[gorilla]

Howdy all,

Realistically, how much faster will programs and other such things run using the new AMD 64 with FreeBSD? Is it worth all of the money?

[Kernel_Killer]

Well, when they finally make a stable release that supports it, it will be tons faster. DiktatorMike is running one on NetBSD right now, and having a great time with it.

[optyk]

/me grumbles something indignant about *fun*...

lessee...right now all the amd64 stuff is fairly expensive and largely unsupported(read: under heavy development) in 64-bit mode. 6 months from now may well see a very different picture. Don't buy an athlon64 with any illusions that it's gonna be a plug-n-chug upgrade to the next great thing, support isn't there yet...*yet*.

Last night was the first time I successfully built a 64 kernel , so, cool...still, I don't have a web browser yet... so far I have X(twm), mutt, irssi, and postfix running - not exactly a dream desktop.

Still, 32-bit runs fast, - I almost doubled the setiathome workunits/day over my xp2000+.

[ealwen]

Can you give the box specs? I am curious about how the 64bit is implemented. Does the chip run on a 32bit motherboard? Does it work with over the shelf equipment or it is a specialty box?

[optyk]

athlon 64 3200+
asus k8t deluxe mobo
512 corsair ddr400 memory
1x 80GB seagate ata 7200 rpm drive
2x 80GB seagate SATA 7200 rpm drives
450 watt power supply
antec tower case

[gorilla]

Doubled your setiathome output????? What are the times?

[optyk]

no hard data, but I went from ~4 a day to ~8.... somewhere around double.

no setiathome for the amd64 port of netbsd :/