@theoutrider there are several options to speed up X forwarding:
1. use -C when over ssh (simple, might not get great results)
2. https://www.xpra.org/ xpra "multi-platform persistent remote display server and client for forwarding applications and desktop screens" — like screen for X, but compresses also
3. http://www.vigor.nu/dxpc/ dxpc "Differential X Protocol Compressor"
4. https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php x2go (open source nx)
5. use vnc