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- Path: sparky!uunet!ogicse!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uunet.ca!ohrd!twriter
- From: twriter@rd.hydro.on.ca (Timothy Writer)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
- Subject: Re: How to speed up X?
- Message-ID: <1992Nov6.152359.24079@rd.hydro.on.ca>
- Date: 6 Nov 92 15:23:59 GMT
- Article-I.D.: rd.1992Nov6.152359.24079
- References: <1992Nov5.223141.8855@rd.hydro.on.ca> <1dcj1uINNgt5@fido.asd.sgi.com>
- Reply-To: twriter@rd.hydro.on.ca
- Organization: "Ontario Hydro - Research Division"
- Lines: 71
-
- bam@rudedog.asd.sgi.com (Brian McClendon) writes:
-
-
- >In article <1992Nov5.223141.8855@rd.hydro.on.ca>, twriter@rd.hydro.on.ca writes:
- >> Recently, I acquired AutoCAD (R11) for an IRIS 4d/210 GTX running IRIX
- >> 4.0.1. I mention AutoCAD only because certain aspects of its interface
- >> highlight what I believe are deficiencies in SGI's X server. For
- >> example, AutoCAD uses a crosshair for the mouse cursor, drawn with a
- >> full height vertical line and a full width horizontal line. With AutoCAD
- >> running and displaying locally (DISPLAY is :0.0), cursor movement is
- >> unacceptably slow: when I move the mouse I can see both lines of the
- >> crosshair being redrawn. However, if I display AutoCAD on my PC (using
- >> XVision) cursor movement is near instantaneous.
- >>
- >> My questions: Why is SGI's X server slow compared with a PC based X
- >> server? What can I do to speed it up?
- >>
- >> Thanks for your help.
- >>
-
- >The problem is that the particular platform you're running on was
- >designed before we even thought about porting X to SGI. It's most
- >likely and "RV1" GTX which does not do logic ops in hardware (so it
- >must do readbacks a few pixels at a time for that crosshair cursor
- >you're looking at). There is an X extension that AutoCAD could have
- >used to get to the hardware crosshair cursor, but they chose not
- >to use it. To give people an idea about X on SGI platforms,
- >here's a sorted list of performance that is probably accurate +/- 2.
- >(jsw, feel free to correct me here).
-
- >4D/20 - Personal Iris (w/ RE1 chip)
- >4D/70G - aka CLOVER1
- >4D/70GT - w/RV1 board
- >4D/210GTX - w/RV1 board
-
- >4D/70GT - w/RV2 board
- >4D/210GTX - w/RV2 board
- >4D/20 - PI w/RE2 chip (I don't believe 25 or TG makes much diff on the sort)
- >4D/420VGX/T
- >Indigo R3000
- >Indigo R3000 Elan (XS, XS24 don't make much difference on X performance (?))
-
- >Crimson BLG
- >Indigo R4000
- >Crimson Elan
- >Indigo R4000 Elan
- >4D/420 Reality Engine
- >Crimson Reality Engine
-
-
- >Note the first group was designed before we thought about X. The 2nd group
- >has from somewhat to very respectable X performance.
-
- >The final group is in a group of the fastest X servers in the industry
- >_and_ ...
-
- > To the best of my knowledge, Reality Engine has the fastest
- > X performance in the world.
-
- Thanks for the info. If I understand you correctly, the answer to my
- question (How to speed up X?) is to get a new machine. :-( Is there an
- upgrade path from a 4D/210GTX to one of the newer machines, an Indigo
- R4000 Elan for example?
-
- Tim
-
- --
- Tim Writer phone: (416) 231-4111 ext. 6990
- Ontario Hydro Research Division fax: (416) 237-9285
- Toronto, Ontario e-mail: twriter@rd.hydro.on.ca
- CANADA
-