What makes a ROM slow?

Vaudou · #1 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 09:39 PM

So I've tried a lot of the ROM's here (CDMA), and it seems that some are faster than others. What I want to know is what makes a ROM fast or slow? Comparing NRG's GTX Sense ROM and XYC's ANA ROM, both have very similar layouts, yet (to me at least) ANA ROM seems to be faster (note I'm talking about each right after flashing and all the necessities have been tended too; i.e. provisioning, xda_uc, quickgps, etc.) than EnergyGTX. I know each have different apps/utilities installed, but both look the exact same in layout just with a bit modified taskbars/slider/icons, etc. Are these factors what make a ROM fast or slow or are there more in depth factors that determine a ROM's speed (like the programming, etc.)? I want to know this because I want to be able to have a simple, yet sexy looking ROM, that is fast. Yet every ROM I've tried seems to be laggy on the home screen, or takes a bit to load a lot of apps, or is slow at transitioning, stuff like that. Is there anyway to change certain things in a ROM to make it faster, or is the "slowness" from the phone/OS itself? Sorry if I'm a bit ambiguous, ask and I'll clear any details up. Thanks for help in advance!

**pixelpower** · #2 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 09:58 PM

Ok here a list of various things that make a ROM slow.
1) To many programs running at the same time on homescreen .
2) To many graphics rich icons slow down the processor.
3) Taskmanager is not working properly , so memory leak occurs which will slow phone over time.
4) To many programs intalled on device memory.
The fastest ROMs will be the ones with the least amount of programs intalled. Sure you have to download and install the missing programs on your storage card, but your phone will run faster. As far as making or modifing your ROM , you have to learn a bit of programming. If your interested ppcgeeks has a ROM school section. Good luck!!

Zing Zing · #3 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 10:23 PM

HTC Sense UI makes a ROM slower. period.

Vaudou · #4 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogelio rios

Ok here a list of various things that make a ROM slow.
1) To many programs running at the same time on homescreen .
2) To many graphics rich icons slow down the processor.
3) Taskmanager is not working properly , so memory leak occurs which will slow phone over time.
4) To many programs intalled on device memory.
The fastest ROMs will be the ones with the least amount of programs intalled. Sure you have to download and install the missing programs on your storage card, but your phone will run faster. As far as making or modifing your ROM , you have to learn a bit of programming. If your interested ppcgeeks has a ROM school section. Good luck!!

Alright, well maybe that's one of my problems, i always say install to device not to SD :/ and I usually am pulled into the detailed icons and such... I'll look into the ROM schooling, that sounds really interesting. Thanks for the help!!

**Kliptik** · #5 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaudou

Alright, well maybe that's one of my problems, i always say install to device not to SD :/ and I usually am pulled into the detailed icons and such... I'll look into the ROM schooling, that sounds really interesting. Thanks for the help!!

There's mixed opinions on installing apps to device vs. SD... Here's the arguments behind each:

"You should install to SD because..."
Installing to device takes up storage space on your device, thus making more files for the OS to sort through to retrieve the needed file(s)

"You should install to device because..."
It takes the processor longer to read program files from SD as opposed to system memory, thus increasing the time it takes for apps to process commands

Personally, I install everything to the device. The TP2 has a ton of space on there, and I don't feel like messing something up cuz I installed an app to SD that can only run from sysem memory...

eric12341 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zing Zing

HTC Sense UI makes a ROM slower. period.

i couldn't agree more. ever since i disabled sense and just decided to use titanium my TP2 with mightyROM FF has been much stable and smoother and with a lot more free RAM with no SODs

Arterion · #7 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 11:46 PM

Installing them on a TP2 usually makes them slow.

Vaudou · #8 (**permalink**) 07-14-2010, 02:01 AM

I'm pretty good with computers, and this being a "Pocket PC," I assumed the more things you put on your device (like the hard drive) would take it longer to reach the files it needs to launch an app. But I also didn't want to do what Kliptik said, I don't wanna accidentally install something to the SD that NEEDS to be on the device, because I flash so much, I just hit "Install" when anything pops-up because I always install the same things over and over.

I think I'll either take a look at a clean ROM, such as XYC's, and do my own installing/skinning, or look into the ROM Schooling and take some of my spare summer time to learn to create my own ROM. Maybe this is the beginning of a new chef?