Firefox5, Opera 11.5 Compared (pt2 - Win7)

source: technovore 

In part 1, we have a quick look at browser performance in Windows Vista. Here in part 2 we're going to look at performance under Windows7, just as we did in April. Part 3 will deal with Ubuntu.


The test rig is, again, a Toshiba Satelite C655 laptop run in 'high performance' power mode. The specs are:

• Intel i3-380m Processor (2.53 Ghz, dual core with hyper-threading for 4 effective cores)
• 4Gb DDR3-1066 RAM (PC3-8500)
• Mobile Intel HD graphics
• Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit)

Note
This is a different system to the Vista test rig, so the results are not directly comparable. and are instead for relative comparison.

The test method was identical to the test method used for Vista. Tests were run on a clean user session, with no extensions running, just a plain vanilla configuration. The tested browsers were:

• Chrome 12.0.742.112
• Firefox 5
• IE9 *
• Opera 11.11
• Opera 11.50

* As previously tested

Peacekeeper
First, the obligatory Peacekeeper graph

Only IE9 was unchanged from the last test, back in April, but this time around, it's scored almost identically (5686 then, to 5683 now), so the results are fairly comparable. Opera 11.11 scores almost the same as 11.01 did 3 months ago, but the big shock is the much poorer performance of Chrome. We'd seen this already on Vista, but it seems that Chrome is starting to lose it's reputation for 'blazing speed'. Firefox is improving, but still hasn't closed the deficit to IE. Let's break down the tests.

As you can see, Opera is kicking butt in the rendering and complex graphics tests (and these overall scores don't factor in some of the complex graphics), DESPITE it not being optimized to use the video card yet,  while Chrome is blazing fast at data processing. Both IE and Firefox fail to take the lead in any category, though, and really need to step up their game.

Sunspider
Three months ago, the order was IE9, Opera just ahead of Firefox, and then Chrome at the back. have things changed? not so much. IE and Firefox have shaved off 2-3 milliseconds, while Opra has added slightly (meaning it just drops behind Firefox) while Chrome adds 20. Chrome really does seem to be going backwards.

HTML5+Acid3
With the new version, still doesn't pass the acid3 test, again turning in a score of 97. This is, let's not forget, a test that Opera and chrome aced years ago.

On the HTML5 side, All 3 new versions have upped their game, according to html5test.com. Opera has gone  from 234 with 7 bonus points ("+7") in 11.01, through 278+7 in 11.11 and up to 286+7 in 11.50.
Chrome has gone from 293+13 in version 11, to 328+13 in version 12, another big jump, and the best score of those tested. Firefox 4 scored 255+9 back in April, and now with Firefox5, it's upped it's game to 286 points (equal with Opera 11.50) with 9 bonus points. Things have really moved on!

NEXT TIME
Browsers under Ubuntu 10.10