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hey xara people (and mark),
when i wrote in the patch topic about the great speed experience of the latest patch - i was partially wrong.
here is what is happening on my machine:
athlon 1,2 gig, ca 700mb ram, geforce 2, ide, win2kpro
if i click on an artbrush i get a short freeze,
mouse stops and so on for about half a second.
same occures when a stroke is done. a short freeze.
the same thing runs very smooth when i have any window with "always on top" attribute in front.
eg. task manager in win2k. it can be nearly hidden at the bottom of the screen. it just has to be there to get things going.
no short freeze - nice painting and selecting brushes.
is it just my system?
FLySOLO
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hey xara people (and mark),
when i wrote in the patch topic about the great speed experience of the latest patch - i was partially wrong.
here is what is happening on my machine:
athlon 1,2 gig, ca 700mb ram, geforce 2, ide, win2kpro
if i click on an artbrush i get a short freeze,
mouse stops and so on for about half a second.
same occures when a stroke is done. a short freeze.
the same thing runs very smooth when i have any window with "always on top" attribute in front.
eg. task manager in win2k. it can be nearly hidden at the bottom of the screen. it just has to be there to get things going.
no short freeze - nice painting and selecting brushes.
is it just my system?
FLySOLO
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hello 67 viewers,
tell me if it occurs on your machine too :b
FLySOLO
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FlySolo - I have noticed the hesitations when using stroked lines with my tablet and the freehand tool. Are you saying if I assigned in Windows that some other (other than Xara) window is "always on top" - the hesitation would go away???
Regards, Ross
<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>
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yes,
the smaller the xara window the shorter the hesitation. as i am working in 1920 x 1080
the hesitation is quite long. if i open taskmanager in win2k with control alt del
and move it aside the hesitation is not like short freezes. the mouse stays moveable. it feels lots better and smoother. as soon as i close taskmanager the old edgy freesy behaviour returns instantly.
very odd...
FLySOLO
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ross,
i just tried it with winamp
same stuff
maybe winamp is a nicer always on top app :b
FLySOLO
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ok w2k pro users, here we go to solve your problems:
First tweak for w2k pro:
A machine with heavy file I/O traffic and a fair amount of unused physical memory is just begging for this tweak. Such a system would likely benefit from having an IOPageLockLimit of 64 to 128 times the total physical memory size measured in MB, but then recorded in KB (you'll see what I mean in a second). So, for example, a 128MB system should be set between 8192KB and 16384KB, as the decimal setting. This is a good formula for systems with 128MB of RAM, and higher.
For machines with less memory, I suggest starting with a value of 1024KB, and utilizing a "real-world" benchmarking suite like ZDNet's Winbench 99 to bench the performance effect of raising the number of bytes locked for I/O operations. Raise this value by 1024KB per trial, until you see a point of diminishing performance returns. This very well may be 1024KB, 4096KB, or even higher.
Why is this not a simple equation based on RAM size?
Each system really requires a different setting. Not all systems experience the same amount of file I/O operations, and not all systems experience disk I/O bottlenecks in the same way, since processor power, disk access & transfer rate, and memory size all play a part in overall performance. So, be prepared to tweak here and there. How much improvement can you expect? Well, let's put it this way - this is a tweak for a true tweaking nut. You're not going to experience mind shattering improvements, but hey, you're here because you want to squeeze out every juicy drip, right?
You continue on at your own risk. Be sure to do proper backups and have an rdisk handy before ever tweaking the registry.
How To Implement:
1. Make certain that you've got everything else in working order, including UDMA (if you have devices that support it).
2. Launch a registry editing tool of your choice (regedit.exe or regedt32.exe will do).
3. Advance down to the following registry key: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
4. In this key double-click on the IOPageLockLimit registry value to open a DWORD editor window (default value of 0 = 512KB).
5. Change from Hex (hexadecimal) to Decimal, change the value in the data field to reflect your preferred allocation size in KB (1024, 2048, etc.).
6. Close the registry editor app, and reboot to implement the change.
But I've seen the value in bytes, not KB
In my years of using NT I've come across a few folks who've claimed that the numerical values for this tweak should be entered in bytes, and not kilobytes (e.g., 4096000, not 4096). Nonetheless, the KB values work like a charm.
Note: better use bytes - I've tested this option and it WORKS.
Second tweak for w2k pro:
To use Large System Cache or not?
While Windows NT Server and Workstation are alike in many ways, the default methods they use for disk caching differ greatly. The Large System Cache option is one that can affect your disk I/O performance up to 50%!
