Compiz Testing Does Compiz still cause a performance hit? Here's tests with multiple GPUs and drivers with Metacity and Compiz. More information in upcoming Phoronix.com article. Metacity: Gallium - X1950PRO: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: AMD Radeon X1950 Pro, Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: Gallium - HD 4670: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 4670 (750/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: Gallium - HD 5450: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 5450 (650/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: Catalyst - HD 4670: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4600 512MB (750/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-27-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: fglrx 8.82.8 Catalyst 11.2, OpenGL: 3.3.10524, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: Catalyst - HD 5450: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB (650/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-27-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: fglrx 8.82.8 Catalyst 11.2, OpenGL: 4.1.10524, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: Gallium - 8600GT: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 256MB (540/702MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: Gallium - GT 220: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 1024MB (625/950MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: NVIDIA - 8600GT: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512MB (540/700MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888 OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: NVIDIA 270.30, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 270.30, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Metacity: NVIDIA - GT 220: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 1024MB (625/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888 OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: NVIDIA 270.30, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 270.30, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Gallium - X1950PRO: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: AMD Radeon X1950 Pro, Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Gallium - HD 4670: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 4670 (750/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Gallium - HD 5450: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 5450 (650/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Catalyst - HD 4670: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4600 512MB (750/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-27-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: fglrx 8.82.8 Catalyst 11.2, OpenGL: 3.3.10524, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5450: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB (650/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-27-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: fglrx 8.82.8 Catalyst 11.2, OpenGL: 4.1.10524, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Gallium - 8600GT: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 256MB (540/702MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Gallium - GT 220: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 1024MB (625/950MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: NVIDIA - 8600GT: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512MB (540/700MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888 OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: NVIDIA 270.30, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 270.30, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: NVIDIA - GT 220: Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 @ 2.20GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ECS A790GXM-A v1.0, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 1024MB (625/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC888 OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: NVIDIA 270.30, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 270.30, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5770: Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 3.20GHz (6 Cores), Motherboard: BIOSTAR TA890GXB HD, Chipset: AMD RS780, Memory: 8192MB, Disk: 1000GB Seagate ST31000528AS, Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5700 1024MB (850/1200MHz), Monitor: DELL 2209WA OS: Fedora release 14 (Laughlin), Kernel: 2.6.35.11-83.fc14.x86_64 (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.4, Display Driver: fglrx 8.82.8 Catalyst 10.12, OpenGL: 4.1.10524, Compiler: GCC 4.5.1, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1680x1050 Compiz: NVIDIA - GTX 570: Processor: Intel Core i7-2600 @ 3.40GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ASUS P8P67, Chipset: Intel Sandy Bridge, Memory: 8192MB, Disk: 500GB Seagate ST3500410AS + 4 x 1000GB SAMSUNG HD103SJ, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB (780/1900MHz), Audio: NVIDIA GPU 18 HDMI/DP OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-28-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: NVIDIA 270.29, OpenGL: 4.1.0 NVIDIA 270.29, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 OpenArena 0.8.5 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Metacity: Gallium - X1950PRO . 