64-bit RPM/APT based systems - Worth it?

[Brian Chabot]

I haven't seen this discussed before, so I figured I would ask.

I've been thinking about putting together a small-form-factor system and
it looks like all the better hardware I see is going 64-bit.

Has anyone used a 64-bit, Intel/AMD system with a package based Linux
distro? 

Are there RPMs or other packages out there to do what you'd need for a
typical home desktop?  (I'm talking about things like games and
multimedia codecs mostly.  Especially codecs.  I know there are packages
for the major apps.)

How backward-compatible are they with 32-bit apps?  I know there would
be a certain lossin performance, but for instance, would a commercial
version of UT2004 for Linux be able to run on a 64-bit system? 



Any info you all might have here would be useful...   thanks,

Brian