32bit vs 64bit

[Badger]

What's the advantage of using 64bit on my machine instead of 32bit?

Curious

 

[Mark H]

Completely depends on what you use your machine for:

Typical word processing, e-mail and a few games: stay with x86.
Video editing, rendering, large database manipulations or strong number
crunching: move to x64
Like to fiddle around: move to x64
If you only use 32-bit applications, stick with x86. (There is a slight
overhead in processing 32-bit on a 64-bit system.)

x64 is stable, actually maybe a little more stable since all drivers have to
be signed,
allows you to use more than 4GB of memory (which means less paging, if
that's happening now.)
but there are still a few devices (not many) that are not supported.

I went x64 when Vista came out and have never looked back.

 

[Curious]

The 64 bit hardware can move data twice as fast and can execute the
equivalent of two 32 bit instructions per machine cycle. However, to get
this benefit from a 64 bit machine you have to be running a 64 bit OS. In
the future more and more applications will also be coded in 64 bit and will
therefore also run faster when running with a 64 bit OS. If running
applications such as video editing or video file format conversion which use
a lot of memory they will run faster with a 64 bit OS since it can support
system memory larger the 4GB.

 

[Badger]

Thanks, Mark,

That explains a lot,

Jerry

Completely depends on what you use your machine for:

Typical word processing, e-mail and a few games: stay with x86.
Video editing, rendering, large database manipulations or strong number
crunching: move to x64
Like to fiddle around: move to x64
If you only use 32-bit applications, stick with x86. (There is a slight
overhead in processing 32-bit on a 64-bit system.)

x64 is stable, actually maybe a little more stable since all drivers have
to
be signed,
allows you to use more than 4GB of memory (which means less paging, if
that's happening now.)
but there are still a few devices (not many) that are not supported.

I went x64 when Vista came out and have never looked back.

 

[Badger]

Thanks for the info Curious,

Jerry

The 64 bit hardware can move data twice as fast and can execute the
equivalent of two 32 bit instructions per machine cycle. However, to get
this benefit from a 64 bit machine you have to be running a 64 bit OS. In
the future more and more applications will also be coded in 64 bit and
will therefore also run faster when running with a 64 bit OS. If running
applications such as video editing or video file format conversion which
use a lot of memory they will run faster with a 64 bit OS since it can
support system memory larger the 4GB.

 

[Richard Urban]

Maybe none as it depends what you intend to do with your computer.

Sometimes 32 bit is the best.

 

[dennis]

The 64 bit hardware can move data twice as fast and can execute the
equivalent of two 32 bit instructions per machine cycle.

You make it sound like you get twice the speed just by running a 64bit
application...

 

[Richard G. Harper]

To offer something slightly different from the previous advice - really,
none. Except in the specific instances where you are running software that
is natively 64-bit software, or when the added memory support (4gb+) is
important to you - in these cases then definitely go with the 64-bit OS.
For general use, running 32-bit software and games, there is no benefit
whatsoever in running a 64-bit OS. In fact, if you have older software or
peripherals you may actually wind up with a less useful system under 64-bit
Windows.

 

[Curious]

I certainly did not mean to imply that everything on the system would run
twice as fast.

I only said a 64 bit OS can move data twice as fast since it is using 64 bit
registers instead of 32 bit registers and that many of the 64bit
instructions are the equivalent of two 32 bit instructions.
This does not mean that everything the OS does runs twice as fast since
other OS functions such as physical I/O and context switching don't run any
faster. And as has been pointed out by other posters 32 bit application
programs being run by users actually run slightly slower.

 

[nomore]

Presuming 4gbs of RAM:
The 64 bit OS gives the OS and all applications, including 32 bit apps,
easier access to an extra gigabyte of RAM than the 32 bit OS. In fact the OS
can occupy whatever it wants above 3 gbs, and Vista wants all it can get.
Win7 ain't too much different.
You can achieve nearly the same thing on a 32 bit OS with arcane command
switches: almost but not the same.
Because Vista is such a bloated, hog butt of an OS that extra gigabyte of
RAM makes a significant difference in overall operation.
That is why Vista 64 is now preloaded on even low-end laptops.
All things being equal, meaning you have 64 bit drivers and 4gbs of RAM, the
64 bit OS is the better choice for everyone for all purposes without any
doubt whatever. Your head is buried in cowpies if you do not grasp this.
Unless you have 64 bit apps that need and can use massive amounts of RAM
then there is no real world gain from having more than 4gbs of RAM. This
generally means specialized high def video processing or a server running in
virtualized mode. Textbased apps will never benefit from 64 bit OSes but
games and multimedia will do so increasingly. In fact if developers can tap
the massive parallel processing power of modern graphics cards . . .
64 bit Photoshop is kind of pointless because it would be the very rare user
with multiple open, multi-layered multi hundred megabite files that ever
bumps up against the ram limits of 32 bit Photoshop. That is one reason why
plug-in publishers are not rushing to build compatible 64 bit plug-ins.
This be the truth and is why Microsoft is making noise about no longer
making 32 bit OSes: you can hide a lot of bloat behind 64 bits.
Appleunix has finally learned this and is trying to catch up to Microsoft in
64 bit OSes with snowkitty, or whatever they call it.

 

[Badger]

Thanks for the added information, Richard,

Jerry

 

[Badger]

Thanks, nomore,

It looks like I'm stuck with 32bit for now,

Jerry

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Glad to be of service.

Thanks for the added information, Richard,

Jerry

 

[Patrick Keenan]

What's the advantage of using 64bit on my machine instead of 32bit?

Curious

In some cases, it can be a negative advantage. .

The reason for this is that what really matters is whether the apps and
hardware you need to use will run on a 64-bit OS, and it's not a safe
assumption that all will run.

For a specific example, there's a very popular piece of audio recording
software, and you have heard recordings made with it.

It's called ProTools, and it *will not run* on 64 bit OS's, Windows or Mac.

So, if you were building a system to run this software, the advantage you'd
gain from installing a 64-bit OS is that you'd have to wipe the drive and
reinstall a 32-bit version.

People generally don't buy PCs to run an OS, but to run applications and
perform tasks. If the OS won't allow the app to work, there is no
advantage to keeping it.

HTH
-pk

 

[Badger]

Thanks for your input, Patrick,

Jerry

In some cases, it can be a negative advantage. .

The reason for this is that what really matters is whether the apps and
hardware you need to use will run on a 64-bit OS, and it's not a safe
assumption that all will run.

For a specific example, there's a very popular piece of audio recording
software, and you have heard recordings made with it.

It's called ProTools, and it *will not run* on 64 bit OS's, Windows or
Mac.

So, if you were building a system to run this software, the advantage
you'd gain from installing a 64-bit OS is that you'd have to wipe the
drive and reinstall a 32-bit version.

People generally don't buy PCs to run an OS, but to run applications and
perform tasks. If the OS won't allow the app to work, there is no
advantage to keeping it.

HTH
-pk