It is good to have knowledge of many terms that are used daily. In this article, let's discuss the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit processors and what your computer means.
The difference between 32-bit and 64-bit processors
When you buy an operating system, program, or game, you will probably see 32-bit and 64-bit options available. If you are a Windows user, you should have noticed two folders of program files - one simply "Program Files" and the other "Program Files (x86)." This folder uses Program Files to store DLL files from 64-bit applications only. The x86 folder is used to store DLL files for 32-bit applications.
To install a 64-bit version of Windows, you need a processor capable of running a 64-bit version of Windows. The benefits of using a 64-bit operating system are more useful when you have a large amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer, usually 4 GB of RAM or more.
In such cases, because the 64-bit operating system can handle large amounts of memory more efficiently than the 32-bit operating system, the 64-bit system can be more responsive when multiple programs are running at the same time and switching between them frequently.
The computer that contains the 64-bit processor can contain a 64-bit or 32-bit version of the installed operating system. However, with the 32-bit operating system, the 64-bit processor will not work at full capacity.
How can a 64-bit processor handle more RAM?
The computer system only supports binary counting. There are either 0 or 1. Each is considered a "bit". This means 1-bit computing, you get two possible values; 2 bits means four values; then at 3 bits, this multiplies to eight (2)).
If you continue with this, you will eventually get 32 bits (2 to 32) with a value of 4,294,967,296 and 64 bits (or 2 to power 64) with a value of 18,446,744,073,709,551,616.
This is a lot of bits, and the numbers only show the power of the chip that supports higher computing. It's more than double. So it's clear that a 64-bit processor is capable of doing more than 32-bit computing.
These days, you're probably already running a 64-bit processor with 64-bit operating systems, which in turn are running 64-bit (mobile) applications or software (on your desktop). Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 all come in 32-bit or 64-bit versions, for example.
