MEPIS Community Forum

I've just ordered the parts for a new machine. These include an Intel i5 2500K, and 8GB RAM. It will have a 60GB SSD as the boot drive. The machine will become my "everyday" box; it will mostly only have light use such as web browsing, and a bit of office work. Absolutely no gaming, but watching HD video is envisaged.

(I realise the specification will be total overkill, but I have the budget so why not?)

I need to decide whether to install 32 or 64 bit Mepis. I realise that if I use 32 bit, I will need to install the PAE kernel to use all the RAM. One worry is that I need to run a 32 bit XP install inside Virtual Box, and I'm not sure that will be possible with a 64 bit install.

Any opinions please?

Chris

It's 2012, fer cryin' out loud. Run 64bit.

Be sure and install the ia32 lib packages. Then don't look back.

And no problem running 32-bit guest in VB with 64-bit Mepis either.

Yebbut look at the spec I'm running (in my sig). It's still 2003 in my world!



Thanks for the advice,

Chris

Happily running 32 bit on a 64 bit machine. My reasons are probably now dated re flash and other apps not being available for 64 bit, so 64 is probably the way to go. However I must say I see no performance difference with 32 bit compared to 64 bit for the operations I perform. No compiling, ripping or calculation intensive apps.

I know the feeling. I took the plunge and got current about 15 months ago. My old kit was even older and slower than yours.

You're going to love the difference in performance.

64-bit handles the memory map way better than 32-bit, so you're best to go 64 all the way, and where VM's are concerned, you'll definitely appreciate having a 64-bit host.

The speed difference 64-bit makes in CPU intensive apps is remarkable and it leaves 32-bit in the dust.

With your SSD, you can look forward to LibreOffice opening in less than 3 seconds, the first time since a cold boot or a reboot, and around .5 of a second after that for subsequent starts, until you reboot again. Compare that with 8-12 seconds cold and 3-5 seconds hot for regular hard disk on a late model machine. My timings are based on a Seagate Hybrid drive with only 4GB SSD, yours should be better IF (and only if) you purchased a 2nd generation SSD. If not, return it before you use it and make sure you get one, they are faster and more reliable.

Mike P