Help How can I make my HTC Evo faster?

[Tglover]

Hey I'm just wondering if anyone out there has any tips or tricks to making a rooted Evo even faster. Right now when I run the Quadrant Full Benchmark test it says that my phone is 1055 (I'm not quite sure what that means), which is weird because Quadrant says that the normal Evo running 2.2 is at about 1200. See my problem?

I guess I should also add that when I flash Cyanogenmod 6, Quadrant rates it as 1287. I still don't know what that number means, but it's obviously higher then both my Evo and the preset Evo running 2.2.

Can anyone explain this to me? Why is mine slower then Cyanogenmod? I mean, I would just switch to Cyanogenmod for good, but I really like the stock Sense UI.

Oh yeah, both ROMs are running SetCPU and are as overclocked as they can be.

 

[akazabam]

Quadrant scores aside, is your phone actually running slow? If it's running smoothly, just ignore Quadrant. It determines it based on a lot of factors, and is usually not that reflective of real world performance.

A couple things:

1) Try it without overclocking. Believe it or not, but sometimes it makes things worse. Only overclock if you need the extra performance, and can prove that it's not actually being detrimental.
2) What sdcard are you using? Stock or a different one? This is the most common thing to throw off quadrant scores.

 

[Tglover]

Quadrant scores aside, is your phone actually running slow? If it's running smoothly, just ignore Quadrant. It determines it based on a lot of factors, and is usually not that reflective of real world performance.

A couple things:

1) Try it without overclocking. Believe it or not, but sometimes it makes things worse. Only overclock if you need the extra performance, and can prove that it's not actually being detrimental.
2) What sdcard are you using? Stock or a different one? This is the most common thing to throw off quadrant scores.

So wait, over clocking doesn't help? That's odd. I'm using the stock 8GB sd card too... Should I buy a different one?

 

[akazabam]

So wait, over clocking doesn't help? That's odd. I'm using the stock 8GB sd card too... Should I buy a different one?

I'm not saying it doesn't help. I'm just saying that you have no basis for comparison if you only try it while overclocked. It doesn't *always* help. Most of the time, it results in a higher quadrant score, but if there is general instability by overclocking that high, it's not going to help. How high did you overclock? You could be making things worse by going higher than 1190 if you're phone can't handle it well. What kernel were you using before flashing CM?

As for the card, don't worry about that unless you actually have problems with it. I'll also say again, if the phone is running smoothly, don't worry about these tests.

 

[Tglover]

I'm not saying it doesn't help. I'm just saying that you have no basis for comparison if you only try it while overclocked. It doesn't *always* help. Most of the time, it results in a higher quadrant score, but if there is general instability by overclocking that high, it's not going to help. How high did you overclock? You could be making things worse by going higher than 1190 if you're phone can't handle it well. What kernel were you using before flashing CM?

As for the card, don't worry about that unless you actually have problems with it. I'll also say again, if the phone is running smoothly, don't worry about these tests.

I overclocked it as high as it would let me, which was 998400. That was on HTC Sense. But when I was in CM 6 I was able to set it to 11 something. And I was using kernel version 2.6.32.17

 

[akazabam]

I overclocked it as high as it would let me, which was 998400. That was on HTC Sense. But when I was in CM 6 I was able to set it to 11 something. And I was using kernel version 2.6.32.17

So you were on the stock kernel. 998 isn't overclocking, as that's stock. You'd have to have flashed a different kernel. As for CM, it *should* be higher, but, once again, was anything actually running slowly? What governor were you using when you tried? You should probably try it with the performance governor, which will hold the frequency at the max. Don't leave it like that after the test. I forgot to mention earlier that that can have a huge impact on quadrant scores.

 

[Tglover]

So you were on the stock kernel. 998 isn't overclocking, as that's stock. You'd have to have flashed a different kernel. As for CM, it *should* be higher, but, once again, was anything actually running slowly? What governor were you using when you tried? You should probably try it with the performance governor, which will hold the frequency at the max. Don't leave it like that after the test. I forgot to mention earlier that that can have a huge impact on quadrant scores.

Is performance governor the actual name of the app?

 

[akazabam]

Is performance governor the actual name of the app?

No, it's part of the kernel that determines what frequency to set the CPU at based on load and potentially other factors. What did you use to overclock?

 

[Tglover]

No, it's part of the kernel that determines what frequency to set the CPU at based on load and potentially other factors. What did you use to overclock?

SetCPU

 

[akazabam]

SetCPU

I figured. So at the main screen, you'll see something that says "Scaling", and you'll have a dropdown box with your governor choice. It just isn't referred to as governor there. There are many threads describing what they different choices are and what they do. Let me know if you need help finding resources. Take note of what it's currently set to. Change it to performance (assuming you have the option), then run the quadrant test. Change it back when you're done. If you ever don't have the performance governor for some reason (it's based on the kernel), you can do the same thing by making the max/min the same value.

 

[Tglover]

I figured. So at the main screen, you'll see something that says "Scaling", and you'll have a dropdown box with your governor choice. It just isn't referred to as governor there. There are many threads describing what they different choices are and what they do. Let me know if you need help finding resources. Take note of what it's currently set to. Change it to performance (assuming you have the option), then run the quadrant test. Change it back when you're done. If you ever don't have the performance governor for some reason (it's based on the kernel), you can do the same thing by making the max/min the same value.

I just ran the quadrant test, now it's at 934. But I'm also running a different ROM right now, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

 

[akazabam]

I just ran the quadrant test, now it's at 934. But I'm also running a different ROM right now, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

What ROM/kernel? Are you noticing any slowness when transferring files to/from the sdcard? Like I said, that can be a bottleneck.

 

[Tglover]

What ROM/kernel? Are you noticing any slowness when transferring files to/from the sdcard? Like I said, that can be a bottleneck.

Right now i'm using MikFroYo 4.4 with the same kernel as before. haven't noticed any slowness yet, anywhere.

 

[akazabam]

I wouldn't worry about it. Quadrant scores are misleading, and don't really reflect realistic usage. You can try a different kernel and overclock, but like I said, quadrant scores don't matter that much.

 

[Tglover]

I wouldn't worry about it. Quadrant scores are misleading, and don't really reflect realistic usage. You can try a different kernel and overclock, but like I said, quadrant scores don't matter that much.

What kernels do you suggest? And how to I install them using clockworkmod?

 

[akazabam]

Netarchy is a good kernel:

[GPL][Kernel]netarchy-toastmod, Stable: 4.3.1 Beta: 4.3.2 - xda-developers

Ziggy's is too:

Ziggy471.com Life's too short, have fun while you can.

There are several threads discussing this along with other general kernel information. I suggest you read up on the differences. Let me know if you need some direction on that.

You flash them from recovery (clockwork) like you would any other ROM or mod. Wipe cache and dalvik, but not data.

 

[Tglover]

Netarchy is a good kernel:

[GPL][Kernel]netarchy-toastmod, Stable: 4.3.1 Beta: 4.3.2 - xda-developers

Ziggy's is too:

Ziggy471.com Life's too short, have fun while you can.

There are several threads discussing this along with other general kernel information. I suggest you read up on the differences. Let me know if you need some direction on that.

You flash them from recovery (clockwork) like you would any other ROM or mod. Wipe cache and dalvik, but not data.

I think I'll try out Netarchy.