Hi Everybody

Just a simple thought. I am running FC4 with an AMD64 3400+ with 1.5GB ram and nVidia graphics. My FC4 in stallation is i386. Would I have experienced any significant performance improvement had I installed in 64bit?

Thanks

Bob

Significant is tough to define. The better tuned the kernel is to your hardware, the better the performance is. I have run debian on my machine (AMD64 3200+ 768 RAM) in both 64 bit version and now with 32 bit. For generic "use" like browsing, playing music/videos and such I see no difference. Super processor tasks, like converting to mp3, encoding video, or compiling software is slightly slower. I'm sure it is slower on a microsecond level, but neither you nor I can detect that. I would suggest going with 64bit with your next upgrade, but you won't see a whole world of difference if you were to upgrade/reinstall now.

Peace,
JimBass

The trade is 64-bit vs 32-bit, not 386 vs 64-bit........

In principle, a single application which is not designed for 64-bit (or dual-processors) will not give higher performance with a 64-bit (or dual) processor.

When running many apps, then the question may be harder to answer. My hunch is that performance increases more for dual processors than for 64-bit.

Also, a clear advantgage of 64-bit is that it addresses more memory. But will you ever use that benefit?

I finally just moved to 64 bit on this box. I held out coz I was worried about certain compatibility issues. It's working, but there are hassles and I'm tempted to go back 32 bit

Lots of little things, like whether you have 64 bit (older) or 32 bit (latest) firefox - and what plugins to use... Now where was that 32 bit java...

Making sure you compile in 32 bit emulation in the kernel

A lot of the extra packages I have are 32bit, so I'm out looking for 64 bit replacements...

But it's going and I have 32 bit native games running as well as 32 bit cedega and 32 bit crossover. And 32 bit firefox 1.5...

No noticeable performance difference. My main reason for shifting was just to get used to the 64bit platform and it's going to be all that way soon, so I guess it worth shifting some time...

I still don't have win4lin going, but no big deal. I might have a go at that when they bring out a 2.6.15.x patch...

As for the fc4 install. You would get some performance tweak even if you just compile the kernel for a64 in 32 bit. Use some more instructions and registers... I was already doing that in 32 bit, so I probably notice less difference going to 64bit... See you are running old i386 instructions rather than i686 or better...

The memory issue in 64 is nice... No stuffing arround with the various memory models...

removed dupe post... dang

Oh, and playing dvd's can be a hassle too. the w32 codecs won't work with a 64 player... So you need a 32 bit player...

I would assume that most people who read my post would have gathered that I meant 32-bit when I referenced i386. I mentioned it that solely becuase I have been installing in i386 as opposed to i586, i686 where possible. They seem more stable to me.

But thank you to pixellany for the lesson in archetecture.

Bob

"I mentioned it that solely becuase I have been installing in i386 as opposed to i586, i686 where possible. They seem more stable to me."

Should be no stability issues between i386 and i586, etc... It's more about compatibility issues... x86_64 may have more issues since it's new.