Fastest WM6/6.1 ROM currently available (Feb 08)

[Jazz8]

Having just purchased my 8525 several weeks ago, I have undergone the grueling exercise of reading, downloading, reading, downloading, more reading, more downloading... in my quest for the fastest stable ROM. While I appreciate the all hard work of our ROM cookers, and I recognize that each ROM will meet specific individual needs, I have yet to find a ROM that compares to the speed of K's WM6.0 FINAL Lite.

I was flabbergasted yesterday when I did a comparison. After having read many posts on the speed of the new WM6.1, I decided to give it a whirl and see what I was missing. I looked for a good WM6.1 Lite edition to flash and eventually found one that was reported stable with good reviews. Upon flashing, I noticed that it seemed snappy at first as I tapped through the settings, explorer. I was looking for any delays in response or program load times. I installed Pocket Informant 8 and opened and closed the program several times to visually test the speed (I like to close out of applications and have them reopen with speed when I need them).

I was tempted to leave it on for a while but I decided to flash back to compare and see if I could notice any difference right away... I was shocked with the results. As soon as I flashed back to K's WM6.0 FINAL Lite ROM, I immediately noticed the difference, K's was much faster. Additionally, as soon as I did a hard reset, I noted the program memory sitting at 32.06 (available). I have not officially "benchmarked" these as I don't really know how, but as far as opening applications, moving through settings/programs, and using file explorers, K's takes the cake.

Now I realize that there are many variables to consider (the WM6.1 ROM I used, programs included/ excluded with Lite versions etc.) but as far as lightning fast ROMs, can anyone else support my conclusions? For those of you using K's WM6.0 FINAL Lite ROM please weigh in with your thoughts. If you haven't yet tried it and your looking for speed, please give it a try and let us know what you think. If I am correct, then I can only imagine what a WM6.1 Lite by Kin0Kin could do? :)

[elivne]

I can only say that what you tested was "out of the box" performance.

I always temper with my OS, removing services & changing reg. definitions.

I feel WM6.1 is faster.
I think the first factor that affects performance is the added apps and as a result how many files sit in the WINDOWS folder(thats why the lite versions work faster...)
The next factor is reg hacks.

I think we should install a version as lite as we can, and as new as you can find then - add your stuff.

[Newb-Tech-Realtor]

I have to agree with the above post. I've been using cooked ROMs since I got my 8525 a year ago...now I'm using Schaps WM 6.1 and to me it is the most stable. I have tried CRC's and Pays but to me, Schaps is the most stable and quickest...I have good battery life and can reasonably use (most of) my programs.

I've had to reflash about ten times trying different programs and different setups but now it's pretty snappy and I'm happy with my set up.

Best I can tell you is try flashing a few different ones and see which one gives you the most mileage.


Hope This Helps,

Jim

[aaronsmckee]

Having just purchased my 8525 several weeks ago, I have undergone the grueling exercise of reading, downloading, reading, downloading, more reading, more downloading... in my quest for the fastest stable ROM. While I appreciate the all hard work of our ROM cookers, and I recognize that each ROM will meet specific individual needs, I have yet to find a ROM that compares to the speed of K's WM6.0 FINAL Lite.

I was flabbergasted yesterday when I did a comparison. After having read many posts on the speed of the new WM6.1, I decided to give it a whirl and see what I was missing. I looked for a good WM6.1 Lite edition to flash and eventually found one that was reported stable with good reviews. Upon flashing, I noticed that it seemed snappy at first as I tapped through the settings, explorer. I was looking for any delays in response or program load times. I installed Pocket Informant 8 and opened and closed the program several times to visually test the speed (I like to close out of applications and have them reopen with speed when I need them).

I was tempted to leave it on for a while but I decided to flash back to compare and see if I could notice any difference right away... I was shocked with the results. As soon as I flashed back to K's WM6.0 FINAL Lite ROM, I immediately noticed the difference, K's was much faster. Additionally, as soon as I did a hard reset, I noted the program memory sitting at 32.06 (available). I have not officially "benchmarked" these as I don't really know how, but as far as opening applications, moving through settings/programs, and using file explorers, K's takes the cake.

