Which Architecture Is My Computer?

[Sagitter]

In "installation guide" of fedora 12 (http://docs.fedoraproject.org/install-guide/f12/en-US/html/ch-new-users.html#sn-which-arch ), i read that for Intel Core 2 Duo is necessary to install Fedora x86_64; i have this processor type and until now i have ever used i368 version.

Must i will change to x86_64 version?

Thanks.

[scottro]

You don't *have* to do so. If you want to, it should be able to run x86_64. However, 64 bit processors can also run 32 bit systems.

[khrombaa]

I got a Core 2 Duo and I've never installed a x86_64 OS I think that the main problem with an x86_64 OS is the software compatibilities isn't it ?

[Sagitter]

This is my dmidecode:

# dmidecode --type 4
# dmidecode 2.10
SMBIOS 2.5 present

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 40 bytes
Processor Information
Socket Designation: U2E1
Type: Central Processor
Family: Core 2
Manufacturer: Intel
ID: 76 06 01 00 FF FB EB BF
Signature: Type 0, Family 6, Model 23, Stepping 6
Flags:
FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
VME (Virtual mode extension)
DE (Debugging extension)
PSE (Page size extension)
TSC (Time stamp counter)
MSR (Model specific registers)
PAE (Physical address extension)
MCE (Machine check exception)
CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
SEP (Fast system call)
MTRR (Memory type range registers)
PGE (Page global enable)
MCA (Machine check architecture)
CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
PAT (Page attribute table)
PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
DS (Debug store)
ACPI (ACPI supported)
MMX (MMX technology supported)
FXSR (Fast floating-point save and restore)
SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
SS (Self-snoop)
HTT (Hyper-threading technology)
TM (Thermal monitor supported)
PBE (Pending break enabled)
Version: CPU Version
Voltage: 3.3 V
External Clock: 266 MHz
Max Speed: 2130 MHz
Current Speed: 2130 MHz
Status: Populated, Enabled
Upgrade: ZIF Socket
L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005
L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006
L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified
Core Count: 2
Core Enabled: 2
Thread Count: 2
Characteristics:
64-bit capable

Can it work with both version? (32bit and 64bit)

[Hlingler]

Can it work with both version? (32bit and 64bit)

Yes. Personally: I have avoided x86_64 thus far on my AMD 64 3500+ machine because of (A) no real need for the computational advantages, (B) don't want the additional RAM and HDD space (for 32-bit compatibility stuff) overhead, (C) want a working Flash Player without pulling (dwindling) hair out. YMMV.

Note that it says "64-bit capable", not "64-bit required".

V

[tjvanwyk]

Originally Posted by khrombaa

I got a Core 2 Duo and I've never installed a x86_64 OS I think that the main problem with an x86_64 OS is the software compatibilities isn't it ?

For the most part, these days, no. The last issue I really had was lack of 64-bit flash, but there is now a Linux-native 64-bit flash plugin that I have had good experience in. The alternative is to install 32-bit Firefox and use the old 32-bit plugin.

You can install 32-bit compatibility libs. Or, if you want, even entire 32-bit apps.

But I must say if you don't already know beforehand that you have some compelling reason to go 64-bit (such as large amounts of memory or need to do lots of processor intensive stuff that can possibly benefit from 64-bit), you probably won't gain anything from going 64-bit.

[NightSinner]

Originally Posted by tjvanwyk

But I must say if you don't already know beforehand that you have some compelling reason to go 64-bit (such as large amounts of memory or need to do lots of processor intensive stuff that can possibly benefit from 64-bit), you probably won't gain anything from going 64-bit.

Sorry to interrupt, but doesn´t the PAE kernel allow you to use more than 3GB of RAM? For instance on my laptop with 4GB Ram I have the PAE kernel installed.

[tjvanwyk]

Yes, but PAE does present some limitations that running true 64-bit doesn't run into (if you have 4GB of memory it's moot for your machine at the very least). Granted, they're probably limitations that aren't really relevant to 99% of people who need more than 3.5 (or thereabouts) GB memory.

I forget what those limitations are, but I have to run for now. I'll try to dig them up later.

And, technically speaking, in the past nothing strictly speaking has prevented Fedora 32-bit users from running PAE. Even before the Fedora devs put PAE support into the mainline kernel build, it was possible to run PAE anyway if you were willing to rebuild your kernel manually.

[Sagitter]

Thanks for your replies, guys.