should i intall 32 or 64 bit

[Matthew_Zepess]

i got a hp/compaq presario c751nr. with 2gb of ram. should i install lubuntu 64 or 32. im new to linux and have been told this is a fast. lightweight distro. and good for beginners. i think its a 64bit compatible processor since i installed 64 bit vista without errors. and i think this is my processor http://ark.intel.com/products/32432/...Hz-533-MHz-FSB and it says 64 bit. is this the best choice, i was also thinking about linux ubuntu or mint

[oldos2er]

If you have a 64-bit processor, use 64-bit.

[LastDino]

Install Ubuntu or Xubuntu x64.

Its always a good idea to install best possible architecture which supports the processor.

[cecilieaux]

OK, I ran lscpu in the terminal and got this output

Architecture: i686
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order: Little Endian
CPU(s): 2
On-line CPU(s) list: 0,1
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 2
Socket(s): 1
Vendor ID: GenuineIntel
CPU family: 6
Model: 15
Stepping: 6
CPU MHz: 2659.938
BogoMIPS: 5319.87
Virtualization: VT-x
L1d cache: 32K
L1i cache: 32K
L2 cache: 4096K

Am I ready for 64-bit Ubuntu?

[slickymaster]

lscpu is telling you that your architecture is i686 (an Intel 32-bit CPU), and that your CPU supports both 32-bit and 64-bit operating modes. You won't be able to install x64 built applications since they're built specifically for x64 architectures.

[LastDino]

Your current OS is of x32.

And yes, you can install x64 bit OS on that same machine since your processor supports it. And like slickymaster said, you will need x64 bit OS to support x64 built applications.

Here is how lscpu looks when running from x64 OS.

glen@maxwell:~$ lscpu
Architecture:          x86_64
CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order:            Little Endian
CPU(s):                2
On-line CPU(s) list:   0,1
Thread(s) per core:    1
Core(s) per socket:    2
Socket(s):             1
NUMA node(s):          1
Vendor ID:             GenuineIntel
CPU family:            6
Model:                 23
Stepping:              6
CPU MHz:               2003.000
BogoMIPS:              6000.18
Virtualization:        VT-x
L1d cache:             32K
L1i cache:             32K
L2 cache:              6144K
NUMA node0 CPU(s):     0,1

Note the bold part.