64-bit vs 32, speed difference

[Sandy Harris]

I'm setting up a system with three boxes and Xubuntu. The firewall
and the X-terminal are Intel Atom based, so have to run the i386
release. The main machine is a core 2 duo, so could (currently
does) run the 64-bit version.

It would be easier to manage, especially for caching updates,
if all three ran the same system. My question is how much
performance do I lose switching the main box to i386?

It is a personal system. Browsing, Open Office, playing
music & movies, some development stuff, mainly using
Dr Scheme.

-- 
Sandy Harris,
Quanzhou, Fujian, China