4 ms·
No. Memory > 4GB is not a reason to use 64bit. If you want to address > 4GB of RAM on 32bit, install the PAE kernel. I think the meta package is called linux-g
by ra 16y ago
No. Memory > 4GB is not a reason to use 64bit.
If you want to address > 4GB of RAM on 32bit, install the PAE kernel. I think the meta package is called linux-generic-pae.
Use 64bit if you want to run applications that will benefit from it.
EDIT: If in doubt, use the 32 bit one as it will give you less friction for general purpose desktop use.
- reitzensteinm 16y agoHe said processes accessing more than 4 gb, not total memory - aren't individual processes are still limited to 4 gb of memory with PAE?
- jsprinkles 16y agoLess depending on where the kernel split is. 3 GB under Linux usually.
- postfuturist 16y agoI don't know the technical reason, but most 32 bit apps on Linux are limited to 2GB (2^31 bytes).
- nitrogen 16y agoAs jsprinkles alluded to in his post, the 2GB limit (or 1GB or 3GB, depending on kernel configuration) is to allow space for the kernel.
- chokma 16y agoIf you want to upgrade to 11.04 with a PAE kernel and proprietary Nvidia drivers, be careful: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-common/+bug/772226 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-common/+bug...
- narrator 16y agoI find that in order to run Eclipse properly with lots of plug-ins, a fairly big project and Tomcat running at the same time you NEED 4gb. Yes, Java uses a lot of memory but I have 9 gb in my desktop so I'm just fine thanks. 4gb dimms are available for about $54, according to Pricewatch, so quit complaining.
- flomo 16y agoPAE kernel is really only useful in the special case that you have some ancient 32-bit server hardware that supports > 4GB. Anyone else over 4GB should run 64-bit.