From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Apr 18 20:41:49 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 80B2616A401 for ; Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:41:49 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wmoran@potentialtech.com) Received: from mail.potentialtech.com (internet.potentialtech.com [66.167.251.6]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5532513C455 for ; Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:41:49 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wmoran@potentialtech.com) Received: from vanquish.pgh.priv.collaborativefusion.com (pr40.pitbpa0.pub.collaborativefusion.com [206.210.89.202]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mail.potentialtech.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 19D11EBC78; Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:41:48 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:41:46 -0400 From: Bill Moran To: Michael S Message-Id: <20070418164146.4c2a9c68.wmoran@potentialtech.com> In-Reply-To: <19889.31715.qm@web88307.mail.re4.yahoo.com> References: <19889.31715.qm@web88307.mail.re4.yahoo.com> X-Mailer: Sylpheed 2.3.1 (GTK+ 2.10.11; i386-portbld-freebsd6.1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: FreeBSD Mailing List Subject: Re: AMD64 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:41:49 -0000 In response to Michael S : > > I am getting my (first) Athlon 64 x 2 today or > tomorrow and was wondering whether I should stick with > the reliable x86 or try the AMD64 port. > > Any performance penalties when running x86 FreeBSD on > a 64-bit machine? Performance is equivalent, except in a few corner cases. Keep in mind that there are some cases where amd64 is actually slower, so it's really a wash, unless you know you're specific application will benefit from 64 bit. > Also what are the common problems, i.e. drivers, > applications that are known not to work under the > AMD64. This is going to be a desktop/workstation type > system. Personally, I would stick with i386, unless you like to experiment. Last time I tried to run amd64 on a desktop, I had lots of trouble with misc problems here and there. Same machine running i386 is rock stable with no problems. My gut tells me that a lot of desktop apps and libraries aren't really mature from a 64-bit standpoint yet. -- Bill Moran http://www.potentialtech.com