64-bit: More than just the RAM

64-bit: More than just the RAM
Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 16th Oct 2007


Introduction
If you're a member of this or any other technology-based forum, odds are that you've noticed the several versions of Microsoft's latest offering, Windows Vista. If you haven't, well... please come out from under that rock and get with the programming!

One of the biggest changes has been the clear offering and even a gentle push towards the 64-bit version of the OS. Indubitably, this extra option becomes fodder for forum discussion, usually along the line of:

Forumite 1: "Hi, I am building a new system and I wanted to know what your thoughts were on whether I should use 64-bit or 32-bit Vista? I've heard varying things around the net regarding compatibility, and was hoping someone could help."
Forumite 2: "Hi! I just read your post. You should definitely go with the 32-bit version. There's tons of compatibility problems with 64b (Just look at XP-64), and it's going to die a long, drawn-out death. Besides, the only actual difference between them is that 64-bit can make proper use of 4GB of RAM."
Forumite 1: "Oh, ok! Thanks!"

Now, what's wrong with this picture? The answer is a lot. Time and time again, self-proclaimed gurus determine that the only real difference between 32-bit computing and 64-bit computing is the memory limit. Are they right that RAM is a reason? Definitely - but that's missing about 99 percent of the true differences. By that logic, the only major difference between your old 8-bit Nintendo console and your Xbox 360 is processor speed. I think we can all agree, that's just wrong.

Read More at the Source :
NOTE: Very informative. Be sure to click Next Page at the bottom for all of it.

Bit-tech.net: 64-bit: More than just the RAM < Click Link Here








Enjoy,
Shawn
 
Hello Paliometoxo,

4 GB seems to be about the sweet spot for a good amount of RAM unless you do a lot of video or music editing that uses a lot of RAM.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
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    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
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    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
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    Thermaltake Core P3
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    Corsair Hydro H115i
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    Logitech MX Master 3
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
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    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
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    Conexant ISST Audio
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    17.3" UHD IPS touch
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    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Yep. :)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi. Is this site for Wds Vista x64 bit only...?:huh:
Thank you.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

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    S-Vaio FZ
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    Intel Core2duo T7100-1.8GHz
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    DDR2-2GB-PC2.5300-Sp.667MHz
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    Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100-358MBvideo ram
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    1280x800
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    200GB/7200Rpm/Serial ATA
Hi. Is this site for Wds Vista x64 bit only...?:huh:
(Please ,Excuse my dump question)

Tek101,

This site is for both the 32-bit and 64-bit Vista. :)

Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
I was blown away, by the increased speed of Vista Ultimate 64, over XP-Pro or Vista 32. Even my internet connection seemed to be faster.

I've still not made Vista 64 my everyday OS, but I suspect the day will come, in the not too distant future.

It really takes full advantage of my AMD dual core X2, 5200+ cpu and the four gig's of DDR2-800 ram.

Vista Ultimate 32 was somewhat of a dog, by comparison.

Shadow :cool:
 

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    MS-Digital
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yes i agree, i use ultimate 64bit for every day lap top use and its great, every app works fine with it to.

i notice it makes a program files and a second program files ( x86) what does that mean? that the programs cant do 64bit so they save as 32bit in the 64bit system?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    4GB
    Hard Drives
    c:250GB
    Internet Speed
    4mbit adsl
The x86 program folder is for 32bit programs while the traditional program folder is for 64 bit applications.


I honestly didn't notice a difference in day to day computing, only when I had way too many applications and windows running did it seem any quicker and even then it wasn't a dramatic increase. That was the same time I installed the other 4GB ram kit and while I am still happy with the performance I see no need for the other 4GB for the average user or gamer nor do I really see the performance argument for those same users to switch to a 64bit OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Phenom x4 9600 Agena
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    Asus M3A-H/HDMI
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    8GB OCZ Fatal1ty PC2-6400
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    Powercolor Radeon HD4830
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    HP W2408h, Gateway VX1100
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    1920x1200, 1600x1200
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    Maxtor 200GB IDE (x2)
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    CoolerMaster ATCS 210
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    MS Wireless Keyboard for Bluetooth
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    MS Wireless Mouse for Bluetooth
eventually everyone will be on 64bit like from 16 to 32 no one uses 16bit anymore unless i am mistaken? will be nice to be able to just do a upgrade to windows 7 ultimate 64bit in a year or so when its released and all programs are windows 7 ready
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    4GB
    Hard Drives
    c:250GB
    Internet Speed
    4mbit adsl
eventually everyone will be on 64bit like from 16 to 32 no one uses 16bit anymore unless i am mistaken? will be nice to be able to just do a upgrade to windows 7 ultimate 64bit in a year or so when its released and all programs are windows 7 ready
everybody is already on 64bit, 64bit is the processor, not the operating system ;)
64bit operating systems just take advantage of the speed of the processor, compared to 32bit :D
 

