Speed-up Tip

Hey, here's a quick tip for everyone here.

I read this on some Mac website, but I can't remember where!

You should know that disabling the "Smooth all fonts on screen" option in the Appearance menu will speed up Finder navigation and a lot of other things, thus producing a faster system overall. Everything will look crisper as well - a plus, if you like it that way.

Also speeds up graphics rendering unbelievably.

Cipher13

I did notice that!

It frees up so many system resources that the speed change is incredible.

Hey, I like it! http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/biggrin.gif Thanks for the tip! http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/smile.gif

it is indeed much faster, though also much uglier. I switched anti-aliasing back on. thanks anyway though.

another random speed thing I just noticed. my computer (G4 sawtooth) came with 64 MB RAM preinstalled. it is a 322 speed DIMM. these are slow. if you are purchasing RAM, get 222 speed, which are faster. then, open Apple System Profiler, and if the RAM chip shipped with your computer is 322 speed (Profiler will actually tell you it is slower), open your computer and switch it so that the 222 is in slot 1 and the 322 is in the last used slot. then, the system and the first x MB of RAM will be on the faster ship. I just finally realized and made the switch today (after 6 months), and the Finder is Noticeably faster.
check out your RAM speed!

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How do you measure a man?
By how much fertilizer he can spread in a day with his teeth, of course!

Yeah, systems feelings snappier already!

Which is slot 1 and slot 2? System profiler shows my 322 in J2 but it is also SODIMM0 while my 222 is in J1 but SODIMM1.

Thanks.

seanyepez, thanks for the tip. Do you know if using the anti-alias feature in the ATM CP will slow down the machine moreso than the Appearance CP. Currently I'm not using ATM because it wasn't compatable with OS 9, but now it is.

Its not that ugly - when I used to use the smoothing I had comic sans as the system font - change to a small size Geneva and its not that bad with smootihng off. And Techno as the font for menubar etc., and you don't really notice it. Comic Sans was terrible with it off...
Just find a few good fonts to use for it.

Cipher13

blot, when I open System Profiler, under "Built In Memory" it reads:
Location Size Memory Type
DIMM0/J21 128 MB PC100-222S
DIMM1/J22 64MB PC100-322S*
the * points to a note indicating that the 322 speed DIMMs are slower.
The 1st slot (DIMM0/J21), where my fast big RAM is, is the slot closest to the CPU and heat sink in my G4. I believe in the manual they are also numbered in this way, closest to CPU as 1, farthest as 4. When the computer came (from the factory) the 322 speed RAM chip was in slot 1.
Hope this helps!

Hmmm, my system profiler shows this:
Location Size Memory type
SODIMM0/J2 128 MB PC100-322S*
SODIMM1/J1 256 MB PC100-222S

Do I try swapping?

Thanks again.

I would use the order of the (physical) slots as the master guide. While I would expect that *probably* the factory chip came installed in slot 1, I would recommend consulting your manual to make sure about the order of the slots (it should show the computer open, slots labeled 1,2... in a section about "Installing RAM") If it looks like the 322 is happening first (which I do think it is, as Sys Profiler reads it first), go for it, swap 'em.
Good luck!

I think it looks a little bit yucky when you're using fonts like Gadget for Finder windows. It looks kind of ugly, but I'm willing to sacrifice that for a faster system.

I don't know if alternate ways of smoothing fonts look better or use less system resources. I just know that it makes my system snappier.

Some people like the cripser look. I think it would also save some battery life, similar to how turning off AppleTalk lowers power consumption.

Hey, that's yet another tip. Turn off AppleTalk to conserve battery power on PowerBooks and iBooks. It really does work to save unneccesarily wasted power.

The fonts I have on at the moment are Techno size 12 for menu's and windows etc. and Geneva size 10 for everything else... I don't even notice it really.

Cipher13

I keep my smoothing to 14+ point, for anything above 12 point without antialiasing is just plain ugly. I use tecton for my text and charcoal for my menus btw, and notice about no speed up with smoothing off...

Biggest speed up I have noticed is with graphics rendering, and screen redraw.

Cipher13

I swapped my Ram (128Mb 322 and 256Mb 222) around in my PBFW and compared benchtest results in Norton. No noticable difference in speeds. Then I took out the slower Ram (128Mb) and ran the benchtests again... also no noticable difference in speed. Looks like that's why Apple went for the 322 Ram... cheaper and no difference in speed.

I would suspect there is no speed difference betweeen 322, and 222 ram, since the machine is spec'd at 322, and the 222 is just faster then what the machine can handle. Also, The ram runs as fast as the slowest chip in your machine, so you can have all the 222 ram you want, but if you have 1 322 chip in there all the ram will run at 322, confused yet, I am =)

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-See Yea!

What find works best (and what PowerBooks ship with by default) is to set it to smooth all fonts at 14 point and up... that way you benefit from the smoothed larger-sized fonts without compromising speed.

I couldn't agree more, Misha.

I'd agree, but being the speed-demon that I am, I kill Font Smoothing.

I see your point, and I know the trade-offs. Despite a slightly uglier display, it speeds up performance dramatically.

I just offered a suggestion to get a little boost of speed.