On 10/13/2010 7:06 AM, David McKay wrote:
So ...
Is 64 bit a good thing? Does a 6 gig RAM HP or Acer computer run faster than
my 2 gig RAM 32 bit computer?
The real answer is "it all depends."
64-bit processors can do things faster, if the applications are true
64-bit applications. But for running 32-bit applications (which many
still are these days) there's no apparent difference.
The amount of RAM available can be an issue (or not) depending on how
many things you're running at once along with all the background things
windows does and all the background things that various installed
applications run. Things like an application like Roxio running a
CD-detecting applet so that it can jump up to the forefront the moment a
CD is inserted can eat up RAM. But if you don't have a lot of such
things, you don't need as much RAM.
In general, for years the cheapest upgrade to any existing computer was
often said to be to simply increase the amount of RAM available, which
has proven to be good advice twice in my family. But in both cases the
computers had a very small amount of installed RAM to begin with.
Are you bothered with how slow your current computer runs? Chances are
that if you upgrade to a new computer it will run faster but that's more
an effect of improved processor designs, not necessarily the
32-bit/64-bit issue.
The long and short of it is that there isn't a clear definitive answer.
My philosophy has always been to buy as much (or just a bit more)
technology as you can afford because even if you don't need it now, with
the way applications evolve you may need it sooner than you think.
--
David H. Bailey
[email protected]
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