From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG  Wed Nov 28 17:49:45 2012
Return-Path: <owner-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 E3D992DA
 for <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>; Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:49:45 +0000 (UTC)
 (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com)
Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137])
 by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9D9E08FC0C
 for <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>; Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:49:45 +0000 (UTC)
Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1])
 by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id qASHnihg067470;
 Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:49:44 -0700 (MST)
 (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com)
Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost)
 by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) with ESMTP id qASHni5f067467;
 Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:49:44 -0700 (MST)
 (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com)
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:49:44 -0700 (MST)
From: Warren Block <wblock@wonkity.com>
To: mike miskulin <birdfund@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: i386 vs amd64
In-Reply-To: <20121128123623.4A29.AA011270@yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1211281045570.66068@wonkity.com>
References: <20121128123623.4A29.AA011270@yahoo.com>
User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.7
 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:49:44 -0700 (MST)
Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14
Precedence: list
List-Id: User questions <freebsd-questions.freebsd.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/options/freebsd-questions>, 
 <mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions>
List-Post: <mailto:freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
List-Help: <mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions>, 
 <mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:49:46 -0000

On Wed, 28 Nov 2012, mike miskulin wrote:

> About to build a replacement system for an older i386 setup.   A few
> years ago I had tried the amd64 port on it and found it was frustrating
> as things that just worked on i386 did not on amd64. IIRC ports were
> large annoyance too.
>
> Now I have a new system with 8GB, etc,etc and wonder if I am best off to
> stick with i386 and PAE or is the amd64 version finally on a par or
> close enough that I would not likely have many issues like in the past?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts/(recent) experiences.

Do you use emulators/wine?  If not, switch to amd64.  In fact, even if 
you do, switch to amd64 to use that 8G of memory.  Building 32-bit Wine 
on amd64 is a hassle, but packages are available and I think there is a 
64-bit port on the way.