[Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

Primoz · 2009-04-01 19:07:05

OK a bit of "stupid" question, but "great idea" to stop i686 support brought to me an information that I might posses a 64bit processor.
I'm mid-computer-savy but I always thought that my computer is 32bit. I asked my father with whom I bought this computer and he said that it is 64bit even though I myself have no recollection
whatsoever that that would be true.
I ran few commands and read Wikipedias article on x68_64 and now I completely confused whether or not I have 64bit processor.
So here are commands that I ran:

uname -p
AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3000+

uname -m
i686

 grep flags /proc/cpuinfo
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext 3dnow up pni lahf_lm

Also in Wikipedias article it said that SSE2 was added to AMD only for x86_64 processors and KInfoCenter say that my processor supports that.

So AFAIK I have a 64bit processor.
Is that correct. What difference in "userland" is between using 32bit OS on 64bit processor or using 64bit OS on 64bit processor?
I read the Arch64 FAQ and skimmed the Gentoo forum link that it provides.

Last edited by Primoz (2009-04-01 21:24:59)

Pierre · 2009-04-01 19:12:09

Sempron is just an low-cost Athlon64.

Xyne · 2009-04-01 19:14:05

You can try this in a console to check if your processor supports 64-bits:

((2**64 % 2**32))

If it does that will return "4294967296L" which is the factor of difference between 64-bit and 32-bit integers. It it returns "0L" then it's because it overflowed due to a lack of 64-bit support.

As for the differences between 64-bit and 32-bit, use the forum search function. The issue has been discussed to death and there are several threads about it.

haxit · 2009-04-01 19:24:46

Xyne wrote:

You can try this in a console to check if your processor supports 64-bits:
((2**64 % 2**32))
If it does that will return "4294967296L" which is the factor of difference between 64-bit and 32-bit integers. It it returns "0L" then it's because it overflowed due to a lack of 64-bit support.
As for the differences between 64-bit and 32-bit, use the forum search function. The issue has been discussed to death and there are several threads about it.

I have 64bit but that doesn't return that.

Xyne · 2009-04-01 19:25:22

haxit wrote:

I have 64bit but that doesn't return that.

*facepalm*

Primoz · 2009-04-01 19:26:27

I get nothing when I run that command in bash?
Am I missing something? Or am I just incompetent?

brisbin33 · 2009-04-01 19:30:06

echo "2^32 % 2^64" | bc

haxit · 2009-04-01 19:33:00

brisbin33 wrote:

echo "2^32 % 2^64" | bc

That is what I thought....
I was taking that literally.

Primoz · 2009-04-01 20:41:39

Yep my computer is 64bit.
Maybe those on the i686 is being dropped should see this thread
And test if they have 64 bit computer

Neo_The_User · 2009-04-01 20:49:02

My dad has a Sempron 3000+ in his desktop. He runs 32-bit though. ...I guess we just didn't know. Thanks for pointing out that this is a 64-bit processor. I'll go tell him.

Thanks.

vinegaroon · 2009-04-01 21:17:28

To check for 64 bit, just look for the 'lm' flag in /proc/cpuinfo

sokuban · 2009-04-01 21:24:57

Wha-wha-what!? I have a 64bit computer? No way?

$ echo "2^32 % 2^64" | bc
4294967296

I'm running 32bit Archlinux and I thought I had an Intel Core Duo, which wiki clearly says is a 32bit processor.

I only have 1GiB of ram though, so I think I'll continue running the i686 version of Archlinux unless it really isn't an awesome idea smart guy CENSORED!

FAKE EDIT: Wait, I just ran this echo command on an old comp from 1999, and I still got 4294967296 coming out.

EDIT: I don't have an lm flag. Yea, I don't think my computer is 64 bit.

Last edited by sokuban (2009-04-01 21:33:24)

tjwoosta · 2009-04-01 21:30:37

jokes or not i just found out i might have 64bit and never realized it

what if it says lm constant_tsc or lahf_lm?

(you cant see it in the text i pasted but when looking at it in the terminal i can see that the spaces are all double spaced except for between lm and constant_tsc where its single space, which leads me to believe that it is all one thing)

[tj@myhost ~]$ grep flags /proc/cpuinfo
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm
[tj@myhost ~]$

Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T2310 @ 1.46GHz

EDIT: by the way, is there a wiki or anything that would help explain some of theese flags to me?

Last edited by tjwoosta (2009-04-01 21:39:28)

Primoz · 2009-04-01 21:32:41

So the true sign that your computer is 64bit is that you have a lm flag in grep flags /proc/cpuinfo
not that your computer is able to calculate echo "2^32 % 2^64" | bc

It's solved.

moljac024 · 2009-04-01 22:08:24

Or if you do an echo "computer, are you 64bit capable?" you should get an answer

Neo_The_User · 2009-04-01 22:21:30

Another way is to boot off the arch live cd (i know its in core for sure) and select tools > cpu info or something. it even tells you what socket it is and everything.

moljac024 · 2009-04-01 23:08:21

Here, I've made screenshots just so you people can see i'm not pulling your leg.
These were taken at my 32-bit only notebook and on my 64-bit desktop:

Notebook:
vMWd3OQ
Desktop:
vMWd3YQ

skottish · 2009-04-01 23:12:28

moljac024 wrote:

Or if you do an echo "computer, are you 64bit capable?" you should get an answer

Using echo's help system would have revealed this test:

echo --help

Neo_The_User · 2009-04-01 23:16:30

man echo

would have also done.

skottish · 2009-04-01 23:18:12

Neo_The_User wrote:

man echo
would have also done.

Nah, 'echo --help' works much better.

Neo_The_User · 2009-04-01 23:20:28

whatever floats your boat is the correct answer actually.

Xyne · 2009-04-02 00:24:35

Just open up the case and ask the gremlin that lives inside.

moljac024 · 2009-04-02 00:28:38

Xyne wrote:

Just open up the case and ask the gremlin that lives inside.

But for that you need to have some marshmallows, which to offer to the gremlin.
That's why that above test was built into echo.

Xyne · 2009-04-02 00:34:18

I got a large supply of freeze-dried, vacuum-packed marshmallows with my processor for that very purpose.

skottish · 2009-04-02 00:56:24

Xyne wrote:

I got a large supply of freeze-dried, vacuum-packed marshmallows with my processor for that very purpose.

freeze-dried, vacuum-packed something anyway...

Arch Linux

#1 2009-04-01 19:07:05

[Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#2 2009-04-01 19:12:09

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#3 2009-04-01 19:14:05

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#4 2009-04-01 19:24:46

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#5 2009-04-01 19:25:22

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#6 2009-04-01 19:26:27

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#7 2009-04-01 19:30:06

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#8 2009-04-01 19:33:00

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#9 2009-04-01 20:41:39

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#10 2009-04-01 20:49:02

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#11 2009-04-01 21:17:28

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#12 2009-04-01 21:24:57

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#13 2009-04-01 21:30:37

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#14 2009-04-01 21:32:41

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#15 2009-04-01 22:08:24

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#16 2009-04-01 22:21:30

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#17 2009-04-01 23:08:21

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#18 2009-04-01 23:12:28

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#19 2009-04-01 23:16:30

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#20 2009-04-01 23:18:12

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#21 2009-04-01 23:20:28

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#22 2009-04-02 00:24:35

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#23 2009-04-02 00:28:38

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#24 2009-04-02 00:34:18

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

#25 2009-04-02 00:56:24

Re: [Solved]Is my processor 64bit?

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