64 bit OS

[Michaelas10]

Does anyone know the advantages of having a 64 bit OS?

So far I've found none, and a lot of my games aren't supported.

I'm starting to consider a downgrade.

[Valjylmyr]

As far as I can tell, my 64-bit isn't giving me any advantages over my brother's 32-bit. I'm probably downgrading.

[Conspiracy3]

A 64-bit operating system can handle a lot more RAM and can handle a stronger processor.

However, 32-bit is still the standard so most games/programs are designed with 32-bit processors in mind.

I'm willing to bet that in a few years games will all be made with two versions; one 32-bit version and one 64-bit version.

[Laguna-Faw]

If you want more than 3.2GB(around that) of ram, then 63 Bit is needed.
32BIt can only support up to around 3.2GB. (including Graphics memory and Processor Caches)

[Laguna-Faw]

I did mean 64 bit!
My spelling mistake

[mariomusicmaker1]

well i found out that the processor i got is not fully supported on my 32 bit win xp, so i had to buy 64 bit vista. i never ever use it as i can not get any of my music software installed but its alright for crysis, that is the only reason i ever boot in vista,

[Freetos]

A 64-bit OS allows you to fully utilize your systems RAM, I have a computer with 6 gigs of RAM on it, and without a 64-bit os it would only use a fraction of that.

[RageVI]

Getting 64bit wasn't a question for me, as I was getting 12gb of RAM. That's the primary advantage, although there are other less noteworthy ones too. If you're going to go 64bit, you're betting off sticking with Vista because the 64bit flavor of XP doesn't seem to have nearly as much driver/software support.

[crapatflash]

I have no idea what anhy computer specs mean. 64 bit? isn't that like, nintendo?

[Samen]

At 5/16/09 11:00 PM, crapatflash wrote: I have no idea what anhy computer specs mean. 64 bit? isn't that like, nintendo?

Yes.
All 64 bit operating systems have the computing power of a Nintendo 64.
We've just gotten REALLY good at coding.

[Imaku]

64-bit can handle more RAM, but yeah, it sucks for compatability, especially if you have a 64-bit Ubuntu. Gotta go through a long ordeal just to install Flash Player.

[ragingfred]

At 5/16/09 11:00 PM, crapatflash wrote: I have no idea what anhy computer specs mean. 64 bit? isn't that like, nintendo?

actually yes but you missed the point entirely. the number of bits means how much information it can process per cycle and the determining factor is how many cycles a CPU can handle per second. in this case, 2ghz > 1 ghz. but if the 1ghz processor is 64 bit and the other is 32 bit then they are, in theory, equal in power.

[PakaPaka]

I've been running 64-Bit Windows 7 RC1 for a while now and so far everything has installed splendidly and all drivers have been compatible. All my games work including fallout 3, world of warcraft, and crysis. Haven't noticed any different really except for 4 gigs of ram, and two program files folders (x86 and default, for 64-bit apps). Don't go for the 64-Bit XP though, but Vista should work fine.

[PakaPaka]

At 5/17/09 12:39 AM, ragingfred wrote:

At 5/16/09 11:00 PM, crapatflash wrote: I have no idea what anhy computer specs mean. 64 bit? isn't that like, nintendo?

actually yes but you missed the point entirely. the number of bits means how much information it can process per cycle and the determining factor is how many cycles a CPU can handle per second. in this case, 2ghz > 1 ghz. but if the 1ghz processor is 64 bit and the other is 32 bit then they are, in theory, equal in power.

What the hell are you talking about? You seem to not understand what the 64 bit refers to. It has absolutely nothing to do with the speed of the CPU (unless you are doing large number math). 64-bit refers to the size of the memory addressing. A 64-bit CPU+OS can handle 64 bit data types (numbers going up to 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 if only positive [unsigned]). In addition, it can handle more ram than 32 bit because it has more bits to "address" the rest of the ram. With 64 bits I believe you can have 4 terabytes of ram. With 32 bit you are limited to 4 gigs theoretically but a lot of factors limit it to a realistic value of 3.5 or 3 gigs. It does absolutely nothing for speed...

Basically - 64 bit lets you have more ram due to the larger amount of memory locations that can be addressed, and it lets you use 64 bit numbers without having to concatenate two 32 bit numbers (slow).