Sooner or later, every user is faced with the question of the bit capacity of their own processor and operating system. Despite the fact that both are determined quite simply, the issue of choosing the bit depth of a new operating system is very confusing and primarily depends on the user’s requirements for his computer.
What is the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit
The system bit depth, also sometimes called “bit depth,” does not necessarily have to correspond to the processor bit depth and on modern computers it has only two main types: 32 and 64.
Difference between architecture and bit depth
Despite the external similarity of the values 86 and 32, the difference between them is large.
86 is a processor architecture, correctly written as x86, and defines the microinstruction set of the processor. The number 32 is the processor bit, which is correctly written as “32-bit”. It determines the register width of the processor.
Typically, the x86 architecture is 32-bit oriented, and the x64 architecture is 64-bit oriented. However, this statement is not always true. For example, there are 64-bit processors based on the x86 architecture and 32-bit processors based on a third, completely different architecture. But still, these cases are very rare and you can remember that x86 corresponds to 32 bits, and x64 is oriented towards 64 bits.
Difference between x86 and x64
As mentioned above, the processor architecture mainly determines its bit depth, and the bit width determines the register width. The register width determines the amount of data to be processed at a time and the amount of RAM that the computer can use. A 32-bit register is capable of simultaneously interacting with 2 32 addresses (covers 2 32 bits of information flow, which is equal to 4 gigabytes), and a 64-bit register can simultaneously interact with 2 64 (covers the previous information flow squared, which is impossible to implement even on the most powerful computers) .
To make it clearer: the register width is like the throughput of an intersection, RAM is like the number of cars, and the processor is a traffic controller. A processor with x86 architecture can easily control an intersection with a throughput of 4 gigabytes - that’s how many cars can be run through it. A processor with x64 architecture is theoretically capable of controlling an extremely large intersection. In computer language, this means that such a processor can ensure the correct operation of computers not only of its own, but also of the future generation. When installing Windows, you can choose between x86 and x64
Thus, installing more than 4 gigabytes of RAM on a computer with an x86 processor will not lead to its practical expansion.
Despite the extremely large and unclaimed register width for 64-bit processors, creating an intermediate stage between a 32-bit and 64-bit processor is almost pointless. In general, there is not much difference in implementation complexity between the x86 and x64 architectures. It's just that when developing the 32-bit registry, which is still used by most programs, RAM amounts beyond 4 gigabytes seemed impossible, as 2 64 seem to be now.
How to choose the system bit size
Continuing the above allegory, we can say that the bit depth of the operating system determines what kind of intersection will be created.
All x64 processors support a 32-bit operating system as well as a 64-bit one, but x86 processors only support 32-bit systems.
If you have a processor with x86 architecture, then you have no choice. If you have an x64 architecture, it's worth installing a 64-bit system, even if you don't have 4 gigabytes of RAM. The reason for this choice is simple: most new programs and extensions are released exclusively for 64-bit systems, and 32-bit systems are unwittingly being forced out of the market.
In fact, 64-bit systems have only two significant advantages: support for more than 4 gigabytes of RAM and support for 64-bit operating software. All 32-bit programs are also supported without any difficulty.
Yes, there are few positive aspects, but there are almost no cons. The only exception is if you are using some very old hardware that does not have a 64-bit driver. For example, 32-bit drivers that will not work on a 64-bit system.
The difference in performance between systems of different capacity is a myth. It arose due to different requirements for operating systems, but they are purely conditional. In addition, some programs or games have settings that are only available on x64, which is why performance comparisons for different games arise on the Internet. If there are such functions or settings, then they are all disabled and in fact there is no difference.
Video: Differences between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems
How to find out the system capacity
Many users do not even suspect that they have been using a 64-bit system instead of 32 for a long time. This is very easy to check.
Checking through Computer Properties
Checking through the root directory
Checking via the command line
Video: how to find out the bitness of a Windows system
How to find out the processor bit depth
Before installing the 64-bit version, you should make sure that its installation is possible and find out the architecture of your processor.
Processor size on the command line
Find out the bit depth through the BIOS
Find out the bit depth via the Internet
Open any browser and type “find bit depth online.” Links to many sites will appear, go to any of them. The site will automatically detect the bit size of your processor.
The bit-processor website can automatically determine the bit size of your processor
Video: how to find out the processor bit depth
How to install a 64-bit system
All licensed editions and most torrent distributions include a 64-bit version of the operating system by default, and you will only need to select at the beginning of installation which option you want to install.
At the very beginning - before starting the installation - you will see a choice of bit depth.
The choice of bit depth at the very beginning of installation does not matter
At this point it doesn't matter what you choose. This is an overhead of your BIOS and all modern installers have a procedure that allows you to select the bit depth during the installation process.
If you have an installer with two versions, but at this stage there is no choice between bits, then you have an x86 architecture and installing the 64-bit version is impossible.
After this, there will be a short download of the installer, then the selection of the region and the stage of selecting the system bit size.
The choice of system architecture at the end of the installation will determine the capacity of the installed system
This choice will decide which version will be installed. Although the difference is represented by the choice between architectures, it is actually the system bit depth that is chosen. Select x86 - a 32-bit system is installed, select x64 - a 64-bit system is installed.
If you are unable to select a version or there is simply no choice, there are only two possible reasons: you downloaded the installer image with only one bit version or you have an x86 architecture and your computer does not support 64-bit systems.
Video: how to install a 64-bit system on Windows 7
Recently, 64-bit systems are increasingly crowding out their competitors, and processors with x86 architecture are moving to mobile devices. This is another step towards progress and you shouldn’t resist it.