xw4100 with RHEL3 gets slow after some time

[Gabriella Schmidt]

We are running a java application on a HP xw4100
workstation with RedHat Enterprise 3.0. Main memory size 512 MB.

On start X server has ca. 100MB VSZ and java ca 60 MB VSZ. After several hours of usage the X has increased to ~110MB and java to ~250MB which is
less than the physical memory, but the usabilty
of the system goes to zero: each response to a
mouse click needs minutes until the action is finished.
Has anybody observed similar behaviour, or has
an idea if there are parameters for tuning the
system.

Kindly Regards
Günt