Pentium D, 64-bit advice needed
 

Hi all,
I'm looking at buying a new Pentium D system which will become my main system and will probably run Kubuntu unless I come across another distro that I like better.

But before I do that, there are a couple things I need to clear up, that I haven't been able to find a straight answer for yet...

With the Pentium D, do I need a 32-bit (i386) or 64 (x86_64) in order to have this work right and enable both cores? Intel says that most Linux versions support the processor, but doesn't say which of these I need. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Also, in 64-bit versions (various distros) I have heard of problems arising of things not working, while they do in 32-bit versions like video drivers and codecs and that sort of thing. Is there any truth in this? Shouldn't the 32- and 64-bit versions behave the same?

Thanks for your help, it's greatly appreciated.

Most 64 bit distros have both the i386 and x86_64 packages installed to let you continue using those old 32bit apps. That comes at a cost though because you ocassionally get problems as a result.
So yes what you've heard is true, things are not as straightforward in the 64bit world.
As for which distro you need, they will both work but you'll only get the full power of the chip with the 64bit distro.
For example, I have an athlon 64bit in my linux box and it works away fine in both modes. The problems I've had trying to get things working in 64bit as they do in 32bit brought out the quitter in me and I plumped for 32bit for the time being. I'll wait until 64bit is a bit more mature before I try again.