Re: [gentoo-user] Mobo/proc combination

["Boyd Stephen Smith Jr." <bss03@volumehost.net>]

On Monday 13 March 2006 14:10, "Hemmann, Volker Armin" 
<volker.armin.hemmann@tu-clausthal.de> wrote about 'Re: [gentoo-user] 
Mobo/proc combination':
> > My recommendations are:
> > <1G RAM : 32-bit kernel and userland
> > <4G RAM : 64-bit kernel and 32-bit userland
> >    else : 64-bit kernel and 64-bit (multilib) userland
>
> with amd64 on s939 you are buyiong ram in pairs, to use dual channel
> mode. So you'll have 1GB, 2GB, 4GB.

Is 256M PC2700 not available, for those with very little money...

> And with 1GB you are loosing ~160mb when using 32bit.

With a stock kernel.  You can actually tweak this fairly easily, and I've 
seen reports of being able to use 980M in user space.  That said, if 
you've got > 768M of RAM and don't feel like tweaking your kernel, go 
64-bit.

> Plus, you can't 
> use the additional registers of the cpu in 32bit mode - so why using it
> at all?

Better memory architecture and microcode, larger caches, etc.; you might 
even get a Hz bump; in the near future, you'll get hw virtualization.  
There are lot of reasons to choose a modern processor than just the 64-bit 
mode.  That said, there's very little reason to have less than 1G of RAM 
these days, and at that point you are well-served to put (at least) your 
kernel in 64-bit mode.

-- 
"If there's one thing we've established over the years,
it's that the vast majority of our users don't have the slightest
clue what's best for them in terms of package stability."
-- Gentoo Developer Ciaran McCreesh
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