gtsmith Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 (edited) Hey all. I have a good install of Jas 10.4.8 with Semthex 8.8.1. I have found the system to be pretty responsive when doing routine things such as browsing the web, punching around the GUI, even Garageband is pretty quick. Xbench results are not that good, overall system rating is somewhere around 30. Where the system really dies is video - either playing a DVD or playing a Quicktime movie, then things get really really slow. I'm talking about 1 frame every 2-3 seconds. Just pathetic performance. I've put my pertinent specs below, but was wondering what you all think could be the problem. Would a simple gfx card upgrade improve performance? Adding RAM? etc. One of the reasons I am messing with all this is that I'd like to do my home movie editing via iMovie. The same hardware running Win2K Pro plays movies just fine - as an observation. P4 2.02Ghz 512 MBs DDR nVidia Geforce FX5500 128MB (QE/CI enabled; OpenGL seems to work cuz Xbench OpenGL tests work) CMedia 8738 onboard Seagate 'Cuda 300 GB IDE ATA100 Generc DVD drive, Thanks for any input, GT Edited March 15, 2007 by gtsmith Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45361-opinions-wanted/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
EPDM Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 (edited) Hey all. I have a good install of Jas 10.4.8 with Semthex 8.8.1. I have found the system to be pretty responsive when doing routine things such as browsing the web, punching around the GUI, even Garageband is pretty quick. Xbench results are not that good, overall system rating is somewhere around 30. Where the system really dies is video - either playing a DVD or playing a Quicktime movie, then things get really really slow. I'm talking about 1 frame every 2-3 seconds. Just pathetic performance. I've put my pertinent specs below, but was wondering what you all think could be the problem. Would a simple gfx card upgrade improve performance? Adding RAM? etc. One of the reasons I am messing with all this is that I'd like to do my home movie editing via iMovie. The same hardware running Win2K Pro plays movies just fine - as an observation. P4 2.02Ghz 512 MBs DDR nVidia Geforce FX5500 128MB (QE/CI enabled; OpenGL seems to work cuz Xbench OpenGL tests work) CMedia 8738 onboard Seagate 'Cuda 300 GB IDE ATA100 Generc DVD drive, Thanks for any input, GT Does your memory configuration allow Dual Channel speeds? I've noticed on a friends P4 (which I have build for him with similer specs and componenst as my own Hack) that his single channel configuration is significantly slower. I also doubt that these new OSX-versions and newer kernel are really optimal for (older) generation P4. I think their more optimised for Core-technology cpu's. I stick to 10.4.7 (upgraded 10.4.5) myself as it has the best compatibility and performance for my Prescot-rig. What chipset is your system? I doubt that your cpu has Hyperthreading which also boosts performance (actully more it boosts "snappiness".) Are you sure that QE/CI work? Perhaps your videocard is strungling somewhere (AGP-bus misconfigured orso?) Cheers, EPDM Edited March 15, 2007 by EPDM Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45361-opinions-wanted/#findComment-324273 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dice7 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 My config is a AMD 3000+ and also my video is a bit laggy i have 1GB, also a 5700 Ultra so I think it is dealing with mine being SSE2 and not 3... so If you upgrade anything I would do the mobo and cpu Dice Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45361-opinions-wanted/#findComment-324277 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtsmith Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 The mobo is an ASUS p4b533-e with the 845 chipset. I'll see if I can get 10.4.7 and try that. QE/CI is being reported in the system specs, but it also reports a PCI bus when really it is AGP. This happened after I removed AGPGart file - removing this enabled QE/CI but switched AGP to PCI in that application (I was following Thicos Alves tips). The Xbench opengl test look great when i run the benchmark, that is why i feel pretty certain gfx acceleration is enabled. unfortunately right now a cpu/mobo upgrade is out of my budget -- the wife would kill me if i did it :-) thanks for your input guys. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45361-opinions-wanted/#findComment-324284 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtsmith Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 Wow, I am surprised. I went out a bought a BFG 7800GS OC 256MB GDDR3 and, after fighting to get QE/CI showing as supported and res switching, I find that my XBench scores went down! I'm so depressed ;-) In sys info the card shows up as PCI and not AGP...gonna work on that but all that I've read seems to indicate a trade off - if QE/CI is enabled then the cards show up as PCI, to get AGP to show in sys info then QE/CI is not enabled. AGPGart.kext seems to make the difference. Interesting, I used the nitat auto setup program found on this forum and I dont have APGGart anywhere on my system...would it have removed it? GT -- out of ideas on how to speed up system without switching mobo and cpu... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45361-opinions-wanted/#findComment-324624 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts