64bit vs 32bit

[omghaxcode]

can 32 bit utilize more than 4 gigs of ram or is the rest of the ram just wasted?

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: omghaxcode
can 32 bit utilize more than 4 gigs of ram or is the rest of the ram just wasted?

yes and no.

anything made after the pentirum pro can address up to 64 gig in 4 gig chunks. Your particular operating system may or may not support this addressing feature.

 

[omghaxcode]

I'm referring to vista 32 bit home

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: omghaxcode
I'm referring to vista 32 bit home

I think you are then stuck with a 4 gig limit.

 

[Sylvanas]

32bit OS's can only address around 3.25gb in windows.

 

[omghaxcode]

so the rest is literally wasted?

 

[ViRGE]

Yes, you can't access it or otherwise use it.

 

[Scotteq]

Originally posted by: omghaxcode
so the rest is literally wasted?

In 32 bit operating systems (XP, Vista, whatever), there is a bucket of addresses that's 4GB deep. Why 4GB? That's just how the math works out: 2^32 = a 4GB 'bucket' of addresses that your OS has available to use to communicate to everything.

All PCs require a certain amount of address space in the bucket - roughly 500~750MB, depending - just for themselves: Bios, motherboard resources, etc.

Installed devices also consume addresses - Graphics being the greediest, as video memory has to be addressed from the same bucket as everything else. But just about everything counts in some way.

Now, if the operating system cannot address the thing, than it cannot communicate/use it. So the operating system assigns system stuff first, then RAM last. Why? Because if a system device isn't addressed, it will not function. If there's RAM left over, then the OS simply doesn't use it.


If you're having trouble visualizing: Imagine a container that holds exactly 1 quart - 1 cup representing 1 GB.

3/4 cup of water represents the 750MB needed for system usage <Pours that in the quart jar>
Toss in a half cup to represent a 512MB video card <Pours in a half cup of water - jar fills up some more>

Now... If you take another 4 cups of water - for the 4GB of RAM you have sitting there - and try to pour that in the quart jar?? It simply doesn't fit. That's the issue here - The operating system can only handle 4GB, and that 4GB *must* include thing other than RAM. When the 4GB is reached, there are no more addresses so nothing more can be added.

On a server operating system (NT, 2003, 2008) there is a way around the limit. But this functionality isn't available on the consumer side.

The permanent solution is to change operating system to a 64 bit version of windows. That puts the address limit out to the (current, artificially set) 128GB limit.

 

[omghaxcode]

lol alright so how do you go about upgrading to x64?

I know you need new drivers but can it support the same software? (for example warcraft 3, other pc games)

 

[omghaxcode]

bump

 

[lxskllr]

In general 64bit will support almost all 32bit code. There's no 16bit support, and you'll have to have 64bit drivers for your hardware.

 

[QuixoticOne]

Vista 64 is straight out compatible with a large number of older 32 bit XP / Vista 32 / Win2k type applications.
You do need Vista 64 bit specific drivers for most of your hardware that needs a driver, but usually for core system devices these are easily / freely available and, in fact, often can install pretty close to automatically from Windows Update.

You'll need a driver for your ethernet or Win-modem to connect to the internet of course, but Vista 64 SP1 probably includes what you need for basic use of your chipset / video card / network device / modem right on the CD.

Occasionally you need to supply some special SATA chip or RAID controller driver if you have an unusual disk controller but for the most part it just works.

If you have something like a very unusual or very low end / older model of scanner, inkjet printer, (really really old) joystick, really old model sound card, et. al. you may not find Vista 64 drivers for those. Do your research on anything you really want / need to work. There's even a vista update advisor / compatibility checker tool you can download from Microsoft that will go and look at your installed hardware & applications and help you figure out what is compatible with Vista 32 or 64 or not.

You can order 64 bit install media from here for like $10 shipping cost if you have a retail version of Vista 32; OEM version users may not be able to order this way though; YMMV; give it a try.

Of course if you can just borrow / copy / download a Vista 64 bit install CD that should be all you need since the retail vista license allows you free choice to use / install either 32 or 64 so all you need is the media to install from, you already have a working key & license in this case.

http://www.microsoft.com/windo...rdermedia/default.mspx

I found this article interesting about the different versions of Vista out there at the time SP1 came out; you may find it interesting too:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/...iso-image-via-torrent/

As to how to do the upgrade... I'd do a full and fully verified backup of my existing system, then a clean install of vista 64, and then just reinstall completely each driver, each application / utility / game etc. to get the best stability in the end.

Good luck.