Additional benefits of having a 64-bit OS over a 32-bit?
32- versus 64-bit Windows OSes, 64-bit Servers, Operating system platforms, Windows 7 in 2010, Windows Operating System
Why would I want a 64-bit operating system over a 32-bit one? I have heard I can load more memory (over 4GB) on a 64-bit machine but what are the other benefits of using a 64-bit OS? I know there are issues with a lot of drivers. Do the benefits outweigh the issues? Do most applications work on a 64-bit machine with a 32-bit program?
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ASKED:
July 12, 2010 5:55 PM
UPDATED:
July 16, 2010 9:24 PM
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Answer Wiki:
If all your hardware as 64bit drivers, and all your software works in a 64bit platform then go 64bit.
You can add more memory and more CPUs (especially important in a server platform). Also some server level software isn't available in a 32bit platform. This includes Exchange 2010, probably the next version of SQL Server, and future versions of Windows Server.
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Most 32 bit programs will probably run on a 64 bit OS, but they will probably need to run on an additional compatibility layer, wich could make them work even slower than if they were running on a 32 bit OS on the same hardware.
However, applications designed to take advantage of the 64 bit architecture will show additional performance benefits than the ones related to the bigger amounts of RAM the proccessor can map, because the CPU will be able to move larger amounts of data between its registers in a single operation.
The best recommendation could depend on the software you are planning to run on the system, and obviously, on the drivers availability for you hardware.
if you using Win XP 32 bits and Planing to use Win XP 64 bit – do not bother
but with Win 7 64 bit vs 32 bits you would see better OS loading speed
and some programs in 64 bits do run faster
One other significant benefit is that
Some programs such as data encryption software can benefit greatly from 64-bit registers (if the software is 64-bit compiled) and effectively execute 3 to 5 times faster on 64-bit than on 32-bit.
The same is true of audio/video encoding/decoding.
application designed into 64 bit architecture/framework translate speed but it all depends on the software that you’re gonna used.