Now I realize that there are many variables to consider (the WM6.1 ROM I used, programs included/ excluded with Lite versions etc.) but as far as lightning fast ROMs, can anyone else support my conclusions? For those of you using K's WM6.0 FINAL Lite ROM please weigh in with your thoughts. If you haven't yet tried it and your looking for speed, please give it a try and let us know what you think. If I am correct, then I can only imagine what a WM6.1 Lite by Kin0Kin could do? :)


Generally 6.1 is faster than 6. Kin0Kin uses a 6mb page pool and a file cache to speed performance, additionally it is an exceptionally well built ROM. This means that after opening a large number of programs those programs will run faster but you will have less memory available to open other programs. In implemenation I have never run into a memory chrunch while using K ROM final. That said if you take a 6.1 rom, set the page pool to 6mb and setup a file cache (I believe K uses 4 MB) it more than likely will be faster than K Rom final (if it is a well cooked ROM). However you may just want to wait for K to release his 6.1 rom when it is out of Beta (still kinda buggy) promises to be blazing fast and to have visual overhaul.

[Jazz8]

Thanks for taking the time to reply fellas! I should maybe clarify what I was trying to say. I was really wondering if anyone has tried various lite ROMs out there (including K's Final), and if so, how do you think they compared?

This question may be a little too subjective to answer with any certainty but it might point others in the right direction if they are looking for a fast Lite ROM. My intention here is not to put other ROM cookers down by the way; I have a great respect for these individuals who have give so much of their time to this community. In the end though, it seems that each ROM has it's specialties and IMHO, K's WM6 Final Lite ROM specializes in speed (among other things).

With all of my programs loaded: PI8, PB, ILauncher, WBA Lite, Total Comander2.5, on device, and about 6 or so more on the storage card, I sit now with the following:

28MB+/- program memory available
57mb+/- Storage memory available

I have already tested various ROMs and have yet to find one more responsive, not just "out of the box". Are there others who have also experienced this? Kin0Kin may not make a Lite ROM for 6.1 and I'm o.k. with that (given enough support who knows) :) Anyway, if his WM6 Lite ROM is the fastest currently out there, then think of how fast a 6.1 Lite release by K could be. In any case, I am looking forward to using his 6.1 once he releases it.

So to clarify again, for those of you who have used various lite ROMs (including K's Final), how do/did you find they compared? If there was a tread like this months ago, I might have found K's a little quicker (lol). Thanks again for input!

[danik_iceman]

Well..I am one of the lite Rom fans too...I agree with you that they are faster than the full versions. However, as soon as you install bunch of your apps, it becomes as fast as a regular full rom. The only reason I use lite versions is that I believe that the less apps you cook in a rom the less buggy it is and since I have the standard set of apps that I always intall in a rom which most of the rom cooker don't include in their roms, or include along with other apps that I don't use, which again make a rom buggier.
So, again, lite is fast before you intall your apps, and it is great for customization it terms of installing your own apps.

P.S. I read someone saying that they never had an issue with having not enough memory(RAM). That's exactly what happened to me. I didn't understand the point of having a lot of RAM. But recently, after I started using spb pocket plus, spb mobile shell, htc home all together, I found out that I am running out of RAM, now I need more RAM. Because having all these apps running plus a music player I have around 6-8 of free memory, which I never used to have less than 20MB.

[noellenchris]

I have to go with Matt's Pandora Naked roms. I've tried a bunch and really like PN7.2. I run a lot of software and his rom has a ton of ram and storage. I included a screenshot with the mem in top right with Pocketplus, pocketweather, S2US, pockettoolman, Qmenu etc.

