Video issues on Dell poweredge 850

Good morning,

I installed Zorin Core 9 on a Dell Power Edge 850, and have encountered some video issues.

System information
Dell Poweredge 850
XGI Volari Z7 Video Controller
3gb RAM
2 discs in RAID1 configuration
2.66 GHZ intel processor (can't recall which one at the moment) Possibly a slightly over clocked Intel Celeron (likely what ever was listed on the data sheet for a poweredge 850)

The issue isn't the resolution. It's fine 1024x1280 or what ever it's susposed to be. But every Ubuntu based OS i've installed on this machine has been very very sluggish. When I was testing with Lubuntu before arriving at Zorin OS as my choice, the Xorg service was slamming my CPU. It was running at 100%. I've attempted to look into reducing the resolution and refresh rate to see if that would resolve the issues, but cannot. (tried using xrandr) Only allows me to select a single display mode, which is 1024x1280 77hz. It seems that the video driver/controller is really eating a ton of processing power. The system does exceed the minimum specs listed for Zorin OS 9 Core.

My leading theory is a driver issue for now. I know these XGI video controllers can be....... a pain.

Any tips would be great. Also, I'm a linux noob.... so take it easy on me.

Hi, your main memory hog is going to be Compiz - open Compiz Config Settings Manager under System Tools | Preferences and turn off as many compiz settings as possible. You can't remove Compiz without breaking the system so just disable it as best you can - just leave 'window Decorations' enabled or you will see close, minimise, maximise buttons disappear.

Alternatively, try changing your DE at login - change from Zorin (Default) to Zorin (no effects) - to make the switch, click on the 'Z' top right of the username/pasword box to change DE.

Swarfendor437 wrote:Hi, your main memory hog is going to be Compiz - open Compiz Config Settings Manager under System Tools | Preferences and turn off as many compiz settings as possible. You can't remove Compiz without breaking the system so just disable it as best you can - just leave 'window Decorations' enabled or you will see close, minimise, maximise buttons disappear.

Alternatively, try changing your DE at login - change from Zorin (Default) to Zorin (no effects) - to make the switch, click on the 'Z' top right of the username/pasword box to change DE.

Thanks for the tips. I'll try this tonight, and let you know how it turns out. Also, it wasn't a memory issue, it was a CPU utilization issue. The OS isn't using much RAM at all (which is great), but tons of CPU.

To check what is causing you bottlenecks, open System Monitor from Menu | System Tools | System Monitor:



Be sure you are on the processes tab - be careful what you uncheck in Compiz - I upset my system messing with Compiz but have now got it stabilized!

I made the changes recommended. It seemed to help a bit, but as in other Ubuntu based OS I've used. Xorg is still eating a ton of CPU. I checked it in the system monitor, and sure enough.. that was it.

I turned off all effects and decorations. Turned off OPEN GL, and other graphic acceleration settings. Also used the Zorin (no effects) login.

Tried with both 64-bit and 32-bit OS. No change.

UPDATE
5/27/16
I attempted to resolve the issue by installing Zorion OS 9 Lite. Performance is better, but the underlying CPU usage still remains.