Benjamin Rosenberg wrote:

On Dec 29, 2006, at 7:52 PM, Doctor Who wrote:

...

Silly question, but I've always run SUSE on x86-32 machines. I now have a Intel Core Duo E6400 processor. What flavor of openSUSE do I need for this? EM64T?

The AMD64 version will work fine on this, but it does seem to matter which chipsets are on the motherboard when it comes to Intel for some odd reason. You'll need the DVD version as the 64 bit version of openSUSE isn't on the CD's.

It is if you download the 64 bit CDs. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Doctor Who wrote:

On 12/29/06, John Andersen wrote:

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On Friday 29 December 2006 16:52, Doctor Who wrote:

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Silly question, but I've always run SUSE on x86-32 machines. I now have a Intel Core Duo E6400 processor. What flavor of openSUSE do I need for this? EM64T?

Thanks.

It will work with either i386 or X86_64, but in my tests its faster using x86_64. (aka EMT64).

Hmmm...so how will it work with both? As 32-bit OS running on 64-bit hardware?

Also, any issues with software or drivers (Flash, ATI, etc.)? You may want to run 32 bit browsers, as the plugins tend to be only 32 bit. However, you can also download a 64 bit version of OpenOffice, so you can use bigger words in Writer. ;-)

-- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Friday 29 December 2006 18:53, John Andersen wrote:

On Friday 29 December 2006 16:52, Doctor Who wrote:

...

Silly question, but I've always run SUSE on x86-32 machines. I now have a Intel Core Duo E6400 processor. What flavor of openSUSE do I need for this? EM64T?

Thanks.

It will work with either i386 or X86_64, but in my tests its faster using x86_64. (aka EMT64).

What are those tests? My on-line research indicates that there are but a very few circumstances in which the Core 2 Duo chips are faster when used in their 64-bit mode. Randall Schulz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Friday 29 December 2006 21:44, Kai Ponte wrote:

On Friday 29 December 2006 21:33, Randall R Schulz wrote: ...

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What are those tests? My on-line research indicates that there are but a very few circumstances in which the Core 2 Duo chips are faster when used in their 64-bit mode.

I've read that ripping pr0n DVDs is a good example.

Ah, yes, the fabled "flesh tone" optimization Intel implemented in the 64-bit processors...

-- kai

RRS -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Monday 01 January 2007 06:51, Thomas Hertweck wrote:

Randall R Schulz wrote:

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On Friday 29 December 2006 18:53, John Andersen wrote:

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[...] It will work with either i386 or X86_64, but in my tests its faster using x86_64. (aka EMT64).

What are those tests? My on-line research indicates that there are but a very few circumstances in which the Core 2 Duo chips are faster when used in their 64-bit mode.

I have no experience with Intel Core 2 Duo chips yet, but with Intel Xeon server CPUs which allow to use 32-bit or 64-bit OS and/or software. Our experience is that we get (same hardware specs; same software) up to xx% better performance using x86_64, i.e. we've made similar experiences to John.

I don't think Xeon's characteristics are entirely identical to those of the Core 2 architecture so it's not reasonable to expect identical performance characteristics. When I was looking into this I didn't pay too much attention to any Xeon numbers I found along the way, but I do seem to recall that some testers found that the Xeon's advantage in 64-bit mode was greater than that seen with Core 2 processors. What sort of an application mix do you run?

Cheers, Th.

RRS -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Thomas, On Monday 01 January 2007 08:03, Thomas Hertweck wrote:

Randall R Schulz wrote:

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[...]

What sort of an application mix do you run?

We develop and run software for seismic data processing on our Linux clusters (some 64-bit, some 32-bit). In other words, it's mainly number crunching. We saw performance differences of up to 30% on the same hardware. We asked Intel about this unexpected behaviour but they've not been able to come up with an explanation yet, it's still under investigation. I agree with you that Xeon's and Core 2 Duo's characteristics might differ, but nevertheless it's an interesting observation. Unfortunately, I can't give any more details at the moment.

I take it that 30% faster is in 64-bit mode? Is that FORTRAN code? Anyway, what I need to optimize for my Core 2 Duo system is Java doing long-running symbolic (non-numeric) algorithms. I'm going to be adding concurrent processing to the system soon, now that multi-core processors are becoming common. Fortunately, many of the problems it runs are amenable to this kind of optimization on multi-core or multi-processor systems because it decomposes many problems into independently solvable sub-problems. I suppose at some point I could try benchmarking the 32/64-bit variation, but from what I've read and knowing the kind of processing my code does, I expect the advantage to remain with the 32-bit mode execution. The only thing that might be an indication for 64-bit mode is very large problems, but for this application, it's far preferable to improve the tree-search heuristics to preclude the generation of so many intermediate nodes rather than trying to accommodate them through brute force (i.e., more RAM).

Cheers, Th.

Randall Schulz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Fri, Dec 29, 2006 at 05:53:24PM -0900, John Andersen wrote:

It will work with either i386 or X86_64, but in my tests its faster using x86_64. (aka EMT64).

I have a Core2 Duo E6400 that I have been using for several months, and honestly did not know it would run a 64 bit OS (DOH!). I am all installed and up and running with SUSE 10.2 32 bit version. Is it possible to convert to the 64 bit version without doing a wipe & reinstall? Thanks Michael -- If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did." San Francisco, CA -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Sat, Dec 30, 2006 at 11:51:47AM -0900, John Andersen wrote:

I wouldn't bother. At least not till the next major upgrade time. IINBDFI. (if its not broke...)

My feeling exactly. Thanks! Michael -- If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did." San Francisco, CA -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org