32-bit PAE kernels only enable access to more RAM than 3.75GB, while 64-bit kernels can use a 64-bit bus for all the IO work. So since you seemingly are not comfortable with the FLOSS driver's 3D acceleration, it might be, that for your needs, 64-bit will be faster.
The driver not only need to fit to your graphics, but also to the version of X. If you download a driver from ATI you need to take care that it fit to the used version of X. If you get a black screen, warnings and errors could be found in the log file /var/log/Xorg.0.log . Would you use 2.6 kernel headers, to build modules for a 3.5 kernel? Some stuff is compiled inside the kernel, other stuff can be loaded if needed, but those modules are quasi part of the kernel, they're in /lib/modules/KERNEL_VERSION . It's possible to set up Linux in a way, that it will build modules automatically after a kernel upgrade. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/1350613703.1112.129.camel@localhost.localdomain
