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    #1

    KDE seems very slow

    I just installed Kubuntu for the first time and its my first time to use KDE for about 5 or 6 years. I finally noticed that KDE4 was out so i wanted to try it out again.

    Something in Kubuntu is extremely slow. Just navigating the menu or file manager causes CPU spikes. If i just move a window around on the desktop there is a huge delay before it actually moves.

    I good example is that switching between this browser (opera, which seems to be the fastest between Firefox, Opera and Konqueror) and another window on the desktop in this case System Settings takes about 5 seconds for it to appear on top on the browser.

    I was able to run the latest Ubuntu and Linux Mint 8 with no issues but those run gnome.

    System Specs are:
    AMD 3200+
    2GB Ram
    ATI 1950 AGP

    Guessing that its a driver issue with the ATI card since ATI nicely dropped support for the older cards.


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    #2
    Re: KDE seems very slow

    KDE4 has a lot of overhead. I found Kubuntu 9.10 rock solid. On the other hand kde on lucid has a lot of issues in regards to kde only. Ubuntu lucid is very stable.
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      #3
      Re: KDE seems very slow

      I have the same issue with my (old) laptop. Hopefully KDE will soon focus on improving the experience for those not running the latest hardware. Until then XFCE serves me well.
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        #4
        Re: KDE seems very slow

        For me, KDE 4 is quite fast, and on a machine whose specs are about half of yours. Well, much less: Athlon 2.8+ (really a 2GHz CPU), with 512MB RAM and a nVidia onboard GForce 5200 with 128 MB RAM. This even runs desktop effects decently.

        You performance perception is probably related to your graphics card, not anything to do with KDE.
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          #5
          Re: KDE seems very slow

          A friend brought me his 5 year old Toshiba laptop with 512KB RAM and a 40GB HD. It also had a broken keyboard. I spent $89 of his money to buy a $70 1 GB RAM stick and an $18 replacement keyboard. He wanted to use it to try Linux so I put Kubuntu 9.10 on it. KK fit like a silk glove. Everthing worked and Stellarium gave 20 fps.

          It was fast.

          If you have a speed problem I can think of some possible reasons;
          1) you installed from a bad ISO or CDROM burn,
          2) your video card is running in VESA mode
          3) you are running a second copy of the KDE4 desktop from within the primary copy... i.e., a desktop within the desktop, accidentally arrived at. One way to do that is to use the "Switch Users" option, which creates a second desktop for the second user without throwing away the desktop of the original user. You have to have a lot of RAM, Video and CPU speed to do that. My recollections are vague on how I did it another way, but I believe I opened a Konsole and then ran "startx" or somehow created a second desktop running on top of the first.


          "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
          – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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            #6
            Re: KDE seems very slow

            Your experience shows the reason why we have choice.
            KK absolutely flies on my system, yet ubuntu, and Mint seem sluggish.
            On my other system though which has a 1/3 of the memory, both mint & ubuntu run faster than on my main system.
            I suppose you just use whatever suits your system the best.
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              #7
              Re: KDE seems very slow

              GreyGeek, This seems to be my issue:

              2) your video card is running in VESA mode


              barbolani, our systems are not that much diffrent. My 3200+ is a 2.0GHZ CPU. I have more ram but I think the issues are based around the ATI card i have. It used to be a good card till ATI dropped support and the official ATI driver can't be loaded anymore. Are you able to load the actual nVidia drivers for your 5200 or do the generic nv drivers allow you to use the effects? I had a 5200 before my current ATI, had to replace it when the fan went out.

              Does anyone know of an AGP card that I can get to replace this one that will do a better job with out breaking the bank? I know AGP cards are not the easiest to find anymore. Perferably one I can load the actual drivers for.
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                #8
                Re: KDE seems very slow

                indygeek, the generic nv drivers don't allow for desktop effects or 3D acceleration. I can still load the nvidia drivers, however they are no longer actively enhanced.
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                  #9
                  Re: KDE seems very slow

                  I borrowed a pc from work to do some testing on.

                  This one has a FX3500 PCI-E card in it.

                  KDE works perfectly with or with out the nVidia drivers loaded.

                  Consider this one closed
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