On 11/14/05, Gerhard Magnus <magnus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Fri, 2005-11-11 at 15:20 -0600, Jonathan Berry wrote: > > On 11/11/05, Gerhard Magnus <magnus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > Hello All, > > > > > > I don't know if there's a short answer to this... but what do "32 bit" > > > and "64 bit" refer to and how can I tell which applies to my computer? > > > > > > > When referring to hardware, 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the bit width > > of the general purpose registers in the CPU of a computer. When > > referring to software, they refer to software that has been compiled > > to run on a 32-bit or 64-bit processor. > > > > If you do not know which applies to your computer, chances are 32-bit > > does, as it is the most prevalent. More and more computers coming out > > are 64-bit capable, though, so this may become less true. 64-bit > > would apply to your computer if you have a new AMD CPU (with the > > exception of the original Sempron) or a new Intel CPU that supports > > EM64T (Intel's name for their implementation of AMD64 or the x86_64 > > architecture). Even with a 64-bit CPU, in the case of AMD64 or EM64T, > > you can still choose to run a 32-bit operating system or software, so > > that is where it can get the most confusing. Look at /proc/cpuinfo > > for detailed information on your CPU. If you still cannot figure it > > out, post the contents of that file here, and someone can probably > > help you out. > > The only documentation I have is installation instructions for the Intel > Pentium 4 processor that aren't very revealing (despite being in 15 > languages.) Here's my /proc/cpuinfo file: > > [76] ~ $ more /proc/cpuinfo > processor : 0 > vendor_id : GenuineIntel > cpu family : 15 > model : 4 > model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz > stepping : 3 > cpu MHz : 3400.796 > cache size : 2048 KB > physical id : 0 > siblings : 2 > core id : 0 > cpu cores : 1 > fdiv_bug : no > hlt_bug : no > f00f_bug : no > coma_bug : no > fpu : yes > fpu_exception : yes > cpuid level : 5 > wp : yes > flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge > mca cmov > pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm pni > monitor ds_cpl est cid cx16 xtpr > > Thanks for the help! Apparently your CPU is 64-bit capable, indicated by the "lm" listed in the CPU flags. See: https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2005-June/msg04736.html That is, it is an EM64T Pentium 4 (or a P4 with EM64T, which ever way you want to look at it). You can run the 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Fedora (i386 or x86_64). If you install the 64-bit version, you can run both 64-bit and 32-bit programs. With the 32-bit version, you only get 32-bit support. Jonathan
