FreeBSD installation on AMD64

[Sébastien Morand]

Hi,

I'm new in FreeBSD, I'm used to GNU/Linux from many years but I'm trying to
migrate to FreeBSD.
My hardware is AMD64 / 1GB RAM / envy24ht network car / nVidia 7300GS GC /
USB Scanner / HP 660 Printer

So nothing to worry about except the AMD64. I read that FreeBSD i386
installation is faster on AMD64 than amd64. I installed amd64 and was quite
disappointed by the performance issue, particularly because the nv driver is
not good, and I got a lot of slowdown when some operations are made within X
server.

So before reinstalling everything, I'd like to know :
Is it a reasonable choice (in terme of performance, reliability, and
compatibility terms) to install i386 over amd64 arch?
Will I be able to install nvidia drivers and every i386 tools? (I got "only
working under i386" several times when installing port)
Are there other issues I should be aware of using such an installation?

thanks by advance for any help
Sébastien