32bit vs 64bit machines
Ok...another dumb question before I either upgrade current computer or go new. Decided this should be separate from my other post. Currently have a 2008 HP Pavillion Desktop running Vista Home P...
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Actually everyone posting here is talking about the side-effects of a 64-bit processor. The basic difference between a 32-bit and 64-bit processor is that all data is 64-bits. This allows many benefits including larger address space for memory hence larger processor memory space, faster data transfer since it is 8 bytes at a time rather than 4 bytes, higher number precision, etc. Here is a pretty good description of 64-bit computing.
One of the first IBM transistorized computers was the 1401 that had 4K base memory and with an add on box a little bigger than a dorm room refrigerator that allowed expansion all the way up to 16k. We thought it was miraculous. :)
And the first IBM mainframe computer with 1MB of memory had a box just for the memory that was about the size of two refrigerators. This generation of computers was used to design the F-111 fighter plane. Oh, and it was hard for us to imagine how you could use 1MB of memory. Sort of like it was hard to imagine how you could use the bandwidth of a fiber optic cable when it first came along. Streaming video, what was that???
One of the first IBM transistorized computers was the 1401 that had 4K base memory and with an add on box a little bigger than a dorm room refrigerator that allowed expansion all the way up to 16k. We thought it was miraculous. :)
And the first IBM mainframe computer with 1MB of memory had a box just for the memory that was about the size of two refrigerators. This generation of computers was used to design the F-111 fighter plane. Oh, and it was hard for us to imagine how you could use 1MB of memory. Sort of like it was hard to imagine how you could use the bandwidth of a fiber optic cable when it first came along. Streaming video, what was that???
