x86_64 versus i386
 

Hello,

On the Intel Core 2 Duo processor based systems, we have the option of
installing either x86_64 or the i386 distribution. I would like to
know your experiences with the x86_64 port. How does it compare with
the i386 distribution in terms of stability, reliability and
performance ? How significant are the performance benefits gained by
using the x86_64 linux instead of i386 on the same system ? Keeping in
mind a production environment, which port of CentOS do you recommend
for a Core 2 Duo based server ? It would be great to have your
opinion.

Thanks,

Manish
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x86_64 versus i386
 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Manish Kathuria" <mkathuria@tuxtechnologies.co.in>
To: centos@centos.org
Sent: Monday, December 3, 2007 2:49:32 PM (GMT+1000) Australia/Brisbane
Subject: [CentOS] x86_64 versus i386

Hello,

On the Intel Core 2 Duo processor based systems, we have the option of
installing either x86_64 or the i386 distribution. I would like to
know your experiences with the x86_64 port. How does it compare with
the i386 distribution in terms of stability, reliability and
performance ? How significant are the performance benefits gained by
using the x86_64 linux instead of i386 on the same system ? Keeping in
mind a production environment, which port of CentOS do you recommend
for a Core 2 Duo based server ? It would be great to have your
opinion.

Thanks,

Manish
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For me it comes down to 2 things;


1) what are you going to use the server for ?

2) how much ram do you have ?


If these answers include database, webserver and/or > 4gb of RAM then I'd definately go 64bit. From what I've seen these are the main areas where 64bit will benefit you.





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x86_64 versus i386
 

On 12/3/07, redhat@mckerrs.net <redhat@mckerrs.net> wrote:
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Manish Kathuria" <mkathuria@tuxtechnologies.co.in>

> Hello,
>
> On the Intel Core 2 Duo processor based systems, we have the option of
> installing either x86_64 or the i386 distribution. I would like to
> know your experiences with the x86_64 port. How does it compare with
> the i386 distribution in terms of stability, reliability and
> performance ? How significant are the performance benefits gained by
> using the x86_64 linux instead of i386 on the same system ? Keeping in
> mind a production environment, which port of CentOS do you recommend
> for a Core 2 Duo based server ? It would be great to have your
> opinion.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Manish
>
>
> For me it comes down to 2 things;
>
>
> 1) what are you going to use the server for ?

Typical uses like a mail server running sendmail / postfix along with
amavis and spamassassin, a proxy server and a mysql database on
different systems.

>
> 2) how much ram do you have ?
>

a maximum of 2 GB.

>
> If these answers include database, webserver and/or > 4gb of RAM then I'd
> definately go 64bit. From what I've seen these are the main areas where
> 64bit will benefit you.
>
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x86_64 versus i386
 

Manish Kathuria wrote:

Hello,

On the Intel Core 2 Duo processor based systems, we have the option of
installing either x86_64 or the i386 distribution. I would like to
know your experiences with the x86_64 port. How does it compare with
the i386 distribution in terms of stability, reliability and
performance ? How significant are the performance benefits gained by
using the x86_64 linux instead of i386 on the same system ? Keeping in
mind a production environment, which port of CentOS do you recommend
for a Core 2 Duo based server ? It would be great to have your
opinion.



Are these server machines or desktops/notebooks? If the former, there
isn't really any compelling reason to avoid the 64-bit version of the
distribution. On desktops, there are occasional gotchas with 3-rd party
add-ons for your web browser and other "creature comfort" nuisance level
things. But those are mostly resolved at this juncture. I had problems
on a few desktop machines with various firefox plug-ins so I reverted to
32-bits and the problems vanished. I haven't revisited the problem
since 5.0 was released so maybe things have gotten better.


Best,

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x86_64 versus i386
 

Manish Kathuria wrote:

How significant are the performance benefits gained by
using the x86_64 linux instead of i386 on the same system ?


that depends on the software you'll be running
I have a medium-small C project (~20 KLOC), where the x86_64 binary runs
close to twice as fast as the i386 binary on the same core 2 duo hardware.
speed was important, because this software is used to perform large
numbers of simulations: bottleneck calculations were implemented as
bitwise ops, partly in preparation for 64 bit arches, and this
definitely pays!
so, if you're going to be developing your stuff I'ld recommend x86_64,
and otherwise you should test whatever software you'll be using the most.
There are just minor annoyances to x86_64 anyways, and you can get
around them by temporarily installing i386 packages until the x86_64
issue is resolved (mainly browser-related, also some bugs due to less
well tested software, eg I recently had a x86_64-specific showstopper
with openoffice so I switched to the i386 OOo packages)


cheers,
Nicolas
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x86_64 versus i386
 

on 12/2/2007 9:14 PM Manish Kathuria spake the following:

On 12/3/07, redhat@mckerrs.net <redhat@mckerrs.net> wrote:


----- Original Message -----
From: "Manish Kathuria" <mkathuria@tuxtechnologies.co.in>



Hello,

On the Intel Core 2 Duo processor based systems, we have the option of
installing either x86_64 or the i386 distribution. I would like to
know your experiences with the x86_64 port. How does it compare with
the i386 distribution in terms of stability, reliability and
performance ? How significant are the performance benefits gained by
using the x86_64 linux instead of i386 on the same system ? Keeping in
mind a production environment, which port of CentOS do you recommend
for a Core 2 Duo based server ? It would be great to have your
opinion.

Thanks,

Manish


For me it comes down to 2 things;


1) what are you going to use the server for ?


Typical uses like a mail server running sendmail / postfix along with
amavis and spamassassin, a proxy server and a mysql database on
different systems.


2) how much ram do you have ?



a maximum of 2 GB.


With only 2 gigs of ram, you might not see a big difference either way.

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