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My processor is 64-bit - does that mean I need the amd64 image?

I have a x86 64bit dell inspiration pc and it doesn't contain a amd cpu. Should I install "amd 64 10.04" or "x86 32 10.04"?

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The Intel 64 architecture is compatible with ubuntu's amd64 images. For the most part 64bit is vender neutral.

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  • It's actually just named "amd64" because AMD developed this standard as a concurrence to Intels IA64, but that's another story.
    – FUZxxl
    Jan 3, 2011 at 11:47
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it Doesn´t matter if the distro says "amd64" it can be used on any x86-64 CPU, it´s only indicating the architecture it supports , x86-64-bit.

You can safely use any of them.

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  • So, any of these two kinds of systems may be installed on any computer?
    – John Doe
    May 28, 2012 at 20:49
  • 64 bit OS for a 64 bit capable CPU. 32 bit for older CPUs.
    – Uri Herrera
    May 28, 2012 at 22:00
  • Yeah, I know, my qustion is about possible problems.
    – John Doe
    May 29, 2012 at 4:23
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As the others have said, AMD64 and Intel 64 are the same thing.

Now this is really picky and unnecessary, but I'll add it for completeness' sake:

The 64 bit image is called amd64 because it refers to the Instruction set rather than the CPU. When CPUs became 64 bit, there was a bit of a fight between the AMD64 instruction set, which just just an extension of the x86 instruction set developed by Intel (and first seen in the 386 processor), and the IA-64 (Itanium) instruction set, which was completely new and incompatible.

In the end, all of the vendors (Intel, AMD and Via) have used the AMD64 instructions, slighly modified in each case. They are now known as AMD64 and Intel 64, but based on AMDs first implementation. All of this mess is now commonly called x86-64 (not by Ubuntu, yet).

  • There is a proposal on Ubuntu Brainstorm to get rid of this terminology.
  • There's also a Bug Report for it, marked as "Won't fix", referring to that brainstorm idea.

Marco Ceppi also notes:

The reason AMD is there, is because intel reverse engineered 64bit capabilities from AMD. Out of respect the AMD moniker is left to give credit where due.

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As long the 64bit edition is not declared stable, install the 32bit (recommended for 10.10) version. E.g. Adobe is working (right now) on a final 64bit solution for flashplayer; maybe 10.2 will have native 64bit support for Linux -- we will see. Otherwise you have to look for an workaround.

If you are using more then 3.4GB of RAM install the PAE Linux kernel to activate the upper memory:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic-pae

I do not like to talk about advantage/disadvantage of 32bit VS 64bit because your have but the same Linux kernel file is compatible with Intel and AMD so you can not run in trouble if your CPU is 64bit capable.

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