32-Bit and 64-Bit computing Difference

[jayavardhanarao]

Hai to all. I am planning to buy a new PC. I am unable to decide which PC to go for i,e for 32-bit or for 64-bit. Hence i want to know what exactly 32-bit and 64-bit means. Please tell me the difference and what is the benefits and drawbacks of these architectures. So that i will buy a PC taking your advise in consideration. Please tell me in detail.

[ranjan2001]

Most of the computer around us are 32bit & they work fine but there are many times we need heavy duty work with lots of task being done at the same time then 32bit computing is quite limited in power to do multi tasking.

64bit computer are meant for that heavy lifting & can use 12-16gb of ram & upwards too, 32bit ram usage is limited to 3gb only that too with special switch in the ini file.

So if your work is regular computing then 32bit suits your needs but if you are in for heavy load of computing & multi tasking then go for x64 computing. The real noticeable difference with x64 hardware will be when you use
x64 OS (xp/vista/linux all have x64 editions) along with
x64 softwares (quite many are available in x64 edition too)& having more than 4gb of ram.

x64 OS can let you use 32bit softwares without any problems.

NOTE:- You should check that all your additional hardware have x64 drivers available else you will have serious headaches finding them & getting ur hardware work. (webcam/soundcard/printer etc.)

[ravi_9793]

All your answers:
32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions

[acewin]

I think you guys are little bit confused, you do not have 32 bit proccies any more now, so the CPU will always be 64-bit,

Its just OSes as you all have suggested is 32 bit or 64 bit.
64-bit is more powerful than 32 bit, whether it be OS or proccy

[RMN]

hmm....my primary need apart from daily use is Multimedia & Graphic development.
so 64 is a better choice right?

[Cool Joe]

^Yes. You'll have performance improvements.

[IronManForever]

^^ AND a harder time finding some applications.

[ranjan2001]

Originally Posted by RMN

hmm....my primary need apart from daily use is Multimedia & Graphic development.
so 64 is a better choice right?

Multimedia & Graphic development is a very broad term, please specify the actual task which you feel are heavy duty.

Do you encode movies to divX? many of them in a day?
Do you convert various multimedia formats to a different formats?
Do you have to open 2-4gb image files & work a lot on them & save it?
do you need to open 100 images together & work on them 1-1?
While doing any of the above do you need to have your downloading in background + writing a dvd+playing songs checking mails etc etc.?

If yes then x64 system will suit ur need, but make sure that you have x64 bit version of ur software to get the maximum speed benefit.

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by jayavardhanarao

Hai to all. I am planning to buy a new PC. I am unable to decide which PC to go for i,e for 32-bit or for 64-bit. Hence i want to know what exactly 32-bit and 64-bit means. Please tell me the difference and what is the benefits and drawbacks of these architectures. So that i will buy a PC taking your advise in consideration. Please tell me in detail.

To put in very very simple terms:

1) Consider 32bit as a 32 lane highway.
2) Consider 64bit as a 64 lane highway.

So on a 32bit computer 32 cars can come at a time, on a 64bit computer (processor, actually) 64 cars can come at a time. So obviously 64bit is better, rite?

However, consider the current scenario. You haf a 64 lane highway but there are only 32 cars. So the other 32 lanes are not utilized. This is what happens if you haf a 64bit CPU but your software is written for 32bit CPU. Hence when 64bit ready software come out, your 64bit CPU would be fully utilized.

Currently most of the software are still 32bit while all of the processors available today haf migrated to 64bit.

I hope I didn't confuse you.

Note: The above explanation is not 100% technically correct, but I suppose it clears the concept

[chesss]

I guess as a thumb rule if you don't know what 64 bit is then you don't need it ....

unless! unless you are an artist or something and needs to things like -

Do you have to open 2-4gb image files & work a lot on them & save it?
do you need to open 100 images together & work on them 1-1?

2-4gb image files!! baap re! papa! .. dude plz elaborate

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by chesss

I guess as a thumb rule if you don't know what 64 bit is then you don't need it ....

Thats a bad way of generalizing things.

