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32bit vs 64bit OS


Lisi

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Hey everyone,

 

I was just wondering if there are any major advantages to installing a 64bit Operating System. All the Computers in my house are running 32bit versions, but I've been told by almost everybody to use 64bit. I have never used a 64bit OS before, so don't really know the difference.

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64bit systems can utilize more than 4GB RAM, which is useful for computers that perform RAM intensive tasks. Makes it quicker for video converting, video editing etc.

 

I run Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (6GB DDR3), and seem to find it quicker than 32bit OS's yet slightly less compatible. Hope this clears things up :o

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32 bit systems can only utilise 3.25GB through the default system, but you can allocate each stick to different processes to use the full 4GB. :)

32-bit can address a maximum of 4GB I believe, but that includes video, sound and other system memory, which MUST be addressed before RAM. The amount of RAM left depends on how much has been taken up by these other systems. I've had two systems, one had 3.25GB of RAM, the other 3GB of RAM. The difference being one was using a 768MB graphics card, the other a 512MB card.

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  • 1 year later...

The most important difference is that a 32 bit OS can't recognize or use more than 4GB of RAM, while 64bit OS can recognize more than 4GB of RAM. That's the key difference. Now, if you're not running a server or something like that, you don't really need more than 4 GB of RAM, but since most of new computers come with 4+ GBs 64bit OS's are now a standard. DDR3 RAM's price gone down for 50-60% in the last two years, so it's pretty cheap now.

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