| 1 |
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 11:40:50AM -0500, Alecks Gates wrote |
| 2 |
|
| 3 |
> What are the benefits and drawbacks of using the x32 ABI, other than |
| 4 |
> the obvious "experimental" cautions? I currently do not have a |
| 5 |
> computer with more than 4GB of ram, and one only has 2GB (used as a |
| 6 |
> media center). |
| 7 |
|
| 8 |
In theory, real life is identical to theory. In real life, real life |
| 9 |
is different from theory. A 32-bit system can directly address 4 gigs |
| 10 |
of memory. The problem is that the 4 gigs includes your video ram. So |
| 11 |
you lose part of the top end of your 4 gigs of ram, to make room for |
| 12 |
your video card's ram. This is true for both linux and Windows. A bit |
| 13 |
over 3 gigs is the effective memory max for 32-bit systems. |
| 14 |
|
| 15 |
32-bit linux can access the extra ram for data storage, via some |
| 16 |
jumping through flaming hoops, but it's slower than direct addressing |
| 17 |
via 64-bit mode. If you have 4 gigs on a machine, it's a candidate for |
| 18 |
64-bit mode. |
| 19 |
|
| 20 |
-- |
| 21 |
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@××××××××.org> |
Archives