Optimizing KDE 3.1.x

David Lechnyr writes "This article goes into detail on optimizing KDE for speed. Typically, most distributions include pre-compiled binaries of KDE which are optimized for an Intel i386 computer. Chances are that you're running something faster than this; if so, this should help you tweak the compile process to speed things up a bit."

Comments

mandatory gentoo user post...

[dotgod]

Gentoo does all this by default. To compile and install optimized binaries for kde, you just type "emerge kde"

I do this with ALL my software, automatically.

[ewomack]

See http://www.sourcemage.org/ All source, downloaded from the authors site and compiled to the settings and optimizations YOU choose.

Here's a script that works.

[SN74S181]

This optimizes the hell out of KDE, and it reduces the memory footprint as well. It's such a simple script that I include it right in my ~/.cshrc file:

alias kde twm

You can substitute fvwm2 or some other window manager if you're not a tab enthusiast.

Re:portage ?

[larry bagina]

it's not about "experimental optimizations", it's about beling able to select instructions optimized for your CPU.

the difference between a 386, 486, and pentium I-IV isn't just clockspeed and MMX, a handful of new instructions have been added. If you don't specify the arcitecture, you'll generate i386 compatable code.

so if (i == 0) i = 1234; will generate code like this:
cmp eax,0
jne L1
mov eax, 1234
L1:

A PII however, can do this:
cmp eax,0
cmove eax,1234

that might not look all that much better, but branches are a huge bubble in the pipeline, and are horrible for performance.