[wellylug] 32 Bit vs. 64 Bit

[Brent Wood]

--- Gerald Roehrbein <Gerald.Roehrbein at oraforecast.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> what's faster 32 Bit or 64 Bit applications?

A bit variable. Generally 64 bit are faster, by speeds from unnoticeable to
perhaps 30%. Not all apps are available in 64 bit (although this is becoming
less of a problem with every new release of a 64 bit distro) & they will
usually run fine in 32bit mode anyway.

Graphic intensive apps (games) probably benefit least, cpu & memory intensive
apps most.

When A64 arrived, there were plenty of comparisons done (  eg:
http://enterprise.linux.com/enterprise/05/06/09/1413209.shtml?tid=121  )
which showed some gains & some issues. I'm not aware of any real issues now.
I've used only 64bit Linux on 64 bit cpu's for over a year now, and have found
that most of my apps (Postgres, image & GIS stuff) are faster under 64bit.

I'm not aware of any comprehensive reviews under recent 64bit distros.

I've also found 64bit apps seem to benefit more from an AMD 64bit cpu than an
Intel EMT64 cpu. Though this may well be just a compilation issue.

Jusat my 02c, your mileage may vary.

Cheers,

  Brenr Wood