Chris Adams wrote: > Once upon a time, Fernando Cassia<fcassia@xxxxxxxxx> said: >> Well guess what? 64 bit code is bigger (bigger pointers) and thus >> slower, because CPU cache is less effective, with bigger code. > > All other things being equal, that might be true. However, all other > things are NOT equal; pointer size is not the only different between > i686 and x86_64. The biggest gain is that x86_64 has a much larger > register set, so a lot of things don't have to hit RAM at all (and are > much faster). > Unfortunately that biggest gain only occurs if the program logic is such that registers run out often. So the gain only happens in a small number of possible cases, where the compiler would otherwise get a value from L1 cache. At the moment the slight (for most people) performance gain vs. the increased hassle finding applications seems to favor case by case decisions. Neither is such a major benefit to indicate everyone should make the same choice. -- Bill Davidsen <davidsen@xxxxxxx> "We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from the machinations of the wicked." - from Slashdot -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
