32bit OR 64bit... Which one?

[mmarif4u]

Hi all,
Yesterday was going through acer site for a new laptop.
I saw there, they mention about RAM some thing like:
2GB (For 32bit)
3/4GB (For 64bit)

Some how i know the memory consumption in both 32 and 64 bits.
And the speed issue also.
I am using 32bit till now, haven't use 64bit.
Want to know more about the OS 32/64 bit and hardware support for it.
I will be thankful, if some one enlighten in detail the main difference between both with the support of hardware.

Went through this, but not much helpful:
Difference between 64 bit & 32 bit Linux? - Page 3 - Ubuntu Forums

I have both installed on my system, and frankly, I don't know where this "speed boost" people are talking about is. Realistically, unless you are doing some heavy video transcoding or large image manipulation, you won't notice much of a difference other than a few milliseconds here, maybe a few seconds there. Not a big deal for most users.

Thanks in advance.

[caf4926]

There are loads of threads discussing this. _64 is well supported in Linux. Better IMO than in windows.
_64 will address your memory to the best advantage of your system.
_64 will perform many tasks more effectively. (eg; video conversions)

However the PAE kernel is designed to address memory 4GB+ on _32. And will do so effectively. This is not available in windows.

[iced_empire]

I work with _64 on my notebook at work and on my desktop at home.

No problems so far....

The PAE Kernel is good...but it will only address the memory after the normal 3 GB and not flawlessly like an _64 Kernel.

[ken_yap]

Split the difference and go for 48 bits. Hahahaha.

Sorry, just kidding. Seriously both work just fine. I run 64 bit whenever I can because I detest wasting the capability of the hardware. Dangit, I bought 64 bits wide registers and I mean to use them. No lazy CPUs while I'm around.

[bdquick]

I would go with 64 bit on a new system simply for the fact its newer and will probably have a longer support lifetime. Eventually you will see 32 bit phased out of the server and desktop markets. That will make it harder to find distros compiled for it. For now though both work fine and will get the job done. The 4GB RAM limit isn't an issue with the linux pae kernel, but if you want to run windows on that machine too it will be.

[syampillai]

Running 64bit on quite a few machines of different configuration. There are some programs still available only in 32bit only but they seamlessly run in 64bit environment too.
So far, never come across any unavailability of drivers.

[mmarif4u]

Thanks guys for all your valuable inputs.
Its now clear, that software and driver is not an issue any more in 64bit, that's a good move.
If lets say, i want to buy a new laptop, and i want to run 64bit on it, what could be the basic hardware support for it?
and later i want to run 32bit on that laptop, what could be the possible changes there.any data loss?

One more question: does any body notice any speed difference between the two except video rendering. Mean, for programming stuff, software switch behaviour etc...

[ken_yap]

One thing though, you cannot switch between 32-bit and 64-bit OSes without a reinstall. It's like a fresh install. So you would have to backup and restore your files if you wanted to switch.

Naturally if you want to run 64-bit you must have a 64-bit capable CPU, one with the AMD64 extensions or what Intel calls Intel 64 (previously called EM64T) after they licensed the technology from AMD. Not all notebooks have such a CPU.

As for the speed and such, this has been discussed to death in forums, so search for some old threads.

[syampillai]

Whenever you install, keep /home in a separate partition so that you can install another Linux OS (different versions, distros, arch etc.) without destroying your data in /home.

[DistortedHumor]

Originally Posted by syampillai

Whenever you install, keep /home in a separate partition so that you can install another Linux OS (different versions, distros, arch etc.) without destroying your data in /home.

That fact is worth it weight in gold, and also it makes backing up data simple, just save a image/files in Home and your good to go.