Anyhow, I like K's roms too, so in the end it's up to you to decide. I'm a Ram freak and like to keep a lot free. So good luck

[sakshamkatyal]

Agree with noellenchris, I am using Pandora Naked 7b2 WM6 really great, very fast & stable. With lots of Memory & space. My experience with WM6.1 wasn't so good I had to revert back to WM6, I am lovin it..

[sakshamkatyal]

BTW can anybody please tell me what is page pool. I am not aware what exactly it means.

[noellenchris]

BTW can anybody please tell me what is page pool. I am not aware what exactly it means.

Matt uses a 6mb page pool in PN7.2. Page pool is like the file cache for ram, if you tend to use many smaller programs at the same time, then 4mb or 6mb is ok. If you use one larger program at a time and close when done then 6-10mb is better. The page pool comes at the expense of available RAM though. But remember that the programs are using this page pool as a cache.

Sort of like the cache on the processors of your computer. It's fast memory readily available for the processor to use. Hope this helps

Chris

[Voldemort]

i always liked schap's roms, then i tried pay's (that one wasnt bad either), but in the end ShadoW TE 6.1 won overall, even though it doesnt use the latest build, it s really stable and fast - plus i dont have to bother with reinstalling all the dark skins/themes/cabs :p

[debonairone]

Has anyone pointed you to KarHu's posts...? He has done an excellent job benchmarking roms... Currently, I think he is up to 52 different roms... I usually wait for him to post his results before I decide on a different version to use... Sometimes, my illness takes over and I can't wait.. Ok, usually this happens, but it is a good resource nonetheless...

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320370

[fasterfester]

Sometimes, my illness takes over and I can't wait..

Isn't that the truth. Sometimes I wish I never knew about this site.... :)

[Anant]

Faria has just posted his latest build on WM6.1.
This also seems to be fast and stable you can try out this.

[debonairone]

Isn't that the truth. Sometimes I wish I never knew about this site.... :)

yeah, at 2am, when I just decide to pop in and see a new rom, I gotta flash it then...:D

[ericc191]

I'm getting my 8525 back sometime today with a white screen. If I can unbrick it, I'll most likely continue using vp3G 3.0. It was always fast.

[Jazz8]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Debonairone, I never new about that post before, it's very insightful. I would like to see K's newest Lite (Final) tested soon, I tried Shamanix's Grass 2.2 and it was excellent but K's felt a little faster so it would be interesting to see it benched. I had to laugh when I read about your 2AM flash comments. I've had about 3 of these over the past week. This seems to be the only time I find lately, after the kids are asleep and I finish all my other "chores" (lol).

Chris, thanks for pointing out Pandora's Naked ROM. I flashed the latest and it is very impressive. I would say K's Lite is very comparable to this, especially with the available memory "out of the box" (4vs6mb pagepool accounted for). K's out of the box available Program memory was 32.20 with a 4mb PagePool and Pandora's was 30.46 with 6mb PagePool; Storage was also close.

I too love my memory and I think that Pandor's Naked ROMs are almost identical in free memory if not a tad more but I do have to take into account that K's had more programs already loaded namely Office 2007, Calculator and games (I used cabs for PN9). I was also comparing WM6 with a naked WM6.1 BTW I love the fact that Pandora has the 6.1 "naked". On the other side of the coin, K has the larger dialer buttons/skin and in his 6.1 (Full) he uses the 5.0 Camera (still bugged though). I'm hoping to see a fixed Camera 5.0 in his next release. Overall, I think the two ROMs are very comparable I should have compared PN7 but it was to tempting to try 9 and I am getting tired of flashing (must have done 30 over the past few days).

I guess when it comes to speed, there are many ROMs that are close in speed and memory. In the end, it probably comes down to a matter of personal opinion. I like PN9 and I'll be keeping my eye on this although, there is something about the feel of K's latest ROMs that I am in Love with. With WM6.1 out now I guess we'll see some new speed records and be back at this topic in several months :) Thanks for the link and much insight fellas,

Jazz8