Re: which version for intel chipset 64bit
Bret Busby put forth on 2/9/2011 11:32 AM:
> If my memory is correct, for a computer to include 8GB of RAM, that is
> addressable by the CPU, the CPU would necessarily be a 64 bit CPU, to be able to
> address that much RAM.
32 bit Intel and AMD CPUs have been capable of addressing up to 64GB of RAM
since 1995 via PAE and a 36 bit address bus (later 40 bits). Please read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension
> But, apparently, not all 64 bit CPU's are compatible with the 64 bit version of
> Debian Linux, as (from what I understand) the 64 bit version of Debian Linux is
> only compatible with a small subset of the 64 bit CPU's.
You lack understanding here as well. There have been, over the years, around a
_dozen_ 64 bit versions of Debian Gnu/Linux, not just one, including: Alpha,
MIPS, HPPA, PowerPC64, SPARC, IA-64, and x86-64. See:
http://www.debian.org/ports/#released
What you think of as "64 bit Debian" is strictly/merely the x86-64 (AMD64) port,
first released in April 2007, not quite 4 years old, making it the _youngest_ of
all Debian 64 bit ports. The Alpha port is the oldest full 64 bit Debian port,
first released in March 1999, or ~8 years earlier.
Unlike with some architectures, the Debian Alpha release was 64 bit from the
beginning, as Alpha processors were clean sheet 64 bit designs from the ground
up. There was never any 32 bit baggage as with IA32, MIPS, SPARC, PowerPC, HP
PA-RISC, etc. In fact, SPARC chips have been fully 64 bit CPUs for at least 15
years, but the Debian distribution has mostly 32 bit SPARC packages, even though
the kernel is 64 bit. And Debian SPARC shipped for the first time in 2.1, same
as Alpha.
--
Stan
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