Poll: 64 or 32

[niglett]

hello i have a tech question
i currently am running windows 7 32 bit pro on my laptop and was wondering if it would be better to run 64 bit pro instead.

processor: AMD Turion x2 Dual-core Mobile RM-72 2.10 GHz yes it is 64bit compatable
RAM: 4.00 GB for some reasion only 2.75 Gb usable

so could 64 bit help me at all or would it be useless.

 

[LetoTheTyrant]

Not voting coz I'm half and half. If you've already got 32 bit version, I'd say no. You wouldn't see a big enough difference to justify the cost. However, when getting a new machine, or upgrading to a new version of windows, I'd say 64-bit is the way to go now.

 

[ScruffyTheJanitor]

64 has more often that not been better... but unless your getting 64 for free... it's probably not worth it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it y'know.

 

[Avaholic03]

64 bit. The only catch is that you need signed drivers, so if you get some obscure hardware you might not be able to use it. But I've had Win 7 x64 for several months now and haven't had any problems.

As for your RAM issue (only 2.75 GB usable) is some of it shared with your video card or something? That's pretty odd, I haven't heard of that before. I'm pretty sure even 32-bit supports 4GB of RAM, so upgrading to x64 probably won't help there.

 

[niglett]

it wont cost me a thing because i already have a copy of win7 64bit pro and i save everything on an external device. im just wondering for performance.

 

[Quaxar]

Unless you need to run 3D rendering programs or Crysis I'd say stay with the 32bit. It's not that important.

If you want to use the full 4Gb RAM though you probably need to upgrade to 64bit, 32 version can only process 4Gb of RAM (graphic card RAM included)

 

[Weaver]

64 bit. The only catch is that you need signed drivers, so if you get some obscure hardware you might not be able to use it. But I've had Win 7 x64 for several months now and haven't had any problems.

As for your RAM issue (only 2.75 GB usable) is some of it shared with your video card or something? That's pretty odd, I haven't heard of that before. I'm pretty sure even 32-bit supports 4GB of RAM, so upgrading to x64 probably won't help there.

A 32 bit OS does not have enough registers available to properly address 4 GB of ram as it exceeds the amount of bits that 32 bits can represent in a binary system.

For example, 4 gigabytes is 34359738368 bits or 100000000000000000000000000000000000 in binary.

100000000000000000000000000000000000. Realize that this number, however is 36 bits long and can't be represented properly in a 32 bit OS.

 

[BlackWidower]

64-bit is something you want to avoid if you're into classic windows titles such as...um...Sim City? However there is a workaround. DosBOX or Virtualization. But that's the case with a lot of things.

 

[Revolutionary]

32 is half the bit 64 will EVAR BE!

 

[crimson5pheonix]

64-bit. The problem with your RAM is directly the fault of your OS. 32-bit OS' can only have about 4GB (but not quite that much) addressed between everything in your computer. The two biggest are RAM and the graphics card, but many other things use a little bit of memory as well.

 

[Psychemaster]

32-bit OSes are capped at around 3.5GB of RAM, so if you ever want to go beyond that 64-bit is the way to go.