64 bit WebPack

Is it really necessary? WebPack doesn't support parts large enough to exhaust the memory avialable in the 32-bit world.

Processors using the amd64 ISA have a number of advantages other than just access to larger amounts of memory. They've got more general purpose registers, 64-bit arithmetic, and slightly less legacy baggage. So for some tasks, a program compiled for 64-bit windows/*nix will run noticeably faster than one compiled for 32-bit mode - even if it does not use much memory. I have no idea if that applies to ISE, however.

ISE on 64 bit Windows runs quite a bit slower and uses more memory than the

32 bit executables. That's why we now install the 32bit executables together with the 64bit executables on a 64bit system.

However, 64bit Linux runs slightly faster than 32bit Linux.

Steve

I would say "measurably faster" rather than "noticeably faster". But I would still claim that it makes little difference for WebPACK. The 32-bit version should be fine for all the supported devices.

That's interesting - I wonder if it is related to the different 64-bit models used by windows and linux (windows uses 32-bit int and long, with only 64-bit for pointers, while linux has 32-bit int and 64-bit long). If the ISE code takes advantage of 64-bit longs on linux, but does not use the equivalent "long long" or "__int64" type on windows, then that might explain the difference (64-bit pointers are often slower than

32-bit pointers, so that a pointer-heavy 64-bit executable might be slower than a 32-bit version).

Thanks for the comments in response to my initial query. It sounds like there won't be a 64 bit Webpack - which is a shame as the devices covered by it are sufficient for my work and I've got a PC with Vista 64 bit on it!

Rog.

It's unfortunate that so many people seem to have have this feeling that 64-bit programs are better than 32-bit programs in all cases :P

Of course it's also unfortunate that Windows does not support an ILP32 memory model that would utilize the other AMD extensions to the x86 architecure such as the additional registers and register widths.

G.

Won't the 32-bit WebPACK run on that?

On Linux, 32-bit software generally runs fine on 64-bit kernels.

What I read on the Web site seems to say it won't. I admit I haven't tried though. Does anyone know to save me the hassle?

Rog.