[mythtv-users] What hardware do I need to be able to dual record using Comcast cable?

[Robin Hill]

On Fri Oct 17, 2008 at 08:04:56AM -0600, Greg Woods wrote:

> I have not tried running an OS written for a 32-bit chip on a 64-bit
> chip, but even if this worked, it seems to me that I would be
> sacrificing some of the chip's performance to do this, and since the
> whole idea of moving to a 64-bit chip is to get better performance, this
> strikes me as throwing the baby out with the bath water. Sounds like I
> would have to make a tradeoff between stability and performance, and I'd
> really rather not have that on my Myth system. Thus my desire to avoid
> going to a 64-bit chip.
> 
There's no inherent performance improvements with a 64-bit chip over a
32-bit chip.  If the application deals with 64-bit integers anyway
(very rare for general purpose apps) then you'll get a boost.  There's
also specific architectural improvements which were brought in with the
AMD 64-bit chips (extra registers) but this is technically independent
of the 64-bit nature of the chip.

The main reason for switching to 64-bit systems is the ability to
address larger amounts of memory (without needing to do any page
switching) - 4G is pretty common nowadays and 32-bit systems generally
fail to make use of all of that, let alone any extra.

In short, I wouldn't worry about running a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit chip -
you're not likely to notice any performance difference.  Having said
that, I've been running 64-bit systems for several years now (both at
work and at home) and have had no problems with them at all.

Cheers,
    Robin
-- 
     ___        
    ( ' }     |       Robin Hill        <myth at robinhill.me.uk>  |
   / / )      | Little Jim says ....                            |
  // !!       |      "He fallen in de water !!"                 |
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