Is it worth upgrading to 64bit?

dave1701

dave1701

New Member
I currently have Windows 7 32bit. I am about to get another 2gb of RAM, giving me 4gb total. I will also get a older quad core AMD. Is 64bit inherently faster than 32bit? Is the 1gb of ram worth the trouble of upgrading? If 64bit will make my computer run considerably faster, I'll go for it.
 
tremmor

tremmor

Well-Known Member
4 gig and 32 bit windows 7 will not make much diff. I have one 32 bit and 4gig. It see's 3-1/2 gig when i look at the specs. I believe they said here the 4 gig will still be used.
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
The older First Generation Phenom processors are not worth it in my opinion. The Phenom II Triple-Core or an Athlon II Triple-Core or Athlon II Quad-Core Processor are worth looking at. What are your motherboard specifications?
 
tremmor

tremmor

Well-Known Member
Just upgrade the 2 gig more and done. 32 bit with 4 gig will work fine in my opinion.
Or just install it now and try it, the extra gig mem. I have them both. 7 Pro 64 bit mem. i like well. No diff for what i use these computers for. I can add much more gig mem with 64 bit windows 7 but don't need it. Might be wasting money.
 
DMGrier

DMGrier

VIP Member
I do not know about Windows but with Ubuntu I have ran 32 Bit and 64 Bit on the laptop in my signature and I have noticed absolutely no difference in speed. The only difference I have seen is some software is better designed for either a 32 or 64 bit version but that depends on the software.
 
lucasbytegenius

lucasbytegenius

Well-Known Member
The only issue I've encountered with the 64 bit version of Windows is some old hardware drivers refused to work, but that shouldn't be an issue if you have newer hardware (2008 and up :p)
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Wow.

Firstly, 32bit Windows, cannot address more than 32^2 = 4GB, that is total. That includes addressable memory from the HDD, GPU, RAM, Sound card etc etc.

If you install 4GB of RAM, you will only be able to address (read: use) 4GB minus the 1GB on your GPU, minus about another 500Mb for other stuff (sound, etc). If you install the additional 2GB you will gain, only 500Mb usable RAM (i.e. 4GB - 1.5GB = 2.5GB = 500Mb bonus).

You need a 64bit OS to use that ram, otherwise you are wasting your time.

4GB system RAM makes a massive difference compared to your slow hard drive that will be smashing along reading the PF.

Secondly, there is no, repeat no, issues with 64bit Win 7 in terms of hardware.

Thirdly, DMGreir Ubuntu etc overcommits RAM, so the limitations will not be 'seen' unless all apps call the memory at once. In Windows however, it doesn't over commit, so you will see massive performance drop as it will proxy to the hard drive page file. Also, you are using onboard GPU, not one with 1GB VRAM. Makes a massive difference.
 
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lucasbytegenius

lucasbytegenius

Well-Known Member
bigfellla said:
Secondly, there is no, repeat no, issues with 64bit Win 7 in terms of hardware.
Click to expand...
Yes, there is, but mostly with older hardware. I have a wireless card that refused to work in Windows 7 x64 despite trying numerous drivers, but in x86 it worked fine - Windows got the driver off the Internet by itself and everything works now.
The OP probably won't have the problems I had though.
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Yeah, ok, but I believe there is actually work arounds for that. Point is though, don't install 4GB of RAM on a 32bit OS WIndows. Pointless
 
S.T.A.R.S.

S.T.A.R.S.

banned
32-bit Windows OS supports 4 GB of RAM maximum.
64-bit Windows OS supports 192 GB of RAM maximum.

So if you will have 4 GB of RAM,you will not notice any difference wether you use 32-bit or 64-bit OS.So if you need to reinstall a LOT of programs and also not sure if all your installed programs support 64-bit architecture,do not bother installing 64-bit.Just leave it at 32-bit because you will not notice a speed diference believe me.

On systems which contain 4 GB of RAM memory,for example Windows XP will report that the system has 3.5 or 2.99 GB of RAM available.But don't worry about that.Your system DOES have 4 GB of RAM and WILL use 4 GB of RAM when neccessary.Just because Windows XP shows 3.5 or 2.99 GB of RAM instead 4.00 GB of RAM does NOT mean that Windows XP will not use all 4.00 GB of RAM when neccessary.All 4.00 GB of RAM IS there and WILL be used WHEN NECCESSARY only XP does not report "4.00 GB of RAM".
Same applies to Windows Vista and Windows 7.