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    Intel Q6600 @ 2.8GHz
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    Evga NF78-CK-132-A 3-Way SLI
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    EVGA 560 GTX SC FTW 1GB
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    Dell S2409W 16:9, HDMi, DVI & VGA
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    1920 x 1080
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    Samsung 7200rpm 250Gb SATA,
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    WD 7200rpm 1TB SCSI SATA.
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    Xigmatek 750W Quad sli quad core 80% eff
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    Antec 900 Gaming Case
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    Zalman CNPS9700-NT NVIDIA Tritium, Dominator RAM cooler
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    Razor Lachesis Banshee V2 Blue, 4000DPI
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    16Mb Sky bb
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    Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, Wireless Xbox 360 Pad, Wireless Xbox 360 Les Paul Guitar
heh this is my first time on 64bit i guess im way behind times :D

right its not the os i know but no one has a 16 bit os now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    4GB
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    c:250GB
    Internet Speed
    4mbit adsl
heh this is my first time on 64bit i guess im way behind times :D

right its not the os i know but no one has a 16 bit os now.
someone could be using GEOS or tomOS(based on 32bit MikeOS) but 32bit has capabilities of running 16bit apps.
 

My Computer

System One

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    Custom Build
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    Intel Q6600 @ 2.8GHz
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    Evga NF78-CK-132-A 3-Way SLI
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    8Gb DDR2 Corsair Dominator @ 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 560 GTX SC FTW 1GB
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    Realtek ALC888 7.1 Audio, Logitech G35 7.1 Surround Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell S2409W 16:9, HDMi, DVI & VGA
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    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 7200rpm 250Gb SATA,
    Samsung 7200rpm 750Gb SATA,
    WD 7200rpm 1TB SCSI SATA.
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    Xigmatek 750W Quad sli quad core 80% eff
    Case
    Antec 900 Gaming Case
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    Zalman CNPS9700-NT NVIDIA Tritium, Dominator RAM cooler
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    Logitech generic keyboard
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    Razor Lachesis Banshee V2 Blue, 4000DPI
    Internet Speed
    16Mb Sky bb
    Other Info
    Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, Wireless Xbox 360 Pad, Wireless Xbox 360 Les Paul Guitar
64-bit executables are fundamentally different in structure from 32-bit, which is incidentally why it's not possible to load 64-bit DLLs into 32-bit processes and vice versa.

The "Program Files (x86)" folder is there on 64-bit Windows to store 32-bit apps and their supporting files. 64-bit stuff goes into "Program Files".

Incidentally, the \windows\system32 folder contains 64-bit DLLs, while \windows\SysWoW64 stores 32-bit equivalents. It's the opposite of what the numbers suggest.
 

My Computer

Dumb me!!! I had to get a new computer because my other one crashed unexpectedly. I didn't know it it was a 64 bit at the time. I am finding out now that there are not very many software programs that support Vista 64 bit. I sure hope it gets better soon. I am having a pretty tough time trying to figure out how to do things. It is a challenge!!!! :p but I'm not giving up!!!

Thanks for this forum. I've learned alot. (although, I'm not too thrilled with Vista; and I didn't want it in the first place; but I had no choice!!!)

Oh well, again: Live and learn!! :)
 

My Computer

Oh, sorry, one more thing. I wanted to add some more RAM because I want more media on it and it was operating pretty slow. I have a HP Slimline Paviliion, Vista Home Premium with 2 GB. It said I could get more RAM and then it said I had the full amount. Does that mean I can't add any more RAM?

If not, what a bummer. I always thought you could add more RAM to a computer if you wanted to!!!

Should I cry or not??? :cry:
 

My Computer

i have hp pavilion to but the customer support for hp is very good..

i have 4GB though and vista ultimate 64 bit. the support for drivers is amazing..

look up your lap top specs it should say up to how much ram you can have, mine says up to 8GB i have two slots so i would put two 4GB ram if i where to upgrade
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    4GB
    Hard Drives
    c:250GB
    Internet Speed
    4mbit adsl
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