Prestashop 1.4.3 acting slow even from a fresh install. Could be a cache problem?

[tobiasw]

So a few days ago i did a fresh prestashop install. But it is really slow. Can take up to 20-30 seconds to load the front page for the first time. Then if i keep refreshing the first page after the initial load the site will generate the page in about 1-4 seconds. If i then wait for say an hour before i try to access the webshop, then its slow again.

Also, when i set $smarty->caching = true; it will only show the same page again and again no matter what products or categories i try to load in the front office.

This is my smarty.config.inc.php settings right now.

$smarty = new Smarty();
$smarty->template_dir = _PS_THEME_DIR_.'tpl';
$smarty->compile_dir = _PS_SMARTY_DIR_.'compile';
$smarty->cache_dir = _PS_SMARTY_DIR_.'cache';
$smarty->config_dir = _PS_SMARTY_DIR_.'configs';
$smarty->caching = false;
$smarty->force_compile = false;
$smarty->compile_check = false;
$smarty->debugging = false; 
$smarty->debugging_ctrl = 'URL'; // 'NONE' on production
$smarty->deprecation_notices = false; // so many depreciated yet not migrated 

If i look under BO-->Preferences--> Performance
It looks like "Force comple NO" and Cache "Yes".. how come?..

For the CCC-settings i have choosen the top one. (like "Use CCC for CSS" and so on)

[tobiasw]

I can change Smarty cache on and off in the web interface but it will not change in the file smarty.config.inc.php have anyone ever noticed that before?