More RAM does help quite a bit. With 12GB RAM instead of just 4GB. + using the optimized babl/gegl/Gimp installation. + starting Gimp with "GEGL_SWAP=RAM", painting with a brush is no longer quite the painful chore that it was. The main sticking point now is redrawing the canvas (correct terminology?). Changing visibility, reordering layers, applying a blur, etc, makes the CPU run at 100% for what seems like a very long time. This is true even when the layer that was duplicated or reordered is completely hidden. We also put in a second CPU, which literally cut compile times in half. But even though I specified "use 2 CPUs" in the Gimp "Edit/Preferences/Environment", Gimp still only uses 1 CPU at a time. It randomly switches back and forth between the two processors, but usually is using 100% of one CPU, and never gets over 50% total usage. So it doesn't seem to operate any faster with 2 CPUs than it did with one. The odd thing is, even though Gimp is only using 50% of the total processing power, often other applications are frozen/unresponsive until Gimp is done. I'd prefer that Gimp to monopolize both CPUs and get the job done twice as fast. Would a real-time kernel setup like the audio linux distributions use help? Is there a setting in Gimp that I missed? Or a compile-time switch in babl, gegl, or Gimp? On 3/2/13, Partha Bagchi <partha1b@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I thought Gentoo was all about optimizing a linux distribution to your > specific proecessor. :) Partha's optimized Windows build has inspired me to do a test Gentoo install on a laptop, with the hopes of learning enough about Gentoo and optimization to be able to install a properly optimized Gentoo on my main computer. It will be interesting to see if Gimp runs any faster on a fully optimized Linux distribution. Elle _______________________________________________ gimp-developer-list mailing list gimp-developer-list@xxxxxxxxx https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-developer-list
