Re: KDE4 slow on old machine

On Monday 29 June 2009 14:23:26 Norman Carver wrote:
<snip>
> Has anyone else noticed this?

Yes, others have reported slower performance from KDE4.

> Any settings changes one can make to KDE4 to affect this?

Turn off, and don't enable, graphics candy that is not necessary. Rotating
cubes with many screens look cool, but take resources and time. Along the
same lines, don't load at boot-up, and perhaps uninstall, software that is
not used frequently, if at all. The Beagle database, for example.

> Also wondered why this might be so? <snip>

In addition to too much software being loaded, it also may be the case that
there is not enough RAM in the machine, especially if the video card shares
system RAM. 32-bit machines can hold up to 4 GB RAM; Linux can use 2 GB
comfortably. Especially if the machine is a laptop, but otherwise, too, it's
a good idea to have a swap partition at least as large as the amount of RAM
installed. With low activity levels and modest amounts of software loaded,
swap activity may be modest, especially with more RAM added. However, being
prepared for more swap activity for applications, for video, and for laptop
suspend and resume situations is a good idea.


Ken