Whats the difference between 32-bit and 64 bit OS?

M

matt0802001

New Member
I'm looking into building my own computer and on the MOBO i'm looking at, it says it will support 4gb 32-bit or 8gb 64-bit of RAM. I know that I would need a cpu capable of 64-bit... but would I need an OS also capable of such? and if so, which OS's handle 64-bit? Is it only Vista, or is there a XP 64-bit version and how do you know the difference?

Also, How do you spec out your RAM for 64-bit? Where will that show up in the spec's to know that is what your are paying for?

Thanks for the help.
 
yea, theres a 64-bit XP.
a 32bit os will work fine with a 64bit compatible motherboard and CPU. as for ram specs, its the same as 32 bit systems, except you can have more of it. when it comes to using a 32 bit or 64 bit operating system, theres really no difference. all the settings etc are still set the same way.

the motherboard states the difference in ram amounts because of the programming limitation of 32-bit operating systems. there isen't enough memory address space to utilize more then 4gb of ram. you can still have more then that, but the operating system wont see it or use it. 64-bit operating systems can utilise double the amount of bits for memory addressing. which basicly means that they can take upto 16 exobytes of ram.
 
matt0802001 said:
Thanks for the great info.

So is the industry trend then to move completely to 64-bit OS's and CPU's and MOBO's?
Click to expand...

No. From what I hear, the 64-bit OS has major compatibility issues. and Vista is bad all together (for now anyways).
 
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