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I just ordered the new and shiny RPi 4 with 8 GB of RAM. However, I only now realized that this will probably require a 64 bit Linux. My goal is to use it as some kind of housemaid server doing backups, run VLC, etc. Therefore I would like to install a stable OS that is broadly supported.

Based on my research so far there seems to be a beta version of 64 bit Raspbian. Also I have read that there seems to be quite a performance benefit from using 64 bits. However, I am now wondering:

  1. Does the 8GB model strictly need 64 bit?
  2. What happens if I install the current regular, stable Raspbian to it? Will I be able to easily upgrade later on?
  3. Should I rather go for a stable 64 bit Linux distro and if so which (Debian, Ubuntu)?
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    I'd add arm_64bit=1 to the [pi4] section of the /boot/config.txt - the 64 bit kernel is as stable as the 32 bit kernel - userland is still 32 bit though, so 4GB (per process?) limit remains
    – Jaromanda X
    Commented Jan 3, 2021 at 22:39

3 Answers 3

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  1. Does the 8GB model strictly need 64 bit?

No, you can use the default Raspberry Pi OS based on Buster, which is a 32 bit operating system. The only restriction is that a running program cannot address 8 GB ram. It can only use 4 GB due to the limited address range. But a second running program can use the other 4 GB.

  1. What happens if I install the current regular, stable Raspbian to it? Will I be able to easily upgrade later on?

Nothing will happen. The Raspberry Pi OS will run stable on it. An upgrade is not supported by the foundation for any version.

  1. Should I rather go for a stable 64 bit Linux distro and if so which (Debian, Ubuntu)?

This is opinion based and should not be answered due to our policies to avoid an endless discussion.

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I have an 8gb Pi4 which has gone through several OS installs over the past 6 months (Lubuntu 20.04 64 bit, Xubuntu 20.10 64 bit), but am now using the latest 32 bit of Raspi OS. This is my everyday desktop and my subjective opinion is that this is the most responsive configuration of those three. Some browser (Chromium) pages render a little slowly, but that did not seem to be effected to any large degree by the choice of os. Just switched to using Vivaldi, but not enough use to say whether it is faster.

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    Awesome - thank you. What was the reason you decided to go back to 32bit? Simply because Raspi OS is better tailored to the RPi?
    – n1000
    Commented Jan 3, 2021 at 20:49
  • It was really a case where they all did a good job, all had pluses and minuses for my needs (LibreOffice Calc, browser, and email at the top of the list). I also liked the simple to use resource monitors in Raspi, as I'm overclocking and wanted easy access to temperature info. When Raspi 64 bit is released, I expect to switch.
    – AJK
    Commented Jan 4, 2021 at 21:25
  • Raspberry Pi OS arm64 installed here, working fine, but... about 50% of my apps doesn't have a arm64 version, some I compiled but others... gives a bunch of error because everything needs to be 64 bits, for instance, all dependencies of a pip, cargo, etc. A wrong dependence puts everything down. So I'm rolling back to 32.
    – insign
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 1:28
  • @insign isn't 64-bit OS supposed to be backwards compatible with 32 bit apps (an NOT vice versa)?
    – InfiniteLoop
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 19:52
  • I wish, but I think not.
    – insign
    Commented Jul 4, 2023 at 22:44
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The Pi OS versions, including the 64 bit beta, run all your 32 bit apps as normal, it may well still use a 32 bit kernel as there are plenty of apps like Chromium that are still only 32 bit. If you want the benefits of 64 bit (apps can use more than 4 GB) then two I have tried on my 8 GB Pi are Ubuntu and Manjaro. Both have 64 bit Chromium and I find Ubuntu MATE the best for no screen tearing and no dropped frames playing youtube 1080p @ 30 fps.

If you want the advantages of 8 GB RAM then yes you need a 64 bit OS.

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