From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Oct 29 12:16:58 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DD404106568B for ; Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from roberthuff@rcn.com) Received: from smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.102]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9A65E8FC18 for ; Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:58 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mr02.lnh.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.157.22]) by smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 29 Oct 2009 08:16:57 -0400 Received: from smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.4.11]) by mr02.lnh.mail.rcn.net (MOS 3.10.7-GA) with ESMTP id QGW94702; Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:16:57 -0400 (EDT) Received: from 209-6-22-227.c3-0.smr-ubr1.sbo-smr.ma.cable.rcn.com (HELO jerusalem.litteratus.org.litteratus.org) ([209.6.22.227]) by smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 29 Oct 2009 08:16:57 -0400 From: Robert Huff MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <19177.34744.676313.157866@jerusalem.litteratus.org> Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:16:56 -0400 To: Matthew Seaman In-Reply-To: <4AE93763.4090109@infracaninophile.co.uk> References: <20091028214842.GA68070@thought.org> <20091028230237.6bc97ffd.freebsd@edvax.de> <20091028230801.GC68365@thought.org> <4AE93763.4090109@infracaninophile.co.uk> X-Mailer: VM 7.17 under 21.5 (beta28) "fuki" XEmacs Lucid X-Junkmail-Whitelist: YES (by domain whitelist at mr02.lnh.mail.rcn.net) Cc: Gary Kline , Polytropon , FreeBSD Mailing List Subject: Re: breakthru, maybe.... 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: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:58 -0000 Matthew Seaman writes: > All Intel processors produced in the last few years have been > 64bit capable, including anything labelled 'core2'. You need to > install the amd64 architecture binaries to get the system running > in 64bit mode though, even though it's an Intel chip. > > Likewise, all Intel and AMD processors support running in 32bit > mode, and you need to install the i386 architecture binaries to > achieve that, irrespective of who actually manufactured your > processor chips. > > As to which variant you should install? For servers, I'd go > 64bit pretty much automatically. For desktops, especially if you > need 3D graphics performance you're somewhat limited by the > support available for your graphics adapter. There are 64bit > drivers for various ATI cards, but I can't tell off hand if the > one you have is supported. If it is, or if you don't care about > 3D graphics support, then go 64bit. There are alsu a ((very) small) number of ports that do not compile or do not run in 64-bit mode. Figure out if one of them is mission-critical before installing; check for the "NOT_FOR_ARCH" and "ONLY_FOR_ARCH" settings in the port's Makefile. That said, the machine I'm typing on is about six weeks old and running an AMD Phenom II x4. I installed amd64 with some trepidation, fully prepared to re-install i386. However, it's now up over 675 ports - including apache, mysql, firefox, and OpenOffice - and everything works. Robert Huff