Kubuntu 12.04 64 bit on Intel based system.

[itbala]

Hi all,

Since i'm facing multiple issues after upgrading my OS from 11.04 to 12.04, i'm planning to do fresh install of kubuntu 12.04 64 bit OS on my desktop.

Can someone please advise if i can proceed with the 64 bit OS installation on my intel based desktop. Below mentioned are my system configuration.

Motherborad : Intel® Desktop Board DH77EB (Media series)
Processor : Intel® Core™ i5 Processor
RAM : 8 GB
Graphics Card : nvidia geforce 8400 gs

I'm bit confused in installing 64bit os on my intel machine as i read in few sites that 64 bit OS are meant only for AMD machines.

Regards
Bala

[rms]

I'm bit confused in installing 64bit os on my intel machine as i read in few sites that 64 bit OS are meant only for AMD machines.

Not at all, but as far as I can recall, Kubuntu Precise 32 bit comes with a PAE kernel by default so, you can have all 8GB RAM at your disposal even in 32 bit release.

[whatthefunk]

Im running 64 bit with an i5 processor. No problems what so ever.

[oshunluvr]

I can't imagine someone would post somewhere that 64 bit meant AMD only. You should go back to those posts and straighten those people out. Basically, the linux x86_64 kernels work for both AMD and Intel 64 bit processors with the exception of the Intel Itanium - which I don't think could be put into a laptop. Some companies or distros may still use the term "AMD64" to indicate 64 bit, but that doesn't mean Intel 64 bit processors are excluded.

From wiki:

AMD's method of extending Intel's x86 32-bit instruction set to be a subset of its x86-64 instruction set is the same technique Intel employed to extend its 16-bit x86 instruction set to 32-bits.
Prior to launch, "x86-64" and "x86_64" were used to refer to the instruction set. Upon release, AMD named it AMD64^[3] Intel initially used the names IA-32e and EM64T before finally settling on Intel 64 for their implementation. x86-64 is still used by many in the industry, while others, notably Sun Microsystems^[4] (now Oracle Corporation) and Microsoft,^[5] use x64 while the BSD family of OS's use AMD64

Since we're on the topic, there's almost no good reason to use 32 bit kernel's any longer unless you actually have a 32 bit processor or a very specific software requirement. The 64 bit kernel's can load 32 bit libraries and since 11.10 Ubuntu is now "multi-arch" meaning the underlying OS can run programs targeted at other architectures. Most stuff will run better/faster using 64 bit kernels.

[pauly]

I would say your biggest worry is does your pc use bios or UEFI. Mine uses UEFI and during install I was not able to get the bootloader installed correctly. There is a fix but this can be an issue if you don't know what is happening.

[itbala]

hi All,

Thanks for the clear explanation on 64 bit OS. I have installed Kubuntu 12.04 64 bit os on my Intel 64 bit processor based desktop and it is running fine.

All my soundcard related problems were resolved after the fresh OS install but few video playback problems that i have mentioned other posts.

Thanks again for making me understand of 64 bit OS concepts.