-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi, On Mon, 3 May 2004, Koenraad Lelong wrote:
I would like to build my own machine, which is going to serve mail (Postfix, Courier-Imap), web (maybe), files (Samba), proxy (Squid), for my home-network. I hope to have it running for the next 4 to 5 years, if the hardware allows. Since SuSE 9.1 will include 64bit software I'm considering to make the new machine 64bit. Any reason to go (or not) to AMD Athlon64 (or Opteron) ? Comments invited.
A system with a 64bit address space comes in handy, if you need to access
very large amounts of memory or need to create extremely big files. So
far, I have not hit any of these limits on my current home workstation
(Athlon 1.3 GHz, 512MB RAM), and it too is running 7x24, performing as a
web and mail server as well as my KDE desktop system. Actually, the
desktop applications are much more demanding than the server parts in the
background.
Performance-wise, a program running on a 64bit CPU can sometimes actually
be slower than on a 32bit CPU (running on the same frequency), as the
overhead involved in dealing with 64bit data types and addresses can
require more CPU cycles. Your mileage may vary - this depends on the
software.
So, for a home network, a 64bit machine will most likely be quite an
overkill. For the above mentioned tasks, a current 32bit system (e.g. some
fast Athlon XP) should be more than sufficient. Better invest the money
that you would need to spend extra for the 64bit CPU into more memory/disk
space and high-quality components (better cooling, extra-silent fans,
etc).
Bye,
LenZ
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Lenz Grimmer