What's The Difference Between 64 And 32 Bit? Buying a new computer.

[Dooga 0]

Hey everyone!I'm going to be buying a new laptop in a few months, and I am very confused about one thing: AMD manufactures a LOT of 64 bit processors, while Intel almost never does.I'm clueless when it comes to processors, and I'm concerned because I haven't really been paying attention to processor specs as much as HD and RAM, even though those are the cheapest and easiest to switch. Does anyone have any good tips about processors? I'm mainly wondering what the difference between 64 bit and 32 bit is, but other than that I also want to know if someone has any recommendations for processors. Intel or AMD? If Intel, should I be waiting for a new Intel chip? And plus, what are the prices of processors usually, and the difference between for instance, 1.8 and 2.0 ghz dual core?

[Saint_Michael 3]

Well there are sever differences and some of them rather large, the big one is that most software companies do not design software for 64 bit processors. Another difference and this is somewhat huge depending if your a RAM person, is that 64 bit processors can read 4 gigs of RAM while 32 bit processors can only read 3 gigs of RAM. Of course, you would only need 4GB of RAM if your going all out in the hardware and set it up for Vista Ultimate that is set up with several hard drives that use RAID, getting a extreme dual or quad core processor chip and your computer is used for massive amounts of data transfers or developing multimedia like movies and what not. Another factor is of course price tag as 64-bit seem to be at the expensive end of things as well, but like I mention earlier its the software that makes the difference between the two processors.

[mikeyboy63 0]

A 64 bit processor processes 64 bits in the same time as a 32 bit processor processes 32 bits, meaning a 64 bit processor is twice as fast, in theory. Due to other factors, though, you may not actually realize a doubling of speed due to other bottlenecks, but it'll still outperform a 32 bit processor. Saint Michael has also pointed out some reasons above.

Technically, it doesn't process bits faster, it processes more bits simultaneously. It processes 64 bits at a time, while the other processes 32 bits at a time.

For the money buy AMD.

Edited June 14, 2008 by mikeyboy63 (see edit history)

[Csshih 0]

I thought that all intel core 2 duos were 64 bits in the first place?Not exactly sure about that, maybe illl do some research later.and also, as of now, intel has the fastest processors, benchmark wise.and maybe cheaper, seeing as you can buy a quad-core for around 200 bucks nowadays.

Edited June 14, 2008 by Csshih (see edit history)

[bluedragon 0]

hey Dooga,

I think you are slightly wrong.

Check this out --> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/vpro/core-processors-with-vpro-technology.html

Intel does produce 64 bit products. Infact most of the Centrino (core2duo) are 64 bit.

Also
Read this article on intel 64 technology


As for the price is concerned AMD beats them.


I'll recommend go for an AMD laptop, they offer much better overall performance considering the price you will pay.

Edited June 14, 2008 by bluedragon (see edit history)

[truefusion 3]

For the price, go with AMD. For slightly longer battery life, go with the 45nm Intel processors. And for noticable performance, you're going to want to go with speeds above 2 gigahertz.

[tricky77puzzle 0]

Another difference and this is somewhat huge depending if your a RAM person, is that 64 bit processors can read 4 gigs of RAM while 32 bit processors can only read 3 gigs of RAM.

Actually 64-bit processors can read 2^64 memory addresses, hence the name 64-bit. That becomes 16 (kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, exa) exabytes. (It's 16 exabytes? I thought the memory addresses went by bits, not bytes. Oh, well...)
It's not that they can process faster or anything - just that they process more data at a time -- which doesn't mean that a 64-bit processor can simulate two 32-bit processors. 64-bit programs will generally run faster than their 32-bit equivalents if the program is larger.

In comparison, 32-bit processors can have up to 2^32 bytes, or 4 gigabytes.

[ckcomputerstallahassee 0]

Most of the newer processors these days are coming 64-bit. If you are talking about os's though, you really need to consider some things, because there is a lot of software that does not support a 64-bit OS.

[Dooga 0]

Thanks for the replies! Does anyone know anything about the new Intel chips? Personally, I'm leaning towards Intel not because I know anything about it, but it's because if one day I'm bored enough to run a Hackintosh (install a Mac with a patch on an intel based PC) then I can do it

[bluedragon 0]

For laptops , There are five Intel processors.

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

The two that are good for money are >

1. Intel Extreme editions -- these are for the professional gamers and ppl who really want to experience power and don't really care about money

2. Intel Centrino - these are built for mobility. They are like the core 2 duos that we normally use but built for a special purpose thats mobility. They offer power saving features and thus most of the centrino based products have longer battery life. Some of them can even last for like 6-9 hours. Mine gives me a backup of around 4-5 hrs when I am only surfing the net or working on Word. . But don't expect too much performance out of these.

Don't bother going for a Celeron or a Core2Duo based computer. thats a waste of money.

By the way. for Mobiles I think Intel has removed their Core2Duo and replaced it with Centrino (with Core2duo) since its the same thing but with some added advantage of low power consumption.