I am curious what should be the benchmark for making the choice of
switching from 32bit to 64bit Linux? I have a few assumptions below.
Is my logic sound? (This is a follow up to the "Adding RAM" thread)
Assumptions:
1. 4GB Memory. The main benefit of 64bit mode is the ability to
address more than 4GB of RAM. I assume that you use 64bit mode if you
want to *efficiently* have more than 4GB of RAM, or intend to upgrade
past 4GB in the foreseeable future. (I emphasize "efficiently" because
PAE is an option, if you are desperate to keep 32bit mode with more RAM)
2. Overhead. It is my assumption that 64bit has more "overhead", being
that the registers are now 64bits long, instead of 32bit, which would
mean more bits to pass around the system. So if you have less than 4GB
of RAM, 32bit mode would perform better than 64bit mode.
3. Compatibility. Linux has made incredible strides to make 64bit
Linux very robust and compatible, but I still occasionally see binary
applications/plugins/drivers that popup which are 32bit mode only. This
is usually only a problem with Desktop systems that want bleeding edge,
or not as well supported software.
4. Desktop vs Servers. Current "desktops" machines generally have
around 2GB of RAM, or less. Current "server" machines generally have
around 2GB of RAM, or more (much more). Because of the overhead (#2)
and compatibility (#3) I would think that Desktops would benefit from
using 32bit mode, and Servers would benefit from 64bit mode.
Is my logic sound?
Thanks,
Kenneth
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