On July 6, 2007 07:29 am [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Quoting Neil Gunton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> I don't have any facts or numbers to bring forward, but you probably > >> won't notice that much of a difference. > > > > What do you base this opinion on? > > Nothing really, > I've setup a handful of amd64 servers and a whack of i386 ones. > Alot of them web servers running basic php and mysql stuff. > Speeds "felt" the same. > > >> Having said that, I would say go for the AMD64 port. > >> I don't think the install is anywhere near less > >> straightforward than the 32bit port. > > > > The AMD64 port is less straightforward because they do not include > > the dpt_i2o driver, which is necessary for my RAID card. Instead, I > > have to either use the i2o_block driver, which I gather has had some > > reliability issues under load, or else build a patched kernel with > > dpt_i2o, which isn't ideal since it always complicates and lengthens > > the install. Also, for some reason, my own kernels always seem to end > > up being slower than the stock kernels, even though I am careful to > > go through and build in/enable everything very specific to the > > hardware. > > Ah, yes. If your missing some hardware drivers, it can be a pain. > > >> But since you are running 4 Gig of RAM, take full advantage of it by > >> running amd64. > > > > My understanding is that 32-bit can utilize up to 4 GB as well, it's > > when you have more than 4GB that it starts to matter. > > I always thought that 32 bit sarge with 4G ram, would only show about > 3.3G of available RAM. I could be wrong, and perhaps this doesn't > happen in etch.
Depends on the motherboard. The top 256-768 MB of RAM is reserved for PCI mapped memory space and other devices. Some motherboards and CPUs let you re-map this memory above the 4 GB boundary (making it appear that you have up to 5 GB of RAM) while others don't. AMD systems tend to be better in allowing the remapping. 32-bit systems can use 3 GB without problems. It's when you have more than 3 GB that things start to get weird. 64-bit systems don't have these issues. -- Freddie Cash, LPIC-2 CCNT CCLP Network Support Technician School District 73 (250) 377-HELP [377-4357] [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]