64 bit systems

[Prescott Oelke]

I have an AMD64 system that I have been running for a couple years and
at first there were some headaches to getting it running in 64 bit
mode because of the lack of drivers or certain software not being 64
bit. For about the last year I haven't run into any problems with the
more modern Linux distros though. Windows is an entirely different
story. It seems there is little incentive for some companies to
support XP64 with drivers (every software package runs fine in the 32
bit "Windows on Windows" emulation layer).

Speaking specifically to heat issues, I have found the AMD64 CPUs to
generate a lot less heat than the 32 bit Athlon XPs (which carries
over to their mobile counterparts as well) and I even have the
throttling turned off. I can't speak for the Intel chips but others
have told me they are basically space heaters ("that's why we call it
a 'notebook' and not a 'laptop'").

Prescott

On 6/25/06, Joseph Sinclair <plug-discuss at stcaz.net> wrote:
> AMD64 systems run fine in 32-bit mode.  You will get a small increment of capacity by running the system in 64-bit mode, but that may or may not be visible, it depends a lot on what you're doing and how the rest of the system stacks up.
> I have been running a AMD64 system in 64-bit mode (Ubuntu AMD64 build at the moment) for a couple of years.  There are a few headaches (a lot of proprietary software isn't 64-bit yet, for instance, Flash being the worst culprit).
> If you're planning to run all FLOSS, then something like Ubuntu's AMD64 build is a great way to go.  If you want proprietary software to work, then I'd recommend sticking with a 32-bit build of whatever distro you prefer.
>
> For a laptop the biggest issue is going to be heat and battery life, so you'll want to make absolutely sure that the laptop has an effective low-power mode, and that it's fully supported by whatever Linux distro you choose.  Some of the lowest power laptops are AMD64 based, but not all 64-bit distros support the AMD (or Intel) dynamic power conserving features (speedstep, etc...).
>
> ==Joseph++
>
> Nathan England wrote:
> > I'm considering some new systems and wondering whether or not to go 64 bit.
> > Is there really any speed difference? The only system I know of is a friends
> > and he runs it in 32 bit mode. Are there problems with running the systems in
> > 64 bit?
> >
> > nathan
> >
> > I'm thinking specifically a laptop...
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