[linux-audio-user] Re: AMD64 question: update

[Paul Davis]

On Tue, 2006-07-11 at 14:54 +0200, Arnold Krille wrote:
> 2006/7/11, Dave Phillips <dlphillips at woh.rr.com>:
> >     I'm considering trying a new distro. Gentoo and Ubuntu are
> > recommended, so I might look at them. However, my main question is: Do I
> > necessarily want to install a kernel for a 64-bit CPU ? IIUC I'm better
> > off running most Linux audio applications in 32-bit mode, which I
> > understand occurs seamlessly. But do I need to use a 32-bit kernel for
> > those apps, or do I need to install the 64-bit ? (Is that a dumb question?)
> 
> First I recommend gentoo, its nice, its cool, you don't install things
> you don't need.
> 
> Second: If you have a 64bit processor you definitly want to make use
> of it. Most apps nowadays calculate with double-numbers. these run a
> lot faster on 64bit.

not really, they don't. floating point is done on a different processor.
greater memory bandwidth on some processors/motherboards etc. can make
working with 80-bit floats faster, but a 64 bit CPU itself has no real
effect.

also, i don't know many apps that use 80 bit FP, for audio or anything
else that matter. there are some, but not many.