64 bit software

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hamish225

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#108217 27-Aug-2012 07:57

Hi, so I've just updated my computers OS to 64 bit after 3 years of not knowing it was actually 64 bit capable, and I'm just curious, why has no one written any 64 bit programs?
itunes, google chrome, spotify, skype, the sims 3 and every other program i use only uses 32 bit,

Anyone know why, I mean I would have expected the sims 3 to be, you pay $80 for it and it can't even utilise my computers hardware fully.

I don't actually know much about it, i just know that it should be making everything run a bit faster than it would on a 32 bit os.

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

berrys

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#677391 27-Aug-2012 08:27

I know a few which I used for work - Autodesk Max Design, AutoCad Photoshop. These programs need the extra ram (above 4gb) the 64 bit OS allows for when working with large amounts of data.

I don't believe itunes, chrome, skype etc would benefit from extra ram (in fact 4gb should be more than enough).

hamish225

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#677515 27-Aug-2012 11:26

oh really is that all 64 bit does, allow for extra ram?

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

xpd

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#677522 27-Aug-2012 11:34

Its a part of it....

If youre on a Core2Duo or similar, and have 4GB+ in your system, then yes, its a good idea to go 64bit to be able to access all your RAM and any apps that use more than 4Gb will be able to see it.

If you are not running 4GB, then youre fine to stay on 32bit.

Ive got 3GB and running 32bit Windows, theres nothing I cant do on that, that I can on my work machine that has 8GB (apart from run multiple virtual machines).

XPD / Gavin

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hamish225

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#677526 27-Aug-2012 11:41

My dell studio 17 came with a 32 bit OS so i assumed it was only 32 bit. I even have 4GB of ram. I don't understand why they'd ship it with a 32 bit version of vista.

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

xpd

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#677528 27-Aug-2012 11:47

1) It was Vista
2) Back then, probably not heck of a lot of software took advantage of 4GB, especially for a home user.

Upgrade to Win7 64bit if you can, you should notice a nice difference overall :) (Or Win8)

XPD / Gavin

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hamish225

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#677534 27-Aug-2012 11:53

I did upgrade as soon as windows 7 came out, it was like a breath of fresh air. they should've given out free legal copies of it out due to the massive failure of windows vista. not like it matters anyway, there are ways to get windows without paying for it.

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

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heretohelp

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#679441 30-Aug-2012 20:04

xpd: Its a part of it....

If youre on a Core2Duo or similar, and have 4GB+ in your system, then yes, its a good idea to go 64bit to be able to access all your RAM and any apps that use more than 4Gb will be able to see it.

If you are not running 4GB, then youre fine to stay on 32bit.

Ive got 3GB and running 32bit Windows, theres nothing I cant do on that, that I can on my work machine that has 8GB (apart from run multiple virtual machines).

64bit programs in theory crunch numbers faster than 32bit programs, generaly speaking 64bit programs require more ram than 32 bit programs to run at their full potential (64bit program given sufficent ram will out perform its 32 bit equivlent brother in theory) im talk things like autocad/arcicad etc. that is a very broad statement it all comes down to the programing of the software.

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Regs

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#679531 31-Aug-2012 01:38

32bit apps get access to a maximum of 2GB memory.

We've discovered that its easy to get MS Outlook up to 1GB+ of memory usage, especially with plugins like CRM, Antivirus, Social added and opening windows using each. When Outlook gets to around 1.1GB-1.4GB usage, it crashes spectacularly. We could get to this point with as few as 12-15 windows open - so we tend to see a few crashes in the 33bit version as many users leave tons of windows open.

I've had the 64bit version of Outlook consuming over 5GB of memory on a laptop and remain crash-free. At that point there were around 50 windows open, so any more was a pretty unrealistic test :-)

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