
  16. help says

    January 17, 2006 at 11:23 AM

    HI guys,
    I installed windows xp sp2 few dyas ago, but now my play speed music is high for all softwares. HELP, if someone can tell me how to solve the pbm or decrease the play speed.

    Thx

    Reply
  17. Ren says

    December 30, 2005 at 10:15 AM

    30Dec2005
    The original test has vanished from the ether. (ie the link doesn’t work:P).

    Would be interesting to know if the situation has changed over the year.

    Reply
  18. SpyderCanopus says

    October 22, 2005 at 6:20 PM

    I sure as heck notice a huge difference in SP1 & SP2 when starting up Windows. You know you can still get security updates without SP2 so whats the point except to let it hold your hand while your on the PC. If you’re a IT whiz in your family, you can do without it. I haven’t done any comparison directly with SP1 vs SP2, but everyone knows SP2 WAY more than 0.5% slower than SP2.

    Reply
  19. Anthony says

    September 22, 2005 at 11:42 AM

    you guys suck

    Reply
  20. Kshitij Prasai says

    March 28, 2005 at 1:08 PM

    Does SP2 support USB 2.0 like SP1 does?? I have a hight speed USB 2.0 PCMCI card hooked up to my pentium III 700Mhz laptop, and when I plugin a USB 2.0 Drive in the Card it still gives me the “HI-SPEED USB device and will function at reduced speed when plugged into a non-HI-SPEED port” error message

    Reply
  21. Adam says

    February 5, 2005 at 11:00 PM

    in sisoft sandra I got a slight decrease in performance with sp2 installed over sp1.

    I formatted, installed SP1, formatted and installed SP2. That was my method for testing.

    Reply
  22. Carlo says

    December 6, 2004 at 7:02 AM

    I have a P4 3.06Ghz on a P4PE ASUS with 1Gb RAM. I installed a new version WXP SP1. I tested it with a banchmarking program (Sandra Lite 2005 and PCBench) and it’s ranked correclty. I intalled SP2 (no others pgm) and the PC has been downgraded as a PIII 700Hz in term of MIPS and FLOAT. I thing that with SP2 some pgm have prolblem in using the virtual CPU. Any help ? by

    Reply
  23. Barbutti says

    October 21, 2004 at 9:24 AM

    lol

    If only I didn’t love her… =)

    Reply
  24. Dan says

    October 21, 2004 at 8:57 AM

    How about upgrading the girlfriend instead?! :-)

    Reply
  25. Barbutti says

    October 19, 2004 at 6:42 AM

    She started using Firefox a little while ago. The problem is that her PC is kinda old and FF requires more memory than IE.

    Reply
    • PMR-PWND-U says

      January 24, 2011 at 8:26 PM

      FF does NOT use more memory than IE. Where have you been, dude? FF is the second fastest, second least bloatware browser there is! IE TOPS the list for Bloatware! Anything made by MicroSoft is going to be BLOATWARE!

      I would advise you people to do some research, and be involved in the field you are posting about (unless asking questions) before you post. It does NOT make you look good, it only makes you look like a bunch of….. Mis Informed SHEEPLE!

      Reply
  26. Netaku says

    October 19, 2004 at 12:54 AM

    I’m not bothereing with SP2 for a while. Never really had problems with SP1, and I’m not really in an adventurous mood.

    Reply
  27. minghong says

    October 18, 2004 at 11:23 PM

    Do your girl friend a flavour and install Firefox. It is not a geek browser. 1.0 final will be out soon so you may like to keep attention.

    Reply
  28. Barbutti says

    October 18, 2004 at 7:21 PM

    I’ve been using Windows XP with no service pack for 3 years and never had a problem with spyware or anything else, but that’s just because I’m not an average user.

    I encourage average users that I know on upgrading to Service Pack 2, although that might not save them from all the harmful things that internet offer. My girlfriend is a completely average user and I have to reformat her PC and reinstall Windows every 2 months because of all the spyware, virus and slowness. I always install the newsest service pack and security updates but somehow that just doesn’t seem to work for her. Maybe it is impossible for Windows to be a completely safe operating system for the average user… ( or maybe my girlfriend is the problem :-)

    Reply
    • PMR-PWND-U says

      January 24, 2011 at 8:22 PM

      It is obvious that you “Average” and “Non-Average :-)” users have not discovered the 3 tools you really NEED to keep your PC not only Virus and Malware free, but also port blocked!
      #1.) Get the newest Norton Internet Security Suite or 360. It provides you with the most protection you will get out of any software. Microsoft is NOT concerned with your personal information safety, rather only what it HAS to do to keep “Uncle Sam” happy.

      #2.) Spybot Search & Destroy. This tool will find and clean anything the prior and latter do not, plus has a registry protection program you can opt to use (I use, and it is wonderful) called TeaTimer. Don’t worry, you can still add/delete registry key’s manually with no issue, just click the accept button when TeaTimer prompts you.

      #3.) Malwarebytes. This will find and remove most internet threats out there today. They are constantly updating (I had 3 different, separate updates on 1/23/2011 alone and still counting) and ARE committed to yours and my internet safety.
      All of the software options I provided to you are the BEST OF THE BEST.
      Spybot Search and Destroy is FREE. MalwareBytes is FREE. Neither one are harmful. Norton Internet Security 2010 you can find 30/60/90 day free trials all day long, but I do prefer to pay for mine.

      Reply
  29. JC says

    October 18, 2004 at 6:21 PM

    Hmm… how about they do it again, after an average user has used each PC for 3 months… see what the difference is once 3 months worth of spyware has accumulated on the SP1 box, that the SP2 box blocked… I have a suspicion the performance numbers might just tilt in the opposite direction

    Reply

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