2

I'm using 32-bit operating system since I've my laptop. I've never used the 64-bit operating system so I'm much curious about this that if I upgrade to 64-bit still my pc will give me the same performance. However I've checked about my hardware from this question. I don't know about those result that what they are saying? So I'm here for little help to know that is there any performance issue after upgrading or not?

enter image description here

1

2 Answers 2

5

In common usage, the reason to go 64-bit is to make use of more RAM (memory) in your system.

In Windows, 32-bit is limited to a little over 2GB of RAM available to programs, while 64-bit is virtually limitless. To benefit from it, your processor must support 64-bit. The D.E.P. and virtualization are not related to performance in common desktop usage.

So, since Windows 32-bit already supports a little over 3GB of RAM:

  • If you have 3GB of RAM or less, stay with 32-bit.
  • If you have 4GB or more, go with 64-bit.
5
  • 32bit windows clients support up to 4GB of RAM. Some of that is used for devices, but the typical case is that a little over 3GB is still available rather than 2GB. Apr 5, 2012 at 16:20
  • @Joel Coehoorn That's why I indicated "available to programs", which is ~2.2GB, since the rest is reserved even if not used. But I agree with 3GB of RAM you should stay with 32-bit.
    – mtone
    Apr 5, 2012 at 16:22
  • all the addressable memory is available for programs. Even OS memory can be paged out. Apr 5, 2012 at 18:14
  • How's virtualization works with 64-bit?
    – avirk
    Apr 6, 2012 at 0:47
  • @avirk virtualization features are only relevant when using software that make use of it, namely virtual machines such as VMWare and VirtualBox. It's a cpu feature (often not included on less expensive models) that isn't intrinsically related to 64-bit. Whether your cpu supports it or not will not affect 32-bit or 64-bit performance except if you use virtual machines.
    – mtone
    Apr 6, 2012 at 3:00
1

It is unlikely that you'll notice any difference in performance when moving from 32 to 64bit.

The note about no hardware virtualization can be ignored. If you didn't miss this feature while using your 32bit operating system, you won't miss it with 64bit either.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .