help understand 64bit cpu's

M

Merky Works

New Member
ok so i have read the cpu 101 and it has been very helpfull, however one thing that im still unclear on is that newer amd64 are 64 bit cpu's. so that means that it processes 64 bits of data were as an old p4 1.6ghz will only process 32 bits of data, now this would make the cpu faster right? but then i read that you need a os that can operate in 64bit mode(xp 64) or somthing like that. so how does that work??:o
 
Merky Works said:
ok so i have read the cpu 101 and it has been very helpfull, however one thing that im still unclear on is that newer amd64 are 64 bit cpu's. so that means that it processes 64 bits of data were as an old p4 1.6ghz will only process 32 bits of data, now this would make the cpu faster right? but then i read that you need a os that can operate in 64bit mode(xp 64) or somthing like that. so how does that work??:o
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64bit simply refers to the size of the integer registers. It does not effect the speed of the cpu, nor directly the performance.

It means that the cpu can address more ram, so the system can have more ram in it.
 
so is means that it can take more a bit out of the info?

so than what is the big deal with the athlon 64 series vs the newer p4 prescot series, being 64 bit vs 32 bit.

sorry about the noob ?'s
 
furture proof. In year to come apps and operating systems will need to address more ram, holding large data sets. You need to have a 64bit machine to run the apps and operating systems that are designed for 64bit platforms.
 
So you can have a fast Processor and about 1024GB for memory an be fine.I am planning getting the AMD 4200 Processor and 2048GB for memory.
 
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