On Tuesday 22 May 2007 21:01, Tom Miller wrote:
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Now memory isn't the only factor, but is good enough for this discussion.
In large part, memory _is_ the only factor. Or, at least, a very large one. Memory bandwidth, that is. Processors speed increases have continued to outstrip that of both primary and secondary storage, though on a per-CPU (core) basis, that has pretty much come to an end. Now more CPUs (or cores) are being placed on a given chip or board, and the effect is the same. So for many (I'd venture to say most) applications, memory bandwidth vs. demand is the dominant performance factor. Thus, 32-bit systems will quite often outperform 64-bit ones. Unless, of course, you really need something that is only possible with the 64-bit system (very large virtual address spaces, that is).
Things that use a lot of math also benefit with 64bit pointers, as the math is just faster. So unless you are running a mission critical DB or some vector graphics stuff, 64bit won't help either.
Don't you mean a 64-bit memory bus? Bigger pointers are all downside. If you must address that much memory, then there's no alternative, but it's all overhead, regardless.
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Randall Schulz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org