Mark Allums wrote:
prad wrote:
i've recently returned to debian on a amd64 3400+ machine with 1G ram
in it.
i am running the 32bit version of lenny.
would there be benefits to use 64bit lenny instead?
in the archives, i found posts suggesting there is no benefit unless
you are using 64-bit apps that require extra processing power like
number-crunching.
64-bit is the future. Everyone will run it eventually. Except older
computers and possibly embedded processors, such the ones that power
.mp3 players and the like. ARM, Coldfire, SH-1, and so on.
Right now, there is no hurry to move from 32- to 64-bit, especially if
your machine has 4 GB or less. Or you need the 64-bit architechture
itself, for the extra registers, whatnot. Some number-crunching
applications can benefit from it.
A downside is 64-bits not only allows more memory, it requires it.
64-bit pointers vs. 32-bit pointers. Excuse me, *addresses*.
I recommend 64-bits for new installs, but for existing setups, there is
no need to update, unless you have specific needs.
Mark Allums
Oops, make that *3* GB or less. The PC architecture allows more, but
while 4 GB fits into 32-bits, the video card and other hardware is
memory-mapped into the upper GB, so the 4th GB of physical memory must
be remapped above the 4 GB line. In theory, with PAE segments you can
address that memory with a 32-bit OS, but in practice, 64-bit is required.
Mark Allums
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