32bit or 64bit WIN 7 ?


  1. Posts : 27
    Windows 7 Home Premium
       #1

    32bit or 64bit WIN 7 ?


    I do not believe i have problem,here is what i am working with on 2 pc's.
    PC #1,I installed WIN 7 OS 64BIT, I put in a SSDH HYBRID HDD 1TB HDD,has 4GB"S of ram,GT610 GPU,500WATT PSU,PC is great just a little tweaking to do.
    It is a DELL E 521 AMD 64,3.0 CPU and when i run Speecy to see what is inside of it,it comes up with 64bit in the PC, has a 3.0 cpu
    PC#2,I want to install the same setup as these PC'S are essentially the same inside would there be any draw backs as to whether i install a 32bit or 64bit WIN 7 OS,this PC also says AMD 64 on tower.
    The 2nd PC only has a stock 305watt PSU.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #2

    w7 should work fine on the PC2.
    Hook up all hardware you will use and run this tool to see if all will work with the X64.
    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl...ils.aspx?id=20
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 27
    Windows 7 Home Premium
    Thread Starter
       #3

    HI,Britton30,I was more interested in which version is better 32bit or 64bit WIN 7.
    I have the 64bit WIN 7 in PC#1 right now.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #4

    I think 64 bit is better, if your hardware supports it. It seems faster than 32 bit in my experience. There's the advantage of using more than 4GB of RAM as well.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,223
    Win 10 x64 Pro x64 / Ubuntu 15.10 x64
       #5

    @ILDPCS: If I may, it sounds like you're actually trying to work out what the difference is between a 32-bit and 64-bit OS. As for which one is better, that in itself is a relative term. Better for what exactly..?

    Off the top of my head there are two key points you should keep in mind.

    Application support: A 32-bit OS supports 16-bit and 32-bit applications, while a 64-bit OS supports 32-bit and 64-bit apps, but not 16-bit. This is a somewhat moot point as there aren't many 16-bit apps floating around these days, unless you plan to play some of your old favourite PC games from the '90s... :)

    RAM support: a 32-bit OS is restricted to 4GB worth of physical addresses. So basically, 4GB minus all the hardware addresses your system uses. I've seen this leave anywhere between 3.2 and 3.5GB available for the OS as "RAM". Some chips (even as far back as the older Pentium II IA-32) actually had 36-bit physical memory address space, allowing it to "address" a full 4GB of RAM as well as all the other hardware.

    The full list of differences is way longer than I can describe here (check Wikipedia if you really want to know), but it can be made really simple if you think of it this way: a 64-bit OS will allow you to run applications that can take advantage of your 64-bit hardware, but it's still down to the software you use.

    In layman's terms, the only real world benefit I see an average getting from this is running a machine that can actually make use of more than 4GB of RAM.

    I can't comment on any difference in operating speeds between the two bit levels, but I would think if your hardware is geared towards a 64-bit setup, running the same bit level OS just makes more sense.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 9,537
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #6

    This link will answer many of your questions...
    32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions - Microsoft Windows Help

    Read through them and then decide which is better for YOU!
    THW
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 2,497
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
       #7

    A big advantage of a 64 bit OS is the ability to run native 64 bit applications. These have access to a much larger virtual address space which gives some types of application a huge advantage. 64 bit is the future. At some point in the future there will be only 64 bit versions of Windows. As happened with server operating systems years ago.
      My Computer


 

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