amd64 or ia64

i have an intel duo core that is 64bit compatible and when i try this distro out i'd like to make sure i'm using the right release. so should i use the ia64 even though thats for itanium or will the amd work, or are neither of these an option? any advice?

You want AMD64, as that's the "normal" x86-64 architecture (in the same way that i386 is the "normal" x86 architecture and will run on AMD CPUs). You can of course use the 32-bit version of Debian, if you wish (i.e. i386).

yea i know the 32 bit version will work, i'm just kinda trying out new distros and am interested in seeing how the 64bit os will work. if it really improves performance and if there are compatibility issues and what not. So far i've noticed my 64bit ubuntu far out performs my 32bit xp (yea yea no surprise)and until windows 7 comes out i'm happy working with the 64bit linux distros. thank you though for your feedback, i really appreciate it. i was thinking the amd would be the safest bet, but just couldn't make the decision when presented with so many options.

Your Core Duo is not an Itanium processer, so that rules out ia64.

There is no need to run a 64-bit OS unless you have more than 4 GB of ram. The 64 bits are for memory addressing. There is no performance boost that can be made by using a 64-bit os over a 32-bit os. It's just addressing.

Originally Posted by ebmi There is no performance boost that can be made by using a 64-bit os over a 32-bit os. It's just addressing.

It is not just addressing.

Whether there is a significant performance boost to using x86_64 instead of x86 depends on the applications you are running.

Very likely, you are not running applications for which there is a significant performance boost. But it is not simple or absolute and it doesn't necessarily depend on how much ram you have.

Applications with the biggest performance boost are those that can make good use of the 16 SSE registers in x86_64, where the same code compiled for x86 probably uses the floating point stack instead of using SSE at all (but even if compiled to use SSE, x86 mode can only use 8 of the 16 SSE registers).

In theory and maybe in practice, applications that transform audio or video data from one format to another are more likely to get good use of SSE. But even with those, it isn't a safe bet that any particular one of those applications will get a significant performance boost from 64-bit mode.

wow, alturdzero something, really man? did you even read what i posted. i know i don't have an itanium, however i also know i don't have amd. The site offers about ten different versions of the debian "lenny" release. i just wanted to make sure i got the one most compatible with my system to try. Now to "ebmi": who are you and what do u do for a living that makes you think you can make outrageous comments like that. First, i happen to have 4gigs of ram and have found it to be more then enough for just about every os i've tried. Personaly, there had better be a good reason to even need more 4gigs. Secondly, don't claim to know what you don't know. To the rest who actually gave helpful and positive feedback, thanks a bunch and happy trails!

Originally Posted by Gharrrrr wow, alturdzero something, really man? did you even read what i posted.

Now to "ebmi": who are you and what do u do for a living that makes you think you can make outrageous comments like that.

Try to remember that you are the one who asked for help. If you continue asking for help at LQ, you are going to see a lot of answers worse than the ones either of them gave you. If you continue being so critical of answers you get, you are going to miss out on a lot of useful answers from people who remember your attitude and/or use the "find more posts by" link on your name.

alucardzero gave you a correct and relevant answer: IA32 is just for Itanium. It would have been better if he had been clearer by adding: AMD64 is not just for AMD, but also for many Intel 64 bit processors.

ebmi gave you a well intentioned answer, that I happen to think was too concrete and too narrow for what (as I described above) is a rather complex question. But odds are that answer is effectively correct. Your 4GB system would probably run just as well with a 32-bit Linux distribution.

Also notice he did NOT say 64-bit Linux needs more than 4GB. He said the reasons for choosing 64-bit instead of 32-bit depend on having more than 4GB. I disagree with that (in both directions) but it isn't "outrageous" and the fact that 4GB is enough for you isn't a basis for criticizing his statement.

Thanks for the comment, johnsfine. I agree that my reply was too narrow and terse. This opinion was based on several reviews of 64-bit vs. 32-bit I've read on sites such as phoronix and wikipedia and personal experience. It is my impression that for basic computing applications, 64-bit offers no advantages and can actually hurt performance. This may not be the case given that compilers are continually developed. Personally I run 64-bit linux because I develop scientific code that uses double and long-double precision arithmetic.

I made alot of (probably wrong) assumptions about the OP. Sorry about that.

Cheers,
ebmi

The difference is Itanium is a completely different architecture, while amd64 == x86_64. Yes, it's confusingly named. By the way, a little searching would have turned up the answer for you.

wow, i'm speachless, i can't decide which one of you is the biggest douche. Do you just spend your days finding random posts and attempt to convince everyone that you are some kind of genius and know the answer, even though the problem has been dealt with and your are now simply spouting off useless information with little relevance to the original post? this place is lame...i'm out....have fun losers

What's your problem fool?

Originally Posted by Gharrrrr this place is lame...i'm out.

Problem solved.

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