Re: Fear of the 64, was OT: PC burn out.

["Bryan J. Smith" <b.j.smith@ieee.org>]

NZG <ngustavson@emacinc.com> wrote:
> Well I must say that does sound nice.

This also came up on my local LEAP list too:  
http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/leaplist/2005-September/003473.html

That explains the technical specifics of running the
processor in legacy 32-bit/PAE36 mode and new PAE52 mode. 
The problem isn't the OS, it's how the binaries and libraries
are compiled.  If you run a 32-bit/PAE36 mode OS, then
there's no issue, it can't run PAE52 applications/libraries
at all -- hence why such distros only ship 32-bit/PAE36
applications/libraries.  You can still run them on new PAE52
capable processors, like the Athlon64/Opteron.


> I'll start looking for barebone Socket 754 deals.

I started recommending people not buy new Socket-A/462
systems last year because of this.

AMD is supporting Socket-754 (low-end/consumer), Socket-939
(high-end/enthusiast) and Socket-940
(multi-socket/workstation/server).

Socket-754 has a long roadmap ahead for the value segment.

Socket-939 is actually changing in a few months, adding DDR2
memory and new features, so current Socket-939 mainboards
won't be compatible.

Socket-940 will eventually change to add new options,
including DDR2, but it will be slower to adopt than
Socket-939 because performance is secondary to reliability.

Dual-core and multi-core makes _no_difference_ in AMD64's
architecture.  You can use dual-core and multi-core
processors without anything (except maybe a BIOS upgrade for
proper reporting before the OS loads, or insufficient current
issues).

That is not true of Intel's designs, which I won't go into.

Also, _never_ confuse dual-core/multi-core with
HyperThreading.  HyperThreading is a largely marketing
technology (although it can be better in response time than
uniprocessor on kernel 2.4, because of how the Linux kernel
scheduler works) that _dies_ with the P4 (thank God). 
Dual-core whips the crap out of HyperThreading, and
HyperThreading will _not_ be offered in future Intel
processors because they are not as inefficient as the P4
(long story).

> If I find something really nice I may just return my newegg
> motherboard.

For desktops, MicroATX nForce4 mainboards is all I build now.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith                | Sent from Yahoo Mail
mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org     |  (please excuse any
http://thebs413.blogspot.com/ |   missing headers)

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