686 kernel?

[Prospero424]

I've recently switched to Kubuntu, and I don't have much experience with kernel management.

Kubuntu defaulted to using the 386 ubuntu kernel, and I was wondering if there was a performance benefit to using the 686 kernel instead on my PIII 450.

If so, I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as far as a guide to the proper way to do this.

Much appreciated.

[marble]

Re: 686 kernel?

There should be some benefit, but whether it's noticable or not depends on what you do, and how closely you pay attention

To install it, just install the linux-686 package and reboot. I think it sets itself as the default, but you can always go into grub as it boots and check.

[Prospero424]

Re: 686 kernel?

Oh, I pay VERY close attention This machine is used almost exclusively for downloads and media playback, and it's right on the edge as far as playing back some higher resolution XviD and DivX files that are being posted these days, performance-wise, so I'm trying to squeeze as much speed out of it as possible.

To this end, any suggestions for improving video playback performance would also be GREATLY appreciated, especially on the h/x264 front. I was wondering if there were, say, a custom compilation of VLC or MPlayer for the PIII.

Anyway, as to the kernel, I did indeed go ahead and just install the 686 kernel using Adept, and it seems to have worked like a charm, just as you said.

So far, the performance delta has been quite noticeable when performing common tasks, like list filtering in Adept. I'm quite pleased.

I'll go ahead and create a new topic on the subject of video playback performance, so feel free to chime in over there as well! Thanks again.