On NT Server, the Large System Cache option is enabled, but disabled on Workstation. The two different settings effect how the cache manager allocates free memory. If the Large Cache option is on, the manager marks all the free memory, which isn't being used by the system and/or applications, as freely available for disk caching. On the flip-side (with a small cache), the manager instead only sets aside 4MB of memory for disk caching in an attempt to accelerate the launch of applications. Or in a more technical approach, if enabled the system will favor system-cache working sets over process working sets (with a working set basically being the memory used by components of a process).
Who should implement
This setting may very well benefit users with less than 96MB of physical RAM who don't have more than 2-3 applications open at the same time (those of you with 64MB or less are probably pushing it here). However, without testing this tweak on such a machine, I'd have to suggest 96MB of RAM or more as the rule for implementing this change.
It should almost certainly benefit users with more than 96MB of RAM, allowing them to more effectively use their available resources, which would otherwise be idle. The Peak Memory Limit item on the Performance tab of the Task Manager is an excellent indicator of how much memory you use on a regular basis. If that number is lower than the amount of physical memory in your computer, this tweak is for you!
How To Implement:
1. Launch a registry editing tool of your choice (regedit.exe or regedt32.exe will do).
2. Advance down to the following registry key: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
3. In this key double-click on the LargeSystemCache registry value to open a DWORD editor window (default value of 0 = small cache).
4. Change the Hex (hexadecimal) or Decimal value to 1.
5. Close the registry editor app, and reboot to implement the change.
Don't blame me if something will go wrong - but all these tweaks work great on my systems - even on NT 4 SP 5.
BTW, the Windows 2000 Service Pack is out. Grab it, it's worth the download time.
jens
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thanx for the tip jens BUT,
if i only have to run winamp with "Always on top" set. why should i regtweak. i've just ended a tweaking weekend of 4 in 1 driver stuff, bios updates and various other enhancements resulting in a very unstable system. my experience is that the default settings are not the fastest but usually work.
but to get back to the point. what about that funny "Always on top" stuff? did you try it? is it the same with your system?
btw. i've been using sp1 and now for about a week sp2. most other drivers are fresh too.
FLySOLO
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"the smaller the xara window the shorter the hesitation. as i am working in 1920 x 1080
the hesitation is quite long."
It's a total waste of CPU time to work in such large windows with ANY vector apps: XaraX then has zillions more pixels to redraw on your screen than if you work in, say, 1024x768 or 1152x864. This is a CPU-only issue: it does NOT matter if you have a super-fast graphics card, as it's the CPU which has to render the vector code into a screen bitmap.
Contrary to a common misconception, it's not as if you get any "more details" in your art if you work in "high resolution" windows - you just get more screen real estate and can see a larger area of your illustration at a given zoom level.
In sum: don't run vector apps in overly large windows - it just slows down your system and wastes your time.
K
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klaus
its an 24'' monitor 16:10 aspect
and 1920 x 1200 is the def res
and i like to see as much detail as possible.
everything is running very well in high res on my machine.
btw:
did you try the thing i wrote about?
FLySOLO
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Flysolo,
I don't need to have Winamp or Taskmanager running always on top - I don't have ANY freezes at all - not on my PII 300 Laptop with 192 megs RAM, not on my PI 233 machine with 128 megs RAM (yes, correct, I still use this machine and I love it, because it has a 1600 y 1200 monitor attached to it). In addition, I am running X almost full screen.
Whatever I do in X, there is no stop-n-go with the mouse. Strange behavior on your machine...
Just for the fun of it I've installed X on my newest machine, a 1.1 GHz Athlon - couldn't reproduce your effect, sorry.
Klaus,
you might be right, but considering that I don't have any problems with my 'oldie', I don't see any reason to reduce the window size for X...
Know your hardware :-)
Know your software :-)
And you'll be a master :-\\
jens
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jens,
i have three machines here
two older intel. running 1024 x 768.
the freeze effect lasts about 1/5 of a second.
and i think it's annoying. with taskmanager in front it't not faster - xara still has to process the strokes - but the little freezes are gone.
it's most noticable on my main machine (athlon with lots of ram...)
but if nobody minds or notices...
i told you :b
maybe mark or some other xara person could try and tell what's going on.
FLySOLO
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ok guys forget it
just got my geforce 3 working and it so superfast that the little mouse lag is nearly gone.
bye
FLySOLO
