[Rd] FC5 32-bit vs 64-bit

[Prof Brian Ripley]

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006, Jeff Barrett wrote:

> Hello,
> I am a biostats student and a newbie to R.  I have a question about
> 32-bit vs. 64-bit.
> I am running FC5 on a AMD 3800+ with 2GB Ram.  With 64-bit, I am
> running into some issues the stability of FC5.  A friend suggested I
> ditch the 64-bit version of FC5 for the 32-bit.  I do not currently
> have any pressing needs for the capabilities of the 64-bit OS. Before
> I reinstall the 32-bit FC5, I want to know the specific effects on R.
>
> I see plenty of articles on 32-bit vs. 64-bit in general, but does
> anyone have any real comparisons of 32 vs. 64 bit using R?

There are some in the R-admin manual.  If you don't need the address 
space, we recommend a 32-bit build on x86_64 (and tell you how to make 
one).

Many of us have been running R in 64-bit (and 32-bit) on x86_64 for a long 
time with no problems: that includes (more recently) on FC5.  If you are 
seeing instability I would be looking elsewhere (e.g. hardware and 
drivers).

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595