32bit vs 64bit machines

TheBearAK wrote:
To the OP:

What processor is in that Pavillion? 2008 is in the Core2 range, and most Core2's were 64 bit. Just because your OS says 32 bit, doesn't mean it is 32 bit.

Your video issues could be many things. Is that using on-board video or does it have a card?

Note that even with a card, the video reserves address space out of the 4 GB available to 32 bit OS.

On consumer machines, 64 bit is address space. Not a larger pipe. 32 bit can address 4 GB of address space. This includes memory, system board, and add-on cards, such as video.
On consumer machines, the only speed difference is due to the amount of available resources for the processor. (freeing up the processor to do other things).

Once you go to 64 bit, the limitation on memory size becomes a motherboard/memory issue. Because the way memory is made, some memory slots can only address up to a certain amount, per-slot. For example, most consumer motherboards have 4 or 6 memory slots. Each memory slot may only be able to address 8 GB of RAM each, making the Max memory 4x8GB or 6x8GB.

The true upper limit of 64 bit address space is 2^64. (over 18 quintillion).


The reason I keep saying "consumer" machines is because workstations and servers that use Xeon or Opteron processors will also have a 64 bit path. While a Xeon may have a slower Ghz rating than an i5 or i7, the memory bandwidth available to a Xeon makes it faster for massive CPU hungry programs such as data modeling.

Back to OP's computer... The CPU can be a Core or Core2 processor and still be a 32 bit machine. Some manufacturers did that when the Core CPUs were released. Typically it was the Core Duo or earlier CPUs. This was simply a cost saving ploy.

What model of Pavillion do you have? Around the time of that, HP's top seller was the A6400 series. That particular series is interesting because it used the "transistion" CPU known as the E2200. Basically a Pentium D dual core using a Slot 775. What is interesting is they were upgradeable to a Quad Core2 (Q6600 is popular and cheap!). And it could hold up to 4 x 2 GB memory modules.

Simple upgrades:

Q6600 CPU $60-75
4 x 2 GB RAM $60-70
Video Card $75-100

Adding the video card and not using On-board video can make a difference as most older on-board video was crappy.