I used to be slightly obsessed with getting a high "WEI" in Windows. The Windows Experience Index was a number meant to give you an idea of how strong your PC was. The idea would be that you'd go get a game at the store and it would say "WEI 5 or greater" and you'd say, "oh, I have a 6, so this game will run great."

Under Windows 7 the maximum WEI was a 7.9, so I, of course, set off to build a machine that got a perfect 7.9 WEI.

In Windows 8 and 8.1, however, the friendly UI for showing your WEI is gone.

However, you can still get the RAW numbers in Windows 8.1, I'm told from a tipster who emailed me. (Thanks!)

First, run a cmd.exe prompt run "winsat prepop." If it fails to generate much output, try "winsat formal."

Then, open a Powershell command prompt and run "Get-WmiObject -class Win32_WinSAT" and you'll see all your scores!

Looks like this machine is limited only by the SSD, but otherwise is an 8 class machine! I'm happy to be able to confirm my WEI again!

Does anyone know if Windows 8.1 maxes out at 8.9 or 9.9 WEI? Sound off in the comments!

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