[dheeraj_kumar]

2-4gb image files!! baap re! papa! .. dude plz elaborate

A good quality A4 size poster in photoshop can be around 200-500 MB, depending on the content. Think of bigger banners.

[techtronic]

Your hardware can be 64-Bit but IMHO 64 Bit OS can cause severe headaches sometimes.

Classic example, replacing Intex Ethernet Card for an on board Ethernet which has stopped working.

If its Windows XP 32 Bit with SP2, unsigned drivers are accepted, but the NIC cannot be installed in Windows XP 64 Bit as the OS doesnt accept unsigned drivers. Same is the case with Windows Server 2003 32 and 64 Bit.

[Cool Joe]

Originally Posted by IronManForever

^^ AND a harder time finding some applications.

Most 32 bit apps will run fine on a 64 bit OS. Those that do support 64 bit, will offer better performance.

[comp@ddict]

^^^ Absolutely, and by chance it doesn't work(a.k.a. 32bit in 64bit) u can alwayz use emulators

[arijit_2404]

windows 64bit has in-built 32-bit emulator.. which can run almost all 32bit apps. except few rare apps.
you should go for 64bit...

[infra_red_dude]

The discussion is turning towards 32 vs. 64bit software rather than hardware!

[arijit_2404]

there is nothing to discuss in hardware. because all the processors are now 64-bit.

[infra_red_dude]

But I guess thats what the OP was asking about.

[IronManForever]

^^ In that case, he has no choice. Unanimously 64-bit.

[arijit_2404]

But his last sentence says...

So that i will buy a PC taking your advise in consideration.

AS far hardware goes, no matter what is our recommendation ... he has to buy a 64-bit processor.
Better he should think about OS architecture.

[hellgate]

he wont hav any choice when it comes to hardware.he'll hafta buy a 64 bit procy.
now the choice of using it for 64 bit computing or 32 bit depends on wat os he'll be using.so the discussion sud be on the os and not on hardware.

[acewin]

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

But I guess thats what the OP was asking about.

long time to see you where had you been.
Really was missing the jumping avatar

Originally Posted by acewin

I think you guys are little bit confused, you do not have 32 bit proccies any more now, so the CPU will always be 64-bit,

Its just OSes as you all have suggested is 32 bit or 64 bit.
64-bit is more powerful than 32 bit, whether it be OS or proccy

I think I had already said that bcoz the guy meant was for hardware and not software.

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by acewin

long time to see you where had you been.
Really was missing the jumping avatar

Yeah dude.. been busy with Grad school..

Originally Posted by acewin

I think I had already said that bcoz the guy meant was for hardware and not software.

True.. and so now that he understands what 64bit hardware is (hopefully ); he has to take a decision on use of 64bit software.

[chesss]

Question : I have pretty noobish question ..
say GTA 4 is comin this november (woot! ) , assuming it has support for 64bit (does it? ) . will there be any performance advantage running it on winxp 64bit as compared to running it on 32bit ? If so then how much difference wld it make?

Ofcourse it will (if it will) only make a difference on cpu intensive tasks..

[arijit_2404]

I am using both 32 & 64 bit OS in my PC from last 1 year. If your app (in this case GTA4) doesn't have any 64-bit version it will still run on XP 64bit but in 32-bit mode. AFAIK, almost all popular apps already work under Xp-64bit either natively or using 32bit mode.

If GTA has 64-bit executable (like, Crysis) then it can take advantages of 64-bit computing otherwise the game will work on XP 64bit without any extra advantage.

[comp@ddict]

Originally Posted by arijit_2404

But his last sentence says...

AS far hardware goes, no matter what is our recommendation ... he has to buy a 64-bit processor.
Better he should think about OS architecture.

Absolutely, unless it's a PIII or older or a old P4

[ranjan2001]

Even 32bit software on a x64 machine will run smoother & faster bcoz of additional bandwidth available in x64 system.

[chesss]

hmm I gonna try winxp 64 lite edition now..

[ranjan2001]

Originally Posted by chesss

hmm I gonna try winxp 64 lite edition now..

Does xp x64 has a lite edition too?
any link to it?