64 bit or 32 bit OS?

Status
Not open for further replies.

elfi

Posts: 67   +0
Hi, i was wondering which one is better 64 bit or 32 bit OS ( vista/XP)
if the 64 bit is better does that ean that if i have a 64 bit OS installed that all my application also must be 64 bit?
 
No all your apps dont have to be 64 bit with a 64 bit version of an os. If you're using, or plan to use more than 3Gigs of ram everyone will suggest getting 64 bit. 32bit os=2.9Gb of ram or less, it wont see any more than that.
 
supersmashbrada, does that mean i can install every application on it?. games, office suite, photoshop, flash
 
elfi said:
does that mean i can install every application on it?. games, office suite, photoshop, flash
That would depend on the app. The 32-bit versions of most common apps, like Flash and Photoshop, work perfectly well on 64-bit OSes. Other apps, like some versions of AutoCAD, have issues running on 64-bit systems and need a 32-bit OS to work properly. So it is best to check that whatever apps you want to run will run on the new OS.

Speaking of which, I recommend Vista x64 if you want an OS now. Much better support and more stable, compared to XP x64. The best would be to wait for the 64-bit version of Windows 7.
 
That would depend on the app. The 32-bit versions of most common apps, like Flash and Photoshop, work perfectly well on 64-bit OSes. Other apps, like some versions of AutoCAD, have issues running on 64-bit systems and need a 32-bit OS to work properly. So it is best to check that whatever apps you want to run will run on the new OS.

Speaking of which, I recommend Vista x64 if you want an OS now. Much better support and more stable, compared to XP x64. The best would be to wait for the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

I have autocad and I do run into some issues with vista 64, nothing major, but I assumed since he's asking this question its pretty much impossible he's using it.
 
If you're building a new system, 64 is the way to go - it's long overdue and more and more aps are taking advantage of the environment. As 64 can access tons of more ram, I highly suggest no less than 8gb of ram with a 64 bit system.

general office productivity programs usually have a 64 bit version. Openoffice certainly does. There are tons of freeware out there. I don't use any commercial software on my system except for adobe professional which I got free from work and the OS itself.
 
thank you all, i will go with vista 64 bit. and i do use autocad hopefully i don't need to buy a special version (64bit) or so.

thanks again guys
 
All good info!

But there is an SP2 for Vista, it has moved from Beta to RC that has addressed some of these issues. I have had Vista SP2 (actually it is SP1 for Server 2008 also) for months and it is solid!

So if you go Vista 64 then (and I agree fully with Rage_3K_Moiz ) then install SP2 early after a clean Vista install even before Virus scanners.

TheChoddo the difference! 32bit vs 64bit is the size of the bite of data the processor can handle in one bite.

If it takes 100 bites of data to perform a function at 32bits then it will only take 50 bites for a 64bit processor. This is substantial and will really show up in Math calculations. Would really be noticeable in 64bit CAD and large complex spreadsheets.

But it would indirectly speedup 32bit CAD where the CAD programs turn over some of the Math to the processor directly.

This also applies to Video, say you have a 32bit Video adapter and no 64bit driver it will be somewhat faster perhaps slightly noticeable even tho 32bit because of a few things the Video adapter turns over directly to the processor, usually some math.

Mike
 
From my experience, 64-bit Windows runs apps more smoothly than apps on a 32-bit Windows. If you will use 64-bit I'll recommend using Vista 64-bit because as far as I know that it has more support than 64-bit XP though it uses a lot more resources.
 
I highly suggest no less than 8gb of ram with a 64 bit system.


Why?

4gigs is more than enough, if you dont have garbage ram.

I run 4gigs of ddr3, and can put a very significant load on my PC, and run into no issues.

In fact, I "5box" World of Warcraft on my machine (Literally run 5 instances of the program, simultaneously) and that is about the only time I exceed 50% ram usage.

I don't know if it is quality over quantity here, or not, but 4gigs should run most systems with a 64bit OS just fine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back