64bit Or 32bit, Again..

I have to shamefully admit I didn't even know my Intel Q6600 could run the 64bit openSUSE. I've installed it and hope to run some timing tests, comparing the 64 bit install with my normal 32 bit environment. I somehow get the feeling that the imperceptible speed boost isn't enough to overcome even a tiny bit of problem. But so far, I haven't had any problems.
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Don't feel too bad - one major additional reason I am pro-AMD these days is that it is very easy to determine from the chip name whether an AMD chip is 64-bit or not. I am slowly upgrading my entertainment machine (currently an Athlon (32bit) with DDR and AGP) and may end up going Intel strictly to be able to use an AGP / PGI-e motherboard (I already have some DDR2 RAM in anticipation of the upgrade - ok, ok, really from me buying the wrong stuff <blush>). It is rather less than obvious to tell what features an Intel cpu has from it's typical nomenclature. I have to rely on cpu-info sites to figure out what a given Intel cpu is or is not capable of doing. Very confusing - and confusing things of this nature make my paranoia nerve think that the lack of clear nomenclature is an active form of deception to get the consumer to purchase cpu units more often than they otherwise would.