Windows Vista Bit Type

**Industrial** · 09-13-2009, 01:29 PM

So I finally got a new computer, which said it was a 64bit version, but it came as 32bit.

I'm just wondering, is there any performance difference between a 64bit and 32bit operating system?

New computer:
1MB L2 Cache and 2MB L3 Cache
AMD Athlon x2 7550 Dual-Core (2.5 GHz Dual Core) CPU
3600MHz Bus Speed
3GB of memory
320GB Hard Drive (7200RPM Serial ATA)
Video card is NVIDIA GeFOrce 6150 SE, 128 MB, integrated. (Should I put in my current GeForce 8600GT or keep the 6150 SE in?

**Delta Five Nine** · 09-13-2009, 01:59 PM

Put in the 8600GT for sure, that 6150 is ancient tech wise.
And yeah 64 bit should give better performance in things that are built for 64 bit (and the OS itself is faster) but most things including games will be nearly the same if not exactly the same, as they aren't built for 64.
Also I heard with Vista you can call Microsoft and ask for a 64 bit disk and only pay $20 or something. Might want to do that if you really want it.

Hope this helps.

**Industrial** · 09-13-2009, 02:06 PM

Thanks for the help. Might call HP and yell at them for it. Anyone else have something to say?

Thanks again - Industrial

**=DdogG=** · 09-13-2009, 08:13 PM

with your config.... not an issue... go above 4gig of ram and its a big deal though.

**ScratchMonkey** · 09-15-2009, 08:15 PM

When the CPU is in 64 bit mode, there are more registers available, which is like ultra-fast on-CPU cache. This, not the bus width, is what makes 64 bit mode faster.

A well-written general purpose program will spend much of its time in the OS kernel using system services. Games are different because they do highly custom things constantly, not intermittently on demand. So a 32 bit game doesn't benefit as much as a general purpose 32 bit app from running on a 64 bit OS.

In any case, the speed benefit isn't huge. The real benefit of a 64 bit OS is the ability to address more than 4 GB, and this is particularly nice if you tend to run lots of apps at the same time (like, say, a game, a browser with lots of tabs, email, etc.).