64 Bit vs. 32 Bit Software

[MikeH30]

I installed the 64 bit version of OpenSuse 11.0, KDE 4.1 on a 32 bit machine (Dell Vostro 410 desktop). The installation went smoothly without errors and it seems to be working.
It is a 32 machine and the processor is Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz.

The OpenSuse download page (Software.openSUSE.org) had a radio button for a "64 bit PC" which listed my processor (Intel Core 2) but I knew my PC was 32 bit. I decided to try it and it worked.

Is there an advantage or disadvantage for installing 64 bit software on a 32 bit machine?

Regards,

-Mike

[oz]

I installed the 64 bit version of OpenSuse 11.0, KDE 4.1 on a 32 bit machine (Dell Vostro 410 desktop). The installation went smoothly without errors and it seems to be working.
It is a 32 machine and the processor is Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz.

The OpenSuse download page (Software.openSUSE.org) had a radio button for a "64 bit PC" which listed my processor (Intel Core 2) but I knew my PC was 32 bit. I decided to try it and it worked.

Is there an advantage or disadvantage for installing 64 bit software on a 32 bit machine?

Regards,

-Mike

Hi, Mike

I think that's a 64-bit machine:

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor - Specifications

...but 32-bit operating systems should work fine on it.

[gogalthorp]

What Ozar said

Advantages are that in 64 bit, processes can address more memory. 32 bit is limited to 3gig address space (4gig with 1 gig reserved for OS)

Disadvantage there are some propritary software that has not been ported to 64 bit. Skype and Flash come to mind. Though you can run as 32 bit process it is generally not as seamless as if the OS was 32 bits. ie expect to have troube with these.

Most OS programs have been recompiled as 64 bit but few have been optimized for 64 bit.

[MikeH30]

Hi Ozar,

I also thought the machine to be 64 bit however when I looked up the machine specs online at Dell's website via the service tag, the parts indicated a 32 bit machine. I am confused as to why the 64 bit version of OpenSUSE 11.0 installed on my 32 bit machine. The part specs are below.

-Mike

Quantity Parts # Part Description

1 CR457 PRC,Q6600,2.4,8MB,CDKE,G0
1 7W492 KIT,SW,FREEDOS,CD/DOC
1 XN967 KIT,MSE,USB,2BTN,OPTCL,PMX
1 WX085 CRD,GRPHC,128,2400,PRO,MRMGA11
1 RH659 KYBD,104,USB,US,BLK,DRFN
1 X462C GDE,QRG,VOS,410,EN
1 JP208 HD,160G,S2,7.2K,8M,ULD,SGT-NH
4 CM633 DIMM,1GB,800,128X64,8,240,1RX8
1 F656D ASSY,DVD+/-RW,16X,BARE,TSST
1 23503 LBL,BRCD,TRACK,SYS,GNRC
1 48480 SCR,6-32X1/4",HX,TF,ZPS,TRI-PT
1 CP825 ASSY,HTSNK,FAN,MNTW
1 FR095 ASSY,CHAS,410,PFC,L6,VOSD
1 JD509 LBL,REG,SIDE,UNIV,BLNK,V2
1 N839C INSTR,DEVIATE L6 TO L5+,V410
1 P406C INSTR,BDG-TO-LGTW-L6,V410
4 WN322 SCR,6-32X1/4,HEX,TF,ZPS,TRI-PT
1 F292C LBL,INTEL,DT,CQKE
1 23501 LBL,BRCD,SYS BOX,GNRC
1 3947T LBL,BRCD,SYS BOX,GNRC,5X5
1 G061D SHP MTL,SHEET,PLYFM,VOS
1 U641C SHP MTL,BOX,SYSM,LGTW,DAO
1 U642C KIT,SHP MTL,BNDL,LGTW,VOS,DAO
1 W482C SHP MTL,CSHN,LGTW
1 3W709 LBL,N-SERIES,SMALL
1 MW501 PLUG,VIDEO,JACK,BLK,MSMT/MCSF
1 1W516 INFO,PREP MTL,DEV,DT,DCRS,#6
1 N846C KIT,MEDIA,DVD,DRVR,RDVD,V410,N
2 DU555 SCR,M3X.5X5MM,HEX,PHH,TF,ZPS

[oz]

I am confused as to why the 64 bit version of OpenSUSE 11.0 installed on my 32 bit machine.

Hi, Mike

I guess you might be right about your CPU, but Intel disagrees with you.

Here you go... you can see at the bottom of the list in the link below that the Intel Q6600 is a 64-bit processor:

Intel® Core™2 Quad processor numbers

I doubt that Intel is mistaken about this.

Anyway, I'm betting that's why your machine runs fine with a 64-bit OS.

Now, that's not to say that it couldn't have come with a 32-bit OS installed on it.

[MikeH30]

Ozar,

Thanks for the info from Intel. Maybe I should call Dell as well and ask. I ordered my PC from Dell without an OS and installed OpenSuse 11.0 when I received it. I will never go back to windows so I always try to order my PC's without an OS unless I see a great deal on a refurbed machine. I am learning that I get more machine for my money by ordering without an OS.

So then should I just leave the 64 bit OS installed?

Thanks again!

Mike

[oz]

So then should I just leave the 64 bit OS installed?

Hi, Mike

Absolutely... unless it starts giving you problems of some type that can't easily be corrected, or you have difficulty finding the 64-bit applications you need.

I bought a 64-bit CPU on my last hardware purchase and have never looked back.

[oz]

If you want, you can go to a terminal and run the following command to verify your CPU and get some additional information about it:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

[MikeH30]

The output seems to indicate a 64 bit machine.

clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64

I wonder why the Dell website did not specify a 64 bit machine.

-Mike


mherna@linux-25y0:~> cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
stepping : 11
cpu MHz : 1600.000
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id : 0
cpu cores : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 4791.55
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
stepping : 11
cpu MHz : 2400.000
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id : 3
cpu cores : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 4788.11
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 2
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
stepping : 11
cpu MHz : 1600.000
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id : 2
cpu cores : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 4788.11
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 3
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
stepping : 11
cpu MHz : 1600.000
cache size : 4096 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id : 1
cpu cores : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmovpat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 4788.07
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

[HROAdmin26]

What is the confusion?

Almost every CPU made by Intel and AMD in the past 2-3 years has been 64-bit capable. A 64 bit Linux OS will *not* install on a 32 bit CPU.

Dell's support will likely only list drivers for 32 bit OS (XP, Vista) because this is what they support on this machine.