Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

oliver · 2009-02-13 15:08:22

I got a new 64bit laptop at work with 3gb of RAM. I won't be installing any new RAM into it ever.

Is there any reason to go with 64bit Arch over 32bit Arch? Does it gain me anything?

I don't have any special requirements - I just use it log into other servers and write scripts etc.

Ranguvar · 2009-02-13 15:41:22

This has been discussed to death, both on the Arch forums, other forums, Google...

Example: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 99#p452499

If you're sure that's the only thing you'll do, flip a coin... it doesn't matter. i686, I guess.

oliver · 2009-02-13 15:51:29

fair enough - thanks

I did try to search, but 64bit is rather a broad term and it came up with pages and pages of results. None on the first page were relevent though.

aglarond · 2009-02-13 17:03:45

Benchmarks show the machine I'm on to be a bit faster with x64 than it was with i686. I've deleted them, though, so I don't have anything to show you. I can say, though, that it doesn't "feel" any faster. I've pretty much just gone with it because I can and application support is almost on par with i686. And, it gets better every day.

-mS

ataraxia · 2009-02-13 20:13:06

My favorite use case for going 64-bit on a <4GB machine is video encoding. If you like to rip DVDs, my benchmarks show about a 12% speed increase in x264 or theora. Since you don't seem to care about this, I agree that it doesn't make much difference. I do go with 64-bit when I can just for "future-proofing".

oliver · 2009-02-13 20:39:12

I do travel with this machine every so often, so maybe I would rip DVDs to hard disk. I guess I may as well go with 64bit Arch

Thanks, everyone, for the advice

Ranguvar · 2009-02-13 23:12:58

ataraxia wrote:

My favorite use case for going 64-bit on a <4GB machine is video encoding. If you like to rip DVDs, my benchmarks show about a 12% speed increase in x264 or theora.

Very true

R00KIE · 2009-02-14 14:40:25

Again ... discussed to death already
Just give both a go (for a couple of months or so, to really be able to find out the good and the bad things about each one) and try to benchmark the things that you use more or that take longer to complete, then decide.
As said many times before, office programs and general casual use are not going to get any major performance boosts, math intensive apps will ... take your pick.

mrunion · 2009-02-14 17:09:45

If you're into 3D, there are reasons you may want 64-bit. I only have 3GB RAM, but I run 64-bit because when rendering hair, the number of particles/strands is limited on 32-bit -- you run out of "numbers". On 64-bit I don't have this issue. Once character could have millions of hair strands itself -- and what if there's more stuff in the scene?!?

For example, Big Buck Bunny won't render many of its scenes without having a 64-bit OS.

Just another reason to add to the pile.

Last edited by mrunion (2009-02-14 17:10:06)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-13 15:08:22

Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#2 2009-02-13 15:41:22

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#3 2009-02-13 15:51:29

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#4 2009-02-13 17:03:45

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#5 2009-02-13 20:13:06

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#6 2009-02-13 20:39:12

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#7 2009-02-13 23:12:58

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#8 2009-02-14 14:40:25

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

#9 2009-02-14 17:09:45

Re: Is there any point in installing 64bit Arch with < 4gb RAM?

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