By the way Windows Vista with SP1 and later actually shows all 4.00 GB of RAM on 32-bit.XP 32-bit on the other hand does not report 4.00 GB of RAM,but that's the ONLY difference.All 4.00 GB of RAM is still used completely normal when neccessary just like on Vista and Windows 7.

So if you plan to have 4 GB of RAM memory,stay on 32-bit OS because 64-bit OS won't make anything run faster.Plus on 64-bit OS there is always a risk that your hardware and drivers won't work.Maybe it will maybe it won't...it depends on your hardware and driver support.
Same applies for all the programs you are using because not all programs work on 32-bit AND 64-bit OS...

By the way RAM memory does NOT make things to run faster such as games.RAM memory only multitaskes your computer better.It does not make it any much faster unless if you have tons of programs running at the same time.

Typical usage scenarios:

-Better RAM memory is needed when programs need a long time to open or if random programs randomly crash or if PF is very big and it is being used a lot.It is also needed if system freezes very often since it probably ran out of RAM for the needed resources...

-Better processor is needed when things such as games lag a lot or if you are performing many many many heavy calculations such as programming applications which execute many calculations and many other things every milisecond...

-Better graphic card is needed when games run SLOW,but do NOT lag.It is also needed if you are making VERY advanced 3D based programs...

32-bit and 64-bit operating system terms refer to the way a computer's processor (CPU - central processing unit) handles information.64-bit version of Windows OS handles large amounts of RAM memory more effectively than a 32-bit Windows OS,but this is important mostly if you have more than 4 GB of RAM memory and do a HUGE HEAVY multitasking and I am pretty sure you don't do that...



So is it worth upgrading to 64-bit OS?

NO:

---> If you are going to upgrade to it just because it's NEW then no...
---> If you are going to upgrade to it thinking that it will run faster than no...

YES:

---> If you are going to upgrade to it because you plan to use a lot of RAM memory such as 6 or 8 or even more GB of RAM for things such as heavy video editing then yes...
---> If you are going to upgrade to it since you have a strong processor with the 64-bit architecture ability which you plan to use for heavy programming and heavy calculations then yes...



I hope this helped you to decide.It's your decision anyway lol.




Cheers!
 
8

87dtna

Active Member
bigfellla said:
Wow.

Firstly, 32bit Windows, cannot address more than 32^2 = 4GB, that is total. That includes addressable memory from the HDD, GPU, RAM, Sound card etc etc.

If you install 4GB of RAM, you will only be able to address (read: use) 4GB minus the 1GB on your GPU, minus about another 500Mb for other stuff (sound, etc). If you install the additional 2GB you will gain, only 500Mb usable RAM (i.e. 4GB - 1.5GB = 2.5GB = 500Mb bonus).

You need a 64bit OS to use that ram, otherwise you are wasting your time.
Click to expand...


Wow is right, but talking about your post.

Why are you subtracting 1gb for GPU ram? He has an external dedicated card with 1gb of ram, how does that have any affect whatsoever? Your post makes no sense whatsoever.

If he has 2gb now, and installs 4gb in a 32bit OS he will gain 1.5gb (because the OS cannot see more than 3.5). That is easily worth it.
 
Cromewell

Cromewell

Administrator
Staff member
87dtna said:
Wow is right, but talking about your post.

Why are you subtracting 1gb for GPU ram? He has an external dedicated card with 1gb of ram, how does that have any affect whatsoever? Your post makes no sense whatsoever.

If he has 2gb now, and installs 4gb in a 32bit OS he will gain 1.5gb (because the OS cannot see more than 3.5). That is easily worth it.
Click to expand...

It will be less than 3.5GB. The video ram gets addressed from the 4GB worth of addresses your system can use but not 100% of it is addressed directly out of your RAM space.
 
dave1701

dave1701

New Member
I'll be getting it today, we'll see how much Windows 7 recognizes. I feel like I'm getting mixed messages.

I do do some mufti-tasking. I am almost always playing music. The heaviest I do is for example: Playing music with Zune software, Browsing the internet, installing something, and windows live mail open.
 
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tremmor

tremmor

Well-Known Member
Do that. Add the mem then left click computer / at the top system properties. If ya want it or need it then you can do the 64 bit if ya want.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
XP/Vista/7 32bit all can read up to 4gb. of memory. But some is reserved for hardware memory adresses. Whats left over is available/usable to the OS. Hence depending on yor hardware it will vary between 3 and 3.75gb. Vista SP1 and 7 32bit, just show now how much memory in installed. The same amount as above is still just available/usable to the OS.
 
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