Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!exodus!wind.Eng.Sun.COM
From: naughton@wind.Eng.Sun.COM (Patrick Naughton)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re:  WANTED: Faster X server for Sun4 w/GX
Message-ID: <1990Sep27.143140@wind.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 27 Sep 90 21:31:40 GMT
References: <9009271559.AA04425@zia.aoc.nrao.edu>
Sender: news@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM
Reply-To: naughton@wind.Eng.Sun.COM (Patrick Naughton)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Mountain View, CA
Lines: 90

|> cflatter@ZIA.AOC.NRAO.EDU (Chris Flatters) writes:
|> 
|> > We have many many Sparc Stations w/ GX cards that need fast X
|> servers.  Any
|> > hints or suggestions appreciated.  I understand that the Purdue
|> enhancements
|> > are only for X11R3 ...  Is this true?  Our graphical performance is
|> extremely
|> > slow even though all of our workstations have graphical
|> accelerators.  We are
|> > currently using X11 R4 with all 14 patches from MIT.
|> 
|> I don't believe that the MIT X11R4 server exploits the GX board.  In
|> any
|> case X11R4 contained many performance improvements over R3 and so
|> the
|> Perdue enhancements became obsolete.  If you have a Sun with GX it
|> is
|> probably worth your while to fork out some cash for OpenWindows.
|> OpenWindows will use the GX board if present.  I believe the price
|> is
|> about $400 but I'm not certain of that.
|> 
|> Note however that the GX board only improves performance for
|> operations
|> like line drawing and area fill.  There is no significant improvement
|> for
|> BITBLT operations.
|> 
|> 			Chris Flatters

--

MIT X11R4 treats the GX as if it were dumb memory like the CG3, and
since the GX was designed to be accessed through the hardware registers
and rarely used in dumb memory mode, X11R4 on the GX is actually slower
than on the CG3.

OpenWindows Version 2 takes advantage of the GX to speed up just about
every graphics operation.   Most operations are sped up 2-10X:

(these are X11perf numbers... first line is obviously CG3)

8X			    (~487/61)

  2000 trep @ 16.4088 msec (  60.9/sec): 500x500 rectangle
  3000 reps @  2.0520 msec ( 487.0/sec): 500x500 rectangle

7.2X

  7200 reps @  0.7341 msec (1360.0/sec): 100x100 rectangle
 72000 reps @  0.1019 msec (9820.0/sec): 100x100 rectangle

2.4X

300000 reps @  0.0216 msec (46300.0/sec): 10-pixel line segment
600000 reps @  0.0090 msec (111000.0/sec): 10-pixel line segment

10.8X

  3000 reps @  2.0418 msec ( 490.0/sec): Fill 100x100 trapezoid
 30000 reps @  0.1883 msec (5310.0/sec): Fill 100x100 trapezoid

5.5X

 10000 trep @  2.5508 msec ( 392.0/sec): Scroll 100x100 pixels
 20000 reps @  0.4600 msec (2170.0/sec): Scroll 100x100 pixels 

8X

   200 reps @ 46.3777 msec (  21.6/sec): Scroll 500x500 pixels
   900 reps @  5.8047 msec ( 172.0/sec): Scroll 500x500 pixels

4.8X

   120 reps @ 54.4628 msec (  18.4/sec): Copy 500x500 from window to window
   800 reps @ 11.2341 msec (  89.0/sec): Copy 500x500 from window to window


OpenWindows Version 2 is available for $295 and includes tapes and
unlimited right to use and a complete set of Sun documentation and
O'Reilly Books #0,1,2,3, and 7.  Additional sets of documentation are
$195.  Call your Sun sales office for more information.

-Patrick

    ______________________________________________________________________
    Patrick J. Naughton				    ARPA: naughton@sun.com
    Window Systems Group			    UUCP: ...!sun!naughton
    Sun Microsystems, Inc.			    AT&T: (415) 336 - 1080