64bit Version and files bigger then 4GB

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#1

I have a system with a Athlon II X4 620 (4x2.6Ghz) and 8GB ddr2 800. Now I would like to know if there is a 64bit version so I will be able to use the full 8 GB ddr and not just a part of it like with Windows.

Also I would like to know if the format of the hdd Opensuse uses is able to handle files bigger then 4GB like the NTFS system under Windows. I ask this cause I watch Bluray images of up to 50GB and also have some backup ISO’s of 20GB which I want to store on the HDD.

Thanks!

#2

64 bit of opensuse. You mean that eeeh?

#3

Sure, didn’t you see that openSUSE is offered in i586 and x86_64 versions and have been for a while?

No problem with your file sizes, ext3/4 which are the most commonly used Linux FS have been able to handle large files for a long time. This is not related to the RAM limit.

ext4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

has a filesize limit of 16TiB

ext3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

has a filesize limit of 2TiB at least. But drives are starting to get this large, so the move is timely.

#4

Thanks. But do I need the 64bit version to use my 8GB ddr fully like in windows or does the 32bit evrsion of linux also uses the full 8GB?

#5

In my opinion 64bit version is better for you. Because you 64bit version exploits all resources of your computer.

#6

Hi,

if you use the “PAE” kernel, you can use more than 4 GB of mem

This kernel supports up to 64GB of main memory. It requires Physical
Addressing Extensions (PAE), which were introduced with the Pentium Pro

(from software.opensuse.org: Résultats de recherche)

(but there is still a limit of 2 GB per process, IIRC).
HTH

Lenwolf

#7

Novell published a couple papers relevant to this.
This link is to supported max files sizes for various file systems and contains a link to any kernel restrictions.

A.4. Large File Support in Linux

Although written for suselinux, should apply to openSUSE as well.

HTH,
Tony

#8

I am using 64 bit opensuse 11.4, on an athlon processor (probably a slower processor than yours). It is working fine.

You should be able to do most of what you want with a 32 bit system. That will probably install the desktop kernel which has pae support and should allow use of all of your memory. But it is probably best to go with a 64 bit system.