Howcome ubuntu desktops just isnt that snappy?

[Higgins909]

I love my server, as it's running ubuntu server 14.04 (close to that) but desktop has allways been a bit iffy for me :/

For my laptop it was that you needed to download wifi drivers manually (didn't come with install) and then it was kinda slow... better then window 10 that I decided to try, but slow...
(windows 10 can barely play hulu/youtube/really any video)
Around 12.0-13.0 I couldn't even boot the cd because it would just give my a raindbow screen or something on my desktop... works now tho...

On my desktop:
amd athon II x4 640 propus (3ghz quadcore)
4gb ram
radeon hd 6790 gpu
plenty of storage and psu...

Things still arn't as fast as I would like... I've tried arch linux failed hard "several times" and openbox also failed hard several times...
like the... we'll call if start menu, is slow and shows random music and other stuff that I don't want to see... just like windows 10, but atleast UD will show you programs that are actually on your computer...
Right now I can't come up with enough reasons, but why is it just so slow? ... I'd love for me to open a program and it just open before I can even move my mouse open.
(that doesn't even happen on win7 but I hear/used windows 8/8.1 is snappy, esp with the start menu)

offtopic, but is this just how linux is? kinda unrefined?
I've been watching ubuntu for 3-5 years and it just still feels so unrefined... desktop atleast. (drivers and compatibility issues etc)
even my server has this memory leak right out of 14.04 or something... running it as is...

[dino99]

here is a Mint experience http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/view/16529
if something is not working as it might on your installation, then glancing at logs should help narrowing down the issue(s)
or maybe compile the kernel to get a better experience
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile

[kerry_s]

you can alway go to a lighter ubuntu version, i suggest trying the 1's without heavy 3d ui's.
that would be, ubuntu mate, xubuntu, lubuntu, .... you could even try others that are based on ubuntu such as elementary os. have a look at http://distrowatch.com/

[buzzingrobot]

radeon hd 6790 gpu

Seems to be supported by the open source driver used by default. More here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver. Note the ways to check the driver is working properly.

...menu, is slow and shows random music and other stuff that I don't want to see...

Unity searches and displays online results by default. Check Systems Settings for adjustments. Also, install 'Unity Tweak Tool' for additional options.

Fours gigs of RAM should be adequate but certainly not excessive. Check the system is seeing all of it.

Otherwise, there's no info to go on.

The core components of any distro are much the same, varying by version number. Choice of desktop environment/window manager can make a difference to some degree, especially when combined with use of apps demanding less RAM.

[ian-weisser]

it was that you needed to download wifi drivers manually (didn't come with install)

OEM's fault. Many wifi components works perfectly out-of-the-box. OEM chose something different.

and then it was kinda slow.

Open a terminal and run the 'top' command for clues when it's slow.
Post the output here if you need help interpreting it.

[Bucky Ball]

Thread moved to Ubuntu, Linux and OS Chat.

[craig10x]

You can turn off the online searches in the dash (those are coming from amazon) by going to system settings, then security & privacy, then search... and turn off the on button and you won't get those anymore...

[mattharris4]

Higgins, I did a Google search on your CPU and found that it is from around 2010. CPU speeds are not cross-comparable, for example some new 2 GHz CPUs could very well be much faster than your 3 GHz CPU. It did test quite well back when it was new but likely most newer non power-saving chips have far surpassed the speed and power of this CPU (I say non power-saving because there have been several CPU lines built that emphasize low power usage over processing ability such as the Intel Atom and AMD E1, both of which your current CPU would likely run circles around). Since current OSes are more demanding on CPUs (as well as current websites, browsers, etc.) than older OSes this could be part of the problem. This is one reason a computer can seem to slow down as it ages even if the hard drive is wiped and the OS and related drivers and programs are reinstalled regularly, the OS, its updates and/or the replacement OS (say Ubuntu 14.04 as a replacement for 12.04) require more of the CPU causing the computer to run more slowly. Lack of RAM is a big factor as well but you have 4GB of RAM which for a Canonical OS should be more than enough. Normally I would say unless it is taking a ridiculous amount of time to open Firefox or other programs (say more than 30-45 seconds) that you probably should just live with it but since you mention running a server that may not be an option if that is what you are doing with this computer. If this is for a server I cannot give you much advice here but if this is a day to day desktop for web browsing, word processing, database, Power Point type presentation preparation, etc. and it isn't running ridiculously slow I would just use it as-is. I use an eight year old Pentium 4 CPU 3 GHz in an HP desktop, it still works passably using Edubuntu for these purposes. It actually works faster than my year old laptop with the "power-saver" E1-2100 1GHz chip in it.

[d-cosner]

@ mattharris4

Ubuntu 15.04 x64 is running fine here on an HP 655 laptop with an AMD E1 processor @ 1.2 GHz. It was slow as molasses in winter until I installed the proprietary drivers. Now it runs pretty nice!

[monkeybrain20122]

@ mattharris4

Ubuntu 15.04 x64 is running fine here on an HP 655 laptop with an AMD E1 processor @ 1.2 GHz. It was slow as molasses in winter until I installed the proprietary drivers. Now it runs pretty nice!

Probably you just need to upgrade your open driver. https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archiv...aphics-drivers A lot of work has gone into adm cards but it is not filtered down to Ubuntu releases (especially if you are using LTS) Probably need to update kernel to 3.19 or 4.0 as well to take full advantage of it.