Vista - 64-bit: More than just the RAM

It's "picky", since we are being picky...

If you are going to be a geek, be an accurate geek. It really is 2^32 (4,294,967,296) bytes of address space. The highest address byte is (2^32)-1 because the count starts at zero. So the range is 0 - 4,294,967,295.

So you distinction only makes a difference when you are actually addressing the bytes or converting from decimal to hex or binary. That's why 0xFF = 255 = 11111111. 8 bits equals a byte which can store any of 256 unsigned integers from 0 to 255. And you distinction makes no sense when discussing the number of bytes in an address space or when doing calculation of address space size based on the bit size of a processor.

S-

cmon ppl.....lets keep it friendly!!

Indeed...but not yet

One "thing" more :
I do not understand educated, highly professional statements, like "erh..64 IS BETTER THAN 32...no doubt...erhhh...because the article said so"..... ...***
I don't even try to understand. Waste of Internet space.

"Better" is rather wide consept. Especially when we are comparing these two systems (32bit vs 64bit).
Those who say "64bit is naturally better.." do not understand a *** about IT...usually. One point in "betterness" is the environment where the OS is going to perform. Industry was once mentioned in the article. What was said in the text was partly ***. Those, who do something with robotics etc., understand what I am trying to say...
It's FAR from true that 64bit is always better. Very far.
Average user will never have any visual or physical experience about "better and faster 64bit environment" over fast 32bit system. Never.
Most users will only gain ***** when automatically buying (or downloading..) 64bit Vista for their "extreme rigs".

Sad trueth is that most users do not understand even their hardware. Mostly they don't have any idea WHAT they are going to do with their HW (exept play games..). Almost surely they have no idea how the hardware can really perform and when the performance is truely needed.
It's just a must to get 64bit OS..because boy from the next house has it and he said it's always better...and so said his father too.

I would recommend to be sceptical when reading *** tests/articles and waiting a bit (like some others above..).

In the future when
- the software really becomes out 64bit (NOT converted to 64bit..coded to solid 64bit system) and
- the hardware that truely supports the same environment (NOT only thru converted 32bit drivers..) and
- the prices of the devices needed to perform will drop extremely
then it's logical to get the 64bit OS too.

Now a decent 64bit, well performing "PC" with decent software will cost..more than enough for 99.9% of potential users. They are sometimes called "Servers" or engineering workstations.
And yet...what is "decent" or what "performance" really means ? More that a gamer needs (or is capable) to understand.

P.S. Off-topic but still...

One of the most ridiculous comparisons today is widely used FPS-value.

"This Card_X gets 180 FPS when using 32bit Vista but with 64bit OS the card really FLIES...getting HUGE 188 FPS..". ...OH...WHAT A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE !

My imagination has not found any other as "reliable" and as relevant "fact" to buy something than those tests.

EDITED BY: Brink
Removed language and insults.

KBolt,

If you dont understand 64bit then dont try fool yourself or others into believing its worse than 32bit...If there are all these "educated, highly professional statements" about 64bit being better than 32bit dont you think it would be better? Have you done your own tests to see the difference? Judging by your reply and the section I quoted above all I see is you have absolutely no idea about the differences between the two and would rather insult others and use abusing language about something you have never bothered to understand or have a clue about.

I can explain the differences quite easily for you, 32bit only runs your PC at 32 words at a time while 64bit runs your PC at 64 words at a time The major difference is having every component and program able to to use double the capacity of every component to run programs at once while also giving that program a major performance boost in execution time and major boost in calculations used in every last program since the 1970`s. (thats the most basic of basic explanation about the differences and there are hundreds more improvements and changes that benefit everyone)

While you might think there are no differences or reasons to use 64bit or thinking there are no available 64bit applications available for normal users and uses, You will find by understanding 64bit and using 64bit that it has something for everyone and also how its there to make the things you do faster, more secure and better.

Many Company's and Developers are spending millions to get their software and hardware upgraded and updated for 64bit desktop machines as they also understand the major improvements over 32bit and how everyone can benefit from the changes
Quote: '64-bit' CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1960s
64-bit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You do not need to use abusive language or insults in your reply...Especially about a subject you have no idea about, please read the Forum Rules about acceptable language and also more documentation about 64bit from its creators before trying to convince people there's no reason to use it

Steven

I think KBolt was being sarcastic about "highly professional statements". That said, he is saying that for most users, the benefits of 64-bit are negligible and not worth the potential incompatibilities.

I still think that for many of these "most users", they will get the benefit from expandability to over 4GB at least, if not all those other technical performance increases. One of the factors that separate Vista from all previous 64-bit systems, is SuperFetch...and in some cases in conjunction with sleep mode.

