Why is X so slow?

[SLG]

I recently installed SuSE 9 on my Development box and I'm not pleased with the performance of X.
Config:
2x 2.4GHz Xeon
4GB ECC RAM
2x36.4 10,000rpm SCSI Raid 0
Matrox G550
SuSE 9 2.4.21-smp
XFree86 4.?.?
KDE 3.1.4.

When I click on an app, any app, it takes at least 3-10 seconds to load. Once it loads, the performance of the app improves some but not much.

Is there something that I can tweak/change/upgrade to improve the response time?

 

[JustKIDn]

WOW!

Only 3 seconds.

I'm jealous!


tgus

____________________________
Families can be together forever...

 

[SLG]

So, this is normal?!?!

 

[sleipnir214]

Not necessarily.

Using a generic video driver rather than the driver for your specific model can make a difference.

Upgrading to KDE 3.2.x is supposed to help, too.



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TANSTAAFL!!

 

[SLG]

OK, Ill try the upgrade of KDE to see if that helps. I installed the latest Matrox drivers and it didn't help. Should I also look at upgrading XFree86 too? Or doesn't that matter?

 

[bfks3230]

I hate to say it, but a lot of more commercial Linux distros have become somewhat bloated. It used to be that one of the main virtues of Linux was the ability to use old hardware.

I have Debian running great on a P3 450 with 128 MB.

 

[stefanwagner]

Your Config:--------------------------my Config
2x 2.4GHz Xeon........................1x 1.1 AMD Duron
4GB ECC RAM...........................256 MB RAM
2x36.4 10,000rpm SCSI Raid 0..........No Raid
Matrox G550...........................ATI Rage M. 64 MB shared
SuSE 9 2.4.21-smp....................Knoppix 3.3 2.4.22
XFree86 4.?.?.........................XFree86 4.3.0
KDE 3.1.4.............................KDE 3.1.4

Startup Konqueror: 2 sec.
Startup Acrobat: < 200 ms

Do you have your 4GB enabled?
Most vanilla-kernels only enable about 900 MB.
You then need to recompile your kernel with highmem support.

Try 'head /var/log/XFr->' to find out which version of XFree86 - but I don't think it does matter much.
(-> shall mean: Tab)

Call top to see, which processes consume the cpu.
Are there many servers running in the background?

 

[JustKIDn]

sleipnir,

Is KDE 3.2 really faster? How much?

Can you give a link to see more info on that?

Thanks!


tgus

____________________________
Families can be together forever...

 

[SLG]

Thanks to all that replied. I took the Windows approach to this problem. I did a complete reinstall and this time I hand selected the applications and libraries that I wanted installed instead of using the defaults. It has improved 100% and is running like a champ.
I really hate to admit it, but it is still slower than a Windows GUI on the same hardware. I’m willing to put up with it though cause I’m so sick of Micro$oft.

 

[LawnBoy]

I've got SuSE 9.0 running on a Celeron 350 with 64 Mb ram.
My son has Winbloat 2K on an Athlon 2300 with 512 Mb ram.

Kick off Opera on both:
Winbloat - 18 seconds
SuSE - 5 seconds

 

[LegoPiMaster]

Wow Lawnboy, how's you'res running so fast?
I have an amd-k6/200 and it takes forever to do anything in X. Most of the time i just resort to CTRL-ALT-[F1<->F6] ( i actually added an extra term on F8 cause i use them so much )


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echo `fortune fortunes`$'\b in bed.'
Your lover will never wish to leave you in bed.

 

[LawnBoy]

Dunno, I just did a default install of SuSE, and then used Yast to install Opera. I'm even running KDE on a Voodoo3 video card (which is the biggest piece of crap 3DFX ever produced).

 

[LegoPiMaster]

Must be my vid card. Crapppy, don't even know who made it - pulled it out of a junk box.

Probably should get around to upgrading that sometime=D


-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

echo `fortune fortunes`$'\b in bed.'
Your lover will never wish to leave you in bed.

 

[Leland123]

Hi,

You might try installing the NVIDIA 3D driver. It can make a big difference for things like video games. Here is a link to the web site:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/home

Regards,

LelandJ

Leland F. Jackson, CPA
Software - Master (TM)

http://www.smvfp.com

Nothing Runs Like the Fox

 

[skiflyer]

IMO the 2.6 series of kernel's are noticeably faster for desktop systems... I've heard technicalities to back this up, but I forget them all, something about interuptability of the kernel or whatnot, eh, who cares, if you're not running a production server why not just play with 2.6.6?

 

[LegoPiMaster]

do the NVDIA drivers work for non-NVDIA cards as well?


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echo `fortune fortunes`$'\b in bed.'
Your lover will never wish to leave you in bed.

 

[Leland123]

Hi LegoPiMaster,

nVidia provides drivers for several difference brands of cards. You might do a google on "drivers" or "video drivers" as there are a number of web sites that specialize in providing download of various drivers for computer equipment.

Of course your video card cannot deliver performance beyond its chip set, but you want to get a driver that allows you to get the full potential built into your video card equipment.

You might also do a google on your specific video card to see what you can find. Check your video card manufacturer to see if he provides any linux drivers for your video card. Most video card manufacturers have a driver download section under [Support].

Regards,

LelandJ


Leland F. Jackson, CPA
Software - Master (TM)

http://www.smvfp.com

Nothing Runs Like the Fox

 

[LegoPiMaster]

Thanx,Leland123

I actually have one Nvdia card(which i already downloaded drivers for - they work great!!) and one crappy one, but i don't hold out much hope for that one


-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

echo `fortune fortunes`$'\b in bed.'
Your lover will never wish to leave you in bed.