64 bit computing

Introduction:
Information in computers is normally represented in bits, a binary sequence of ones and zeros.
The more bits you have, the more information you can represent. Specifically, a sequence
of n bits can represent 2n different pieces of information.

A lot of hardware components don’t work with a continuous flow of data, but rather processes
the data in chunks, limited by a certain bit size. A processor is similarly limited by its word size:
the processor’s natural unit of data. Among other things, this word size determines the amount of
information that can be processed in one go (during one cycle of the hardware clock) and the
amount of RAM memory that can be accessed.

When we’re talking about a 64-bit processor, we essentially mean a processor with a 64-bit word
size.

The operating system has a key role in communicating with hardware components. It is the
operating system that handles process scheduling, memory addressing and storage access. To
make full use of 64-bit hardware, the operating system needs to step up its game as well. It’s for
this reason that the 32-bit and 64-bit distinction is carried through to the operating system (e.g.
there’s a separate 64-bit version of Windows). A 64-bit operating system, then, is one that is
designed to exploit 64-bit hardware.

In the market of consumer computers, 64-bit computing is used to indicate the combination of
64-bit hardware (the processor in particular) and a 64-bit operating system.

Definition:
64-bit refers to the number of bits (the smallest unit of information on a machine) that can be
processed or transmitted in parallel, or the number of bits used for single element in a data
format. When the term is used in conjunction with a microprocessor, it indicates the width of
the registers #&151; a special high-speed storage area within the CPU. A 64-bit microprocessor
can process data and memory addresses that are represented by 64 bits. 

Benefits of 64 bit computing:

The step from 32-bit to 64-bit computing has several practical benefits for users. Most notable
are the effects on processing speed and memory capacity.
Speed and Accuracy:

With a 64-bit word size, the size of the chunks which your processor can handle data is
doubled. More importantly, the x86-64 specification increases the number of general-purpose
registers from 8 to 16, which makes a 64-bit processor technically faster.

This also impacts the accuracy that can be attained by the processor in its calculations; after all,
the processor can use twice as many bits to represent a single number. With 64 bits, you can
make over 4 billion times as many combinations as you would with 32 bits.

Larger Memory Support:

When working with a computer’s RAM, memory addresses are used. These memory addresses
convey the location of instructions or data in the computer’s physical memory (RAM). Although
many clever addressing schemes have been devised, the number of available addresses is bound
by the maximum number of bits that comprise it.

For 32-bit computing, 4 gigabytes worth of RAM can be theoretically addressed. If you put more
RAM in a 32-bit setup, there’s just no way for the processor to refer to the additional memory. In
effect, the situation is even direr than that. Some operating systems reserve part of the available
memory for the operating system kernel. Windows, for example, usually claims between 1 and 2
gigabytes for kernel use, further lowering the amount of memory available to applications in the
user space.

If you want to use more than 4 gigabytes of memory, 64-bit computing offers a solution. These
32 additional bits give 64-bit addressing schemes a theoretical upper limit of 16 exabytes (that’s
16 billion gigabytes, or 16 million terabytes). In reality, the number is lower. To give you an
indication, current AMD64 (which is AMD’s version of the x86-64 specification) support a
physical addressing space of about 256 terabyte.

Memory Mapping:

Computer memory is several orders of magnitude faster than computer storage — even SSD
storage. Memory mapping is used to speed up some storage interactions. Simplified, it loads oft-
accessed files from storage into computer memory, thereby speeding up subsequent access.

Memory mapping has been employed by operating systems for some time, so it’s not new to 64-
bit computing. However, there’s a notable trend of growing file sizes. Big data, big video, big
games, and so on. With a 4 gigabytes maximum for computer memory (see the above section),
Drawbacks of 64 bit computing:
People have expended a lot of effort to make the transition between 32-bit and 64-bit computing
as smooth as possible. Compatibility, in 64-bit computing, can be considered at several levels.
We’ll start at the computer processor and work our way up to computer applications.

Processor Compatibility:

The center piece of the 64-bit parade, you certainly need a 64-bit processor. You can find out
whether you have a 64-bit processor by checking the manufacturer’s website, or by using
the Securable tool from Gibson Research Corporation. This tool takes a closer look at the
processor in your computer and can tell you if it has a 64-bit maximum bit length, among other
things. The Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant will tell you much the same.

