On 30/07/12 19:40, Alecks Gates wrote:
What are the benefits and drawbacks of using the x32 ABI
Benefits: An x32 application is limited to a 32-bit address range but runs in 64-bit CPU mode. The intent is to not waste any memory, but be as fast as any other 64-bit application.
Drawbacks: Don't expect to get a fully working system. Many applications will either not build, or break at runtime when compiled in this mode. Also, some application will run slower because they come with hand coded assembly routines for x86 and x86-64, but not for x32. That means that generic C code paths will be used for x32, and they're slower compared to the hand optimized assembly routines.
Also note that x32 is not compatible with 32-bit applications. If you build an x86-64/x32 system, you lose the x86/x86-64 multilib capability unless there's a way to have a three-way multilib Gentoo with x86/x32/x86-64.
