Computer Building

Falcata · 2008-06-18 20:41:24

I heard that some software would not work in 64-bit. I already knew about flash, but what else is there?

Falcata · 2008-06-19 11:53:11

With the release of open source specifications for the ATI video cards, would it be a good idea to get one? I'm probably not going to build my computer until early autumn, so what will the open source drivers look like then?

INCSlayer · 2008-06-19 12:22:58

it impossible for us to know how the ati open source drivers will look in autumn but unless there is a important reason for you to have ati i would buy a nvidia card since its sure to work

Berticus · 2008-06-19 12:30:10

I believe the Java web plugin isn't 64-bit compatable, unless I'm behind. The reason for this was Sun decided that 64-bit processing was only for servers or anyone not using it for regular computer.

Theoretically, 64-bit would be better in many ways. For one, you can have more RAM installed (with 32-bit, the limit is 4GB, but with 64-bit, you would have 16 EB, or in other terms 16,000,000,000 GB). Also, more tasks can be handled per CPU cycle. So you should get a performance boost in demanding programs such as audio/video encoding, engineering programs and games.

If you're just a common user though who uses a word processor, surfs the web and do other small tasks, you won't notice a difference at all.

As for ATI, I heard their drivers are a lot better than they used to be. Some have even said that they are better than nVidia's Linux support now, but I have no personal experience with them.

Falcata · 2008-06-19 14:30:00

Okay, thanks for the input. And sixteen exabytes of RAM? Isn't the Linux kernel only able to support up to 64 gigabytes?

Berticus · 2008-06-19 14:38:41

Yes.. But theoretically we could use 16 exabytes of RAM. Maybe Linux will be able to support 16 exabytes some day? I most certainly am not pressed for getting Linux to have support for that much memory...

Falcata · 2008-06-19 14:45:41

I guess. But what system would need that much RAM? I'm guessing a supercomputer.

Falcata · 2008-06-19 17:18:24

Looking through wikipedia, I noticed that AMD will start using the AM3 socket. Is this something I should wait and watch for?

Berticus · 2008-06-19 17:50:16

Well... for the price drop, I'd say wait, since it'll be released around the time you plan on making your computer. But if you're worndering if you can get better components, I wouldn't. If you keep waiting for better components to come out, then all you will ever do is wait because they come out so fast. I mean unless you plan on upgrading your processor every year or something, you shouldn't worry too much about later releases.

Falcata · 2008-06-19 18:45:48

Well, I'm waiting until autumn because that's when I'll have the money to make the computer. Hopefully I'll see a decent drop in the price of some of the system's components. This includes the prices of the better components, so I could replace existing components in the design with the better ones. I'm not expecting any phenomenal drops in price, though.

Last edited by Falcata (2008-06-19 18:46:21)

INCSlayer · 2008-06-19 21:09:11

well the main benefit of amds am3 system is that you can run DDR3 on it but you can run a am3 proccessor on a am2 or am2+ board so you could get a am2(+) board and a am2(+) proc for it and then upgrade to am3 later thats what i am planning on doing because i have a am2 proc on a am2+ mobo and i intend to upgrade my proc to am3 when they are released or soon after

Falcata · 2008-06-19 22:32:47

Uh, could you clarify that? I'm having a hard time understanding some of your post.

Last edited by Falcata (2008-06-19 22:33:03)

Berticus · 2008-06-19 22:40:20

He's saying get a motherboard that can support either AM2 or AM2+. Later if you decide to upgrade to an AM3 processor, you can do so without any problems since AM3 processors have full backwards compatibility (you're allowed to plug an AM3 processor into an AM2/AM2+ socket). The main benefit of an AM3 processor is it supports DDR3. So that's what he's going to do when AM3 is released.

Falcata · 2008-06-19 22:43:46

I see. Although, if I get an AM2 or AM2+ motherboard, I probably won't be able to use DDR3, since the motherboard needs to support it as well.

Arch Linux

#51 2008-06-18 20:41:24

Re: Computer Building

#52 2008-06-19 11:53:11

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#53 2008-06-19 12:22:58

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#54 2008-06-19 12:30:10

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#55 2008-06-19 14:30:00

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#58 2008-06-19 17:18:24

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#59 2008-06-19 17:50:16

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#60 2008-06-19 18:45:48

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#62 2008-06-19 22:32:47

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