Re: [Gimp-developer] Ways to improve Gimp 2.9 performance

[Elle Stone <l elle stone gmail com>]

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 gmail com> 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