64 bit vs. 32 bit Ubuntu

[cfmcguire]

As most of you know, I went ahead and installed Ubuntu on my AMD dual core machine. Now the question arises: Should I install the 64 bit version and take advantage of all 4 gigs of RAM, or should I just cruise with the 32 bit version for a while? Inquiring minds want to know....

[aysiu]

This thread should help:
How many people actually take advantage of their 64bit processor? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=403064)

[kd7swh]

what are you doing with the computer? if you are encoding video with ffmpeg or running cedgea (hard core gaming) than the 64-bit maybe a good idea but for most people it makes little difference.

I like the 32-bit versions better most of the time. the packages for i386 seem more stable to me. I don't know why.

[cfmcguire]

Nearly a year and a half after posting this question, I think that I have gotten my answer. I picked up the Linux Pro magazine Ubuntu special edition, and just for yuks installed the 64 bit version. (For evaluation, don't you know :) Heavily script dependent applications like google mail load a whole lot faster than they do on the 32 bit version of Ubuntu 8.04.

[ScottMorris]

I recently found a review comparing Ubuntu, Vista and Windows 7 to reach other. One of the cool things they did was compare the x86 (32-bit) to the x86_64 (64-bit) versions. http://www.tuxradar.com/node/33

I know this is kind of late to be posting this, but for anyone looking for info about 64-bit vs. 32-bit it may help the decision process. :)

[lordmorgoth]

honestly from personal experience, i never noticed a performance boost with x64 releases.

However what bothered me that my x64 bit installation(s) of 9.04 crashed every single time after installing new packages/updates.

It could be a hardware compatibility problem, but I should mention that I have been using the 32 bit releases and i never faced that particular problem . . .

For now i advise you to stick to 32-bit releases, you wont be using the 4 GB RAM anyways (most probably), and it'll saves you the painful efforts of finding some nasty hardware drivers (like me web cam for example) - which u can always compile from scratch if u want -.