Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

JasonMehmel · Today 01:08:56

This is a spin-off from a thread that started on tiling windows and went into advice for a low-spec EEE PC that I've got. I mainly use it as a writing device, basically a typewriter. I don't need it to do much.

I got great advice over there, and one user greenjeans suggested switching to 32 bit.

This is a question out of curiosity from that suggestion.

Would running a 32bit kernel be slower (half as many calculations) but less power-intensive, for that same fact?

Are there other benefits or reasons for running 32bit on machines that can do it, beyond just being old?

Sector11 · Today 17:02:16

Interesting idea ... no idea how to answer ... went looking.
Found an answer here, but to save going quoted here:

Benefits of 32-bit software in 64-bit environments
» Lower memory footprint, especially in pointer-heavy applications, 64-bit vs 32-bit can easily double the memory requirements.
» Object files are smaller as well.
» Compatibility with 32-bit environments.
» Memory leaks are hard capped to 2 GB, 3 GB, or 4 GB and won't swamp the entire system.
Drawbacks of 32-bit software in 64-bit environments
» 2 GB, 3 GB, or 4 GB memory limit per process. (Just per process, in sum multiple 32-bit processes may use the full available system memory.)
» Not using additional registers and instruction set extensions depending on x64. This is highly compiler and CPU specific.
» May require 32-bit versions of all (most Linux distributions) or uncommon (most Windows versions) libraries and run time environments. If a 32-bit version of a shared library is loaded exclusively for your application, and that counts towards your footprint. No difference at all if you are linking statically.
Other aspects
» Drivers are usually not an issue. Only user-space libraries should differ between 32-bit and 64-bit, not the API of kernel modules.
» Beware of different default widths for integer datatypes, additional testing needed.
» The 64-bit CPU architecture may not even support 32-bit at all.
» Certain techniques like ASLR and others depending on a much larger address space than physical memory won't work well (or at all) in a 32-bit execution mode.
Unless comparing a very specific CPU architecture, operating system and library infrastructure here, I won't be able to go into more details.

And that's more than I certainly knew.

greenjeans · Today 18:09:17

To be clear, my suggestion was not just about switching to a 32-bit iso, that's actually just icing on the cake, the main point was to use and OS from around the same time period as you machine was made, that's the real savings in RAM usage, I have almost identical systems I built in 2017 and 2026 (64-bit) and the 2017 model runs about 125-130 mb of ram at idle as opposed to the 2026 system which takes 250-275 mb.

I haven't built a modern 32 bit, but comparing the 32 vs. 64 from 2017 the 32 offered quite a good further savings, idling at about 90 mb. It was also a lot lighter on CPU usage. In addition you could make very small isos back then, I made a mini at around 355 mb, and a max at 560 or so. You could load the mini to ram in a live-session on a 1 gb machine and it would run fine and super fast.

Sector11 · Today 18:32:36

Well, I was trying

greenjeans · Today 20:01:08

Sector11 wrote:

Well, I was trying

Oh that was a great post, I was just kinda elaborating about the memory usage. I also didn't know about the mem-leak caps so I learned something new!

Colonel Panic · Today 20:01:40

Good thread.

I had a go at getting 32-bit distros to work on my machine about a year ago, but I found that the 3 GB memory limitation could often be a handicap in 2026 because modern browsers are so heavy on RAM. The other problem I found was with GRUB; 32-bit distros and 64-bit ones don't appear to sit well with each other on the same hard drive.

That having been said, there were some I enjoyed using; MX Fluxbox 32, Damn Small Linux and especially the Exton version (based on 32-bit antiX), and Emmabuntus 32-bit. Maybe best not to mix them on your hard drive with 64-bit distros though.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (Today 21:55:09)

#1 Today 01:08:56

Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

#2 Today 17:02:16

Re: Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

#3 Today 18:09:17

Re: Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

#4 Today 18:32:36

Re: Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

#5 Today 20:01:08

Re: Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

#6 Today 20:01:40

Re: Low-spec machines and 32 bit, help me understand the benefit

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