Arch Linux

MetalheadGautham

Member

From: Bangalore, India

Registered: 2008-07-27

Posts: 143

Website

x86_64: To switch or not to switch ?

I've been running archlinux i686 on my desktop since my join date on this forum. Got a laptop about 12 months back and due to lack of time I installed Linux Mint 9 64bit in it. Finding it crappy and thinking of moving to something stable like archlinux. Trouble is I'm wondering weather to install the 64bit or 32bit edition.

Hardware:
Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400 @ 2.2GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB (Penryn based CPU)
160GB Hitachi 5400 RPM laptop HDD with 15GB Partition for /
1.1GB SWAP
1GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
Some sort of realtek audio codec that comes in all penryn chipsets by default
Intel GMA 4500M Graphics Accelerator with 64MB RAM allocated to it.

Requirements:
A general purpose OS (office, internet and multimedia)
Install rt-linux and JACK apps and use laptop as a digital audio workstation accepting input from Line-in jack and processing signal and relaying to output realtime
Use laptop as processing unit for live guitar/keyboard/vocals and recording
Sound editing (cutting, sequencing and mixing)
Installing a local server for testing
Running Android SDK via virtual machine
Using various development environments

I'll be using a combination of RatPoison, IceWM, Xfce and KDE. Might consider replacing Xfce with LXDE if (and only if) its lighter. KDE mostly for eye-kandy, KMail and KWallet. Rest of the environments when actually running serious stuff.

Worries:
1. With my RAM, will 64bit be actually possible ?
2. Will 64bit be even NEEDED for my current list of requirements ? Meaning will it give me a boost in these applications ? I heard its good for multimedia and since most of my system-intensive tasks are multimedia-related, I was wondering if the boost is good enough.

Last edited by MetalheadGautham (2011-06-24 17:41:53)

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My Linux Blog - http://TheSmallerBang.wordpress.com/

Inxsible

Forum Fellow

From: Chicago

Registered: 2008-06-09

Posts: 9,183

Re: x86_64: To switch or not to switch ?

This topic has been beaten to death with a dead donkey.

Please search the forums and have a look at the responses to gauge whether you are ready for the change.

Closing to avoid duplication.

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