Leopard Behavior w/Graphics (a little long)

Question

I switched to Leopard from Tiger the day after release. I found the computer slows down over the course of operation during the day, especially graphics performance, including genie effects, dock, etc..as many have written. I ran Cinebench 10 tests on the computer before and after optimizing the system with Onyx Beta 1.8.4b.(I used this as a last resort after running Cinebench and noticed performance was less than HALF of Tiger) The performance of Cinebench after optimization and cache cleaning was over double on the OpenGL tests (almost a 10% improvement from Tiger). Before Optimization-BAD, AFter Optimization-GOOD. If I continued to run Cinebench 9.5 first and version 10 tests second....the Cinebench 10 results were back to less than half. (visual performance on screen was terrible, OPEN GL animation tests were dismal, not renderering tests, which "only" slowed by 20%)
Now, this tells a layman that something is going on with the allocation of graphic memory, perhaps filling up somewhere since the Activity Monitor in OSX shows plenty of system memory to be free. I also loaded in my desktop picture from my Tiger days; of a JPEG I took this summer and it slowed down the computer considerably on the tests. After I changed desktops, I cleaned the cache in Onyx. Still slow performance. I then "Optimized" with Onyx- back to good performance.
Something is going on with Leopard and the graphics memory allocation. Or perhaps it is the program not behaving well with Leopard. Aperture was running great with Tiger, now it has on days and off days. Spotlight indexing could be a factor and I configured Time Machine to do manual backups...the regular back ups are frustrating if working with memory intensive applications.......but since I have not added many files since loading Leopard, indexing should hardly be a factor.
Has anyone tried running graphics tests or graphics intensive apps and noticed any misbehavior (for lack of better word) with Leopard? What does Onyx do that restores the performance of my machine with the "Optimization" option. Since it takes awhile to perform, it is a very inconvenient way to continually keep my system running well.
As a footnote: I have done the clear VRAM thing (with the option/command/p/r keys pressed at bootup) and the shift/safe mode boot up to restore performance. The safe mode boot up worked to restore performance after rebooting normally, this takes quite a long time. The vram dump thing did not restore performance in the OpenGL tests.
Any comments or thoughts?

Answer 1

Thanks for the helpful reply, Kenneth! I'll definitely look into the Speck case, whichever way I go.
"Some display issues have to do with the display and not the backlight, so don't expect 100% happiness. Ever."
Agreed. I've seen some really bad MBP's and I was hoping that they've gotten better. I've actually read a lot of threads here about how the Macbook's screen is generally better quality (at least before the update).
"There is never enough monitor. If that is a serious concern, you should get a large external monitor. 15 is just not that much bigger than 13. 23 is big!"
I totally agree. However, regarding my current situation of leaving the country and not having access to an external monitor, I think I might be better off having 15" to play with abroad.
"Beauty is not everything. If you need a separate graphics card, an expresscard slot, 4GB RAM, or FW800, get the MBP. Also, it will be faster GHz for GHz because of the cache, among other things."
Sometimes I wonder if I have OCD with keeping nice things clean...which is why I think that white might not be the best choice for me. I noticed that you have a Macbook Pro yourself. Do you feel like it's hard to keep clean, or that you have to treat it gently?
About the extra options that you mention, I'll be honest: I don't have a specific need for them. I'd like to get a FW enclosure for my external drive, but I don't currently own one. I'd also like to have a graphics card, though I don't really play computer games. I wouldn't like to rule it out for the future though...I'm going to have a lot of free time in Costa Rica. Also, the 4GB of RAM will likely be more important moving forward. I'm planning on keeping my next computer for the next 2-3 years, so I just want to make sure that I have few things to regret.
" In 2 or 3 years you can buy the MBP Extreem with a 10GHz processor, 2 TB HD, and direct output to your optic nerves for the same price, and already have the big monitor!"
Hilarious. Thanks for that.
-G