http://php-accelerator.co.uk/ can be downloaded and is a strong opponent of zend. It's free. I'm already using it. The effect is not bad.
Modify php.ini and add:
zend_extension = /usr/local/lib/php_accelerator_1.3.3r2.so
phpa=on
phpa.tweaks = on
phpa.cache_dir = /tmp
phpa.file_perms = 400
phpa.cache_file_prune_period = 1h
phpa.cache_file_ttl = 1d
phpa.shm_size = 10
phpa.shm_key = 0xc0deb00
phpa.shm_perms = 666
phpa.shm_user = nobody
phpa.shm_group = nobody
phpa.shm_release_at_exit = on
phpa.shm_stats_check_period = 5m
phpa.shm_ttl = 12h
phpa.shm_max_processes = 512
phpa.shm_lock_threshold0 = 10
apachectl graceful will work. See its documentation for specific parameters.