To pae or not to pae

[clarms]

Noticed the new 3.2.45-pclos7 and 3.2.45-pclos7.pae kernels.

If a machine has a pae processor and under 4 gb ram, which kernel would be more efficient? Is it true that a pae kernel might have a slight performance drop in this setup.

On one note, the pclos7.pae "is optimised for i686 CPUs". Is the regular pclos7 not optimised for i686 CPUs?

On the other note, the regular pclos7 "is compiled with voluntary kernel preemption enabled", while the pclos7.pae "kernel preemption is disabled". Which is better?

[µT6]

the pae extension addresses memory over 3 gbs

if that machine doesn't have 3 or more gbs of ram, the pae won't do anything

about the i686, that seems to be old information, you can ignore it

about the preemption, i fond several links to lots of information on google, but i don't understand enough to recommend you a link or give a explanation 

[Phil]

Hi Clarms,

Also only applies to 32bit systems. If you install the 64bit version you will have more speed and more ram access.
Performance wise allegedly there is a hit, I do not see it.

If you have a 32bit system try it and see. If you do not like it revert.

Note on reboot of a newly installed kernel it will take a long time to boot, press the Esc button if you are worried to see what it is up to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension

[kjpetrie]

You can always install both and see which you prefer - if you can tell any difference.

[clarms]

Thanks @µT6, @Phil, and @kjpetrie.
Will check them out and look to see any notable difference.