64-bit or 32-bit: When will it matter?

In comp.sys.intel Cool_X wrote:
Can you please answer a few questions of mine?

I'll try.

1. You said:
" The improvements with the x86 64-bit systems aren't quite so
dramatic, but they're quite significant at least on the server side:
you'd be daft to buy a pre-Nocona Xeon-based or an Athlon MP-based
server, just because Nocona and Opteron for reasons entirely unrelated
to the 64-bit-ness offer very siginficant performance advantages over
their past generations."

You meant that Nocona and Opteron (I've never heard of Nocona, BTW, so
thanks for telling me about it) offer "very significant performance
advantages" that are "unrelated to the 64-bit-ness", on TOP of the
advantages of 64-bit-ness, right?

Yes, that's correct. Assuming there are any advantages to the 64-bit-ness
for a given user, of course.

In simpler terms, Nocona and Opteron are the best x86 server processors,
right?

They certainly are significantly better than their market predecessors (2P
533mhz Xeon and Athlon MP) with virtually no downsides (except possibly
cost), even running 32-bit code in a 2gb-memory configuration.

2. You also said:
" Of course, you're right... memory needs increase pretty much at a pace
with the increase of memory capacities and the decrease in memory
costs... we're only a drop or two in price away from 2gb+ on the
desktop being pretty usual, at which point 64-bit processors get a lot
more attractive."

Are we talking about the RAM that vendors will ship STANDARD, or the RAM
that buyers will actually UPGRADE to (from the standard amount)?

Yes.

Upgrades to above 2GB (and I really meant 2gb, not 2gb or greater there)
will probably be more common than machines shipping with 2gb for a while,
but eventually you'll see 2GB machines shipping.

4GB servers aren't that uncommon already, for that matter.

3. Last but definitely not least, how will your comment in question #2
affect the laptop world?

Less or at least later than the desktop world, and just as it will be
less/later in turn than the server/workstation world (HPC has already gone
to 64-bit, for the most part.)

Part of that's because laptop users have traditionally been among the least
performance-conscious users - although that's changing - and part of that's
because laptops tend to be more limited in their memory capacity (often have
fewer memory slots, SO-DIMMs are often more expensive, and the max size DIMM
is often smaller.)

But eventually, at least the performance-critical segment of the market will
want 64 bits on laptops. Whether the relentless desire to upgrade will
continue to apply to the general office market - both laptops and desktops -
will depend on how successful MS and other software vendors are in pushing
people's needs beyond what they are now ... right now a low-ghz-range system
with 256-512mb is still fine for most users.

--
Nate Edel http://www.cubiclehermit.com/

"This is not a humorous signature."