64-bit processors have become the standard for consumer computers since x86-64 CPUs made
their entry in 2003. If you’ve bought your processor in the past few years, you probably have a
64-bit processor.

Operating System Compatibility:

64-bit processors are compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Nowadays, all
popular operating systems come in these two flavors. If you have a 64-bit processor, you can
choose with which of these two flavor’s to install. Although, if you want to make full use of the
benefits of a 64-bit processor, you’ll have to go with a 64-bit operating system as well.

Driver Compatibility:
It’s very important to note that 32-bit drivers are not compatible with a 64-bit operating system,
and vice versa. In other words, your hardware needs a 64-bit driver to work with a 64-bit
operating system. For almost all recently manufactured hardware, both a 32-bit and 64-bit driver
are supplied. If you go to the store and buy an HP printer, rest assured that it will have 64-bit
drivers.

The main problem exists with old hardware, for which in some cases, the hardware manufacturer
has not been able (or willing) to make new drivers since 2003. In other words, hardware that
hasn’t been actively supported in the last decade. Again, you can check with the manufacturer if
64-bit drivers are supplied. For most products, these can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s
support page.

You can also check the Windows Compatibility Center. If a product is certified for Windows 8.1,
it is guaranteed to work on both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of the operating systems.
Software Compatibility:
A lot of effort has been expended in the hopes of making the inevitable transition from 32-bit
to 64-bit computing as painless as possible. As a result, software compatibility is nearly
seamless. In effect, almost all 32-bit software is compatible with 64-bit operating systems.

Two types of software are not supported on 64-bit operating system. First, because of the driver
compatibility discussed in the previous section, the software may not rely exclusively on a
specific 32-bit driver. Second, the software must not incorporate 16-bit code (the even more
ancient predecessor of 32-bit) in its own code.

From 32-bit To 64-bit:

32-bit processors were originally designed, a word length of 32 bits seemed plenty. Back then, 4
MB of memory was the standard, so 4 gigabytes (the memory addressing limit of a 32-bit
processor) was thought to be astronomic. The difference hoped to provide enough of a buffer to
withstand the test of time.

As we know now, that wasn’t entirely correct. Four and eight gigabyte memory capacities are
standard for new consumer hardware today. For commercial hardware, servers and powerful
desktops, even more memory is regularly used. In a few more years, those numbers will be
dwarfed once again.

In several areas, current hardware is nearing the limit of what can be realistically achieved using
a 32-bit architecture. The industry is now in a transitional period between 32-bit and 64-bit
computing. Thanks to several efforts to provide backwards compatibility (more on that later) this
should prove to be a relatively painless transition.

Differences between a 32-bit and 64-bit CPU:

Most computers made in the 1990s and early 2000s were 32-bit machines. The CPU register
stores memory addresses, which is how the processor accesses data from RAM. One bit in the
register can reference an individual byte in memory, so a 32-bit system can address a maximum
of 4 GB (4,294,967,296 bytes) of RAM. The actual limit is often less around 3.5 GB, since part
of the register is used to store other temporary values besides memory addresses. Most
computers released over the past two decades were built on a 32-bit architecture, hence most
operating systems were designed to run on a 32-bit processor.

A 64-bit register can theoretically reference 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes, or

17,179,869,184 GB (16 exa bytes) of memory. This is several million times more than an
average workstation would need to access. What’s important is that a 64-bit computer (which
means it has a 64-bit processor) can access more than 4 GB of RAM. If a computer has 8 GB of
RAM, it better have a 64-bit processor. Otherwise, at least 4 GB of the memory will be
inaccessible by the CPU.
A major difference between 32-bit processors and 64-bit processors is the number of calculations
per second they can perform, which affects the speed at which they can complete tasks. 64-bit
processors can come in dual core, quad core, six core, and eight core versions for home
computing. Multiple cores allow for an increased number of calculations per second that can be
performed, which can increase the processing power and help make a computer run faster.
Software programs that require many calculations to function smoothly can operate faster and
more efficiently on the multi-core 64-bit processors, for the most part.
 Using 64-bit one can do a lot in multi-tasking, user can easily switch between various
applications without any windows hanging problems.
 Gamers can easily plays High graphical games like Modern Warfare, GTA V, or use high-
end software’s like Photoshop or CAD which takes a lot of memory, since it makes multi-
tasking with big software’s easy and efficient for users. However upgrading the video
card instead of getting a 64-bit processor would be more beneficial.