59.90 |=== Metacity: Gallium - HD 4670 .. 57.67 |=== Metacity: Gallium - HD 5450 .. 22.90 |= Metacity: Catalyst - HD 4670 . 136.10 |======== Metacity: Catalyst - HD 5450 . 61.13 |=== Metacity: Gallium - 8600GT ... 116.90 |======= Metacity: Gallium - GT 220 ... 63.73 |==== Metacity: NVIDIA - 8600GT .... 174.37 |========== Metacity: NVIDIA - GT 220 .... 156.17 |========= Compiz: Gallium - X1950PRO ... 105.93 |====== Compiz: Gallium - HD 4670 .... 88.07 |===== Compiz: Gallium - HD 5450 .... 26.90 |== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 4670 ... 137.97 |======== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5450 ... 61.43 |==== Compiz: Gallium - 8600GT ..... 75.27 |==== Compiz: Gallium - GT 220 ..... 33.80 |== Compiz: NVIDIA - 8600GT ...... 134.37 |======== Compiz: NVIDIA - GT 220 ...... 113.83 |====== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5770 ... 55.63 |=== Compiz: NVIDIA - GTX 570 ..... 701.03 |======================================== World of Padman 1.2 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Metacity: Gallium - X1950PRO . 59.47 |==== Metacity: Gallium - HD 4670 .. 53.17 |==== Metacity: Gallium - HD 5450 .. 22.53 |== Metacity: Catalyst - HD 4670 . 110.00 |======= Metacity: Catalyst - HD 5450 . 78.83 |===== Metacity: Gallium - 8600GT ... 88.07 |====== Metacity: Gallium - GT 220 ... 60.80 |==== Metacity: NVIDIA - 8600GT .... 153.20 |========== Metacity: NVIDIA - GT 220 .... 148.43 |========== Compiz: Gallium - X1950PRO ... 95.90 |====== Compiz: Gallium - HD 4670 .... 63.30 |==== Compiz: Gallium - HD 5450 .... 26.07 |== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 4670 ... 108.00 |======= Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5450 ... 78.70 |===== Compiz: Gallium - 8600GT ..... 50.40 |=== Compiz: Gallium - GT 220 ..... 34.87 |== Compiz: NVIDIA - 8600GT ...... 127.53 |========= Compiz: NVIDIA - GT 220 ...... 120.40 |======== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5770 ... 59.95 |==== Compiz: NVIDIA - GTX 570 ..... 594.70 |======================================== Nexuiz 2.5.2 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - HDR: No - Sound: Off Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Metacity: Gallium - X1950PRO . 29.29 |==== Metacity: Gallium - HD 4670 .. 27.45 |=== Metacity: Gallium - HD 5450 .. 10.24 |= Metacity: Catalyst - HD 4670 . 73.43 |========= Metacity: Catalyst - HD 5450 . 16.50 |== Metacity: Gallium - 8600GT ... 34.17 |==== Metacity: Gallium - GT 220 ... 21.23 |=== Metacity: NVIDIA - 8600GT .... 40.42 |===== Metacity: NVIDIA - GT 220 .... 29.36 |==== Compiz: Gallium - X1950PRO ... 8.99 |= Compiz: Gallium - HD 4670 .... 34.48 |==== Compiz: Gallium - HD 5450 .... 10.72 |= Compiz: Catalyst - HD 4670 ... 76.08 |========== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5450 ... 16.50 |== Compiz: Gallium - 8600GT ..... 28.15 |==== Compiz: Gallium - GT 220 ..... 17.60 |== Compiz: NVIDIA - 8600GT ...... 36.21 |===== Compiz: NVIDIA - GT 220 ...... 26.39 |=== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5770 ... 57.83 |======= Compiz: NVIDIA - GTX 570 ..... 319.55 |======================================== Urban Terror 4.1 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Metacity: Gallium - X1950PRO . 48.50 |======= Metacity: Gallium - HD 4670 .. 39.67 |====== Metacity: Gallium - HD 5450 .. 21.53 |=== Metacity: Catalyst - HD 4670 . 58.03 |========= Metacity: Catalyst - HD 5450 . 57.67 |========= Metacity: Gallium - 8600GT ... 49.00 |======== Metacity: Gallium - GT 220 ... 45.97 |======= Metacity: NVIDIA - 8600GT .... 72.97 |=========== Metacity: NVIDIA - GT 220 .... 72.87 |=========== Compiz: Gallium - X1950PRO ... 54.90 |======== Compiz: Gallium - HD 4670 .... 39.87 |====== Compiz: Gallium - HD 5450 .... 24.50 |==== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 4670 ... 58.13 |========= Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5450 ... 56.90 |========= Compiz: Gallium - 8600GT ..... 43.23 |======= Compiz: Gallium - GT 220 ..... 34.87 |===== Compiz: NVIDIA - 8600GT ...... 71.53 |=========== Compiz: NVIDIA - GT 220 ...... 70.43 |=========== Compiz: Catalyst - HD 5770 ... 53.47 |======== Compiz: NVIDIA - GTX 570 ..... 259.13 |========================================