Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Wed, 17 Oct 2001 03:55:24 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Wed, 17 Oct 2001 03:55:14 -0400 Received: from eamail1-out.unisys.com ([192.61.61.99]:9418 "EHLO eamail1-out.unisys.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Wed, 17 Oct 2001 03:54:59 -0400 Message-ID: From: "Leeuw van der, Tim" To: "'lkm'" Subject: Re: VM Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 02:55:29 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org I've tried more-or-less comparable desktop workloads on various kernel-versions. So far my conclusion is that for desktops, the VM in the recent -ac kernels is worst, the VM in Linus's recent kernels is much better for the desktop, but that the kernel with the smoothest operation on the desktop is: 2.4.4ac8 (There are several 2.4.4-ac kernels with identical VM just I happen to have this one installed as a sort of backup) This is a really old kernel, and I know that there were problems with that VM version under certain loads. Still, the fact that it performs well is perhaps an interesting datapoint. I don't know if problems in the 2.4.4-ac8 VM can be killed without also killing the performance? The tested load is: - Compiling kernel - Browsing web with Mozilla or Galeon - Opening Evolution and looking at mail - Editing files with XEmacs My criteria were speed of opening new big applications when another big application is running and compiling at the same time, how useable the system is while the application starts up, how quickly and smoothly I can switch from one app. to the other. All of these are of course highly subjective criteria. I'm not interested in audio, so I didn't do any tests for smoothness of playing sound while doing any of these things. Next weekend I hope to have time to give the VM's another try; this time I'll apply relevant Rik's patches to the -ac kernel too. My PC has 64MB of RAM and some slow IDE disks (tuned with DMA and -u 1), and a 200MHz MMX P1 --Tim - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/