Benefit of 64 bit over 32 bit?

[ian-83]

Thinking about upgrading my pc from Wiondws Vista 32bit to Windows 7 64 bit. First of all is this possible? Is there anything I need to check to see if it is compatible?

Also I am looking to upgrade the Ram as I only have 2gb and once I have Photoshop elements running it bogs my pc down. I understand from a previous post I made 64bit will work with upto 8gb while 32bit is only 4gb?

Can post the spec of my PC if needed.

 

[neil_g]

You can't upgrade from 32 to 64 bit, it will require a complete reinstall of windows.

32 bit will only show and use up to 3.2gb ish of memory, 64 bit can use up to 16gb for home premium or 192gb for professional or ultimate.

 

[EdBray]

Yup, I have 16gb in my triple quad 64 bit pro and it has made a massive difference from 32bit with 4gb, especially when editing the large 528MB files from the H1D.

 

[ian-83]

You can't upgrade from 32 to 64 bit, it will require a complete reinstall of windows.

32 bit will only show and use up to 3.2gb ish of memory, 64 bit can use up to 16gb for home premium or 192gb for professional or ultimate.

That's why I will be going from Windows Vista 32bit to Windows 7 64 bit I understand I need to reinstall Windows operating system.

I have looked on Microsoft website and downloaded a program that says my system will operate ok with 64 bit software which now means I need to find some suitable RAM to upgrade it

Yup, I have 16gb in my triple quad 64 bit pro and it has made a massive difference from 32bit with 4gb, especially when editing the large 528MB files from the H1D.

When you say quad are you referring to the processor?

 

[neil_g]

That's why I will be going from Windows Vista 32bit to Windows 7 64 bit I understand I need to reinstall Windows operating system.

I have looked on Microsoft website and downloaded a program that says my system will operate ok with 64 bit software which now means I need to find some suitable RAM to upgrade it

When you say quad are you referring to the processor?

That's fine, you can get upgrades for vista to 7 but like I say you can't go 32 to 64. Just wanted to confirm that's not what you were thinking you could do

 

[EdBray]

That's why I will be going from Windows Vista 32bit to Windows 7 64 bit I understand I need to reinstall Windows operating system.

I have looked on Microsoft website and downloaded a program that says my system will operate ok with 64 bit software which now means I need to find some suitable RAM to upgrade it



When you say quad are you referring to the processor?

Yes, if you buy an AMD Athlon II X3 455 3.3GHz Socket AM3 Retail Boxed Processor and a suitable ASUS motherboard with an unlocking function you can change it from a x3 processor into a x4 Phenom processor, it appears that AMD just disabled one of the cores to make the cheaper x3 processor available rather than set up new tooling and manufacturing processes.

I went from a standard dual core processor with 4gb ram to a faster quad processor (CPU & MB) and 16GB ram for under £175.

 

[scottthehat]

Yes, if you buy an AMD Athlon II X3 455 3.3GHz Socket AM3 Retail Boxed Processor and a suitable ASUS motherboard with an unlocking function you can change it from a x3 processor into a x4 Phenom processor, it appears that AMD just disabled one of the cores to make the cheaper x3 processor available rather than set up new tooling and manufacturing processes.

I went from a standard dual core processor with 4gb ram to a faster quad processor (CPU & MB) and 16GB ram for under £175.

this is the same as the amd phenom 960t quad core with amd core unlocker you can turn it into a 6 core 3.2ghz, as 2 cores are locked. you just need to mind and am2+ or am3 socket version and mb to match.