Moving a window uses 100% cpu, is this right?

dangerousdave · 02-23-2005, 12:50 PM

I've been assuming this is just the way linux is generally, but I thought I should check. When I move a window in GNOME the cpu usage shoots up to 100%. Also when I have quite a few programs running my mouse is 'jumpy' and when I move windows around they leave a trail behind. In fact generally I would say linux is a lot more sluggish than windows xp.

Is this all normal behaviour? Is linux multithreading basically not as advanced as windows? or is it something to do with my setup?

Cheers,

Tinkster · 02-23-2005, 02:18 PM

Hmmm ... depends on what CPU you have, I suppose,
and, if the programs require hdd read/writes, whether
DMA is enabled or not... generally speaking Linux'
beats Windows at mutlitasking/multithreading with the
hands tied to the back ;)

Cheers,
Tink

dangerousdave · 02-23-2005, 03:58 PM

OK, I have an Athlon 1.3 and like I say I dont have any problem with windows xp. Also DMA is enabled for all drives.

Is there anything I should look out for/commands I should run if linux is behaving more sluggishly than it should? Anyone know any good tutorials or have any tips on how to diagnose the cause of this slowness?

Tinkster · 02-23-2005, 04:08 PM

Code:

fdisk -l | grep Disk | awk 'BEGIN{FS="[ :]"}{print $2}' | xargs hdparm

That will tell you whether DMA is enabled for any
hdd in your system

Cheers,
Tink

dangerousdave · 02-23-2005, 04:26 PM

Thats pretty cool, need to learn how to mix up commands like that.

Anyway, DMA is definately enabled on both drives, confirmed with your code.

Anything else to check?

Tinkster · 02-23-2005, 04:42 PM

Hmmm ... what graphics card/chipset are you using?

And did you try a different WM/DE? I'm using Flux
on a P4 1.8 with a radeon mobility here, and when I drag
a reasonably big window around I can't get more than
20% CPU usage out of mine ... I don't have Gnome installed
so can't test how that behaves.

Cheers,
Tink

dangerousdave · 02-23-2005, 04:53 PM

Using ATI Radeon 9550 with the drivers on the ATI site. I've checked logs and it seems to initialise OK along with the AGP (it comes with its own AGP driver).

Whats a WM/DE? Assumedly alternatives to GNOME like KDE... I havnt got any installed. It would be a shame to lose all my settings if I have to switch.

Cheers for all this help.

jankom · 03-11-2005, 02:34 PM

Your wrote: my mouse is 'jumpy' and when I move windows around they leave a trail behind.

I have the same problem, see new thread from yesterday - no replies yet.

Everything is fine if I use 'nv' display driver, not 'nvidia'. With 'nv' I do not have glx support.

It seems to me that this problem is related to glx enabled in the display driver and/or AGP, but I don't know enough to go further.

My machine is with Athlon 1800Mhz and Nvidia Riva TNT2.

Janos