What most people CAN benefit from is the multitasking performance boost given by Vista with more RAM. Maybe some people will upgrade later on when they have more money and RAM is less expensive than dirt. And the default sleep mode means people save time when their computers are switched on and ready in 5 seconds (with everything SuperFetched).

"Time is Money, Friend!"

Even the Vista Team says this...

“There appears to be a shift taking place in the PC industry: the move from 32-bit to 64-bit PCs.... PC Accelerators built into Windows Vista, such as Windows SuperFetch, improve performance by keeping commonly used programs in memory, even when the program is closed. More memory capacity on 64-bit PCs allows SuperFetch to do its job more efficiently. "
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/07/30/windows-vista-64-bit-today.aspx

Understanding how SuperFetch uses RAM to enhance system performance…
Understand how SuperFetch uses RAM to enhance system performance | Microsoft Windows | TechRepublic.com

Tervetuloa, Mites Menee? Hi and wellcome KBOLT. If you have used bad language, I do not see the call for it, I have absolutely no problem with people using bad language when the situation would call for it, and I can not see any legitimate reason for bad language in this case. That said it appears that English is not your first language and in different cultures, language is used in different ways so I will put it down to an honest mistake on your part. Also I would say that many foreign nationals pick up quite a bit of their language skills from watching popular Hollywood movies, unfortunately since quite a few of these movies, use bad language for no other reason than their makers believe it will pull in more revenue, many foreign nationals can come up with the false impression that bad language is acceptable in normal conversations, which it isn't except if one is part of minority groupings such as e.g. gang members in Los Angeles. Anyway no criticism of you intended on that point, just something I thought you would like to know. As for your criticisms of 64 bit, a lot of it is what is known as "puting up the straw man and knocking him down", in that most folks around here would be well aware of the limitations of 64 bit operating systems in delivering performance and other gains, when they are used with 32 bit application software, however the big issue is that 32 bit operating systems are constrained by the 4 Gigabyte RAM barrier and that is why we are going to need 64 bit computing.

Nakemiin Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

Adrian,

It's not a 4GB RAM barrier. It's a 4GB address space limit with non-server 32-bit Microsoft Operating Systems. The distinction is not so subtle and it would help if those that wish to be subject matter experts on the limit would get the terminology and concept correct.

If your system has 4GB of RAM installed, anyone running 32-bit Vista on appropriate hardware, the most RAM your system is likely to have addressable is 3.2GB. The more likely scenario is 3GB or less. With multiple video cards, it gets even worse.

S-

I am fully aware that a 32 bit operating system runs in to problems even trying to utilize the full 4 gigabytes of RAM, now installed in many popular mass market computer systems. From my perspective, it is frankly ir-relevant whether a 32 bit operating system can utilize 3.2GB or 4.0 GB, in that even if one is taking a nominal figure of 3.00 GB as the max address space for a 32 bit system, what we are talking about is a difference of 1.00 Gigabyte between 3.00 Gigabytes and 4.00 Gigabytes and the issue with the MS 64 bit systems i.e. the 64 bit version of XP and the 64 bit version of Vista, is that they can address 128 Gigabytes. If the address limit for 64 bit systems was only slightly above 4 Gigabytes say 6 Gigabytes, I would make it a point to define at exactly how many gigabytes to two decimal places, the 32 bit versions of XP and Vista are limited to, but since even if the relevant 32 bit systems could address the whole 4 Gigabytes installed, which in reality they can not but if they could, one by utilizing a system with 8 Gigabytes installed under a 64 bit operating system, would be doubling one's potential addressable memory. I was quite deliberately being generous to 32bit operating systems, in terms of setting a nominal limit of 4 Gigabytes for them, for the reason I do not believe it is worth going to 64 bit operating systems merely to utilize what they can do in making better use of 4 Gigabytes of RAM. I have never made a claim here to be an expert and therefor it would be un-reasonable for anybody to assume, what I would say round here would be the statements of an expert. It appears to me we have a fundamental difference of approach, in evaluating the worth and applicability of 64 bit operating systems and it is quite understandable in the circumstances, my comments may have seemed slipshod to a person such as yourself who would take an entirely valid but quite different approach to this issue, I thank you for going in to detail on a number of issues as regards the addressable memory constraints on Vista and XP 32 bit operating systems, as a person new to these issues reading your remarks can only be the wiser for having read them, for they are well presented and relevant.

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

At first i have some issues because of driver support.
I have found all the drivers and games work great.
It is working great and i fixed the live TV stutter issues
by update the bios.

Does the 64bit OS Requires different hardwares?