Wednesday, 27 April 2005
 There is a battle brewing between 32 bit and 64 bit processors but inevitably the 64-bit processor will be the victor, however this transition is going to take some time.
First, I’ll talk about the pure mathematics and structure of the processors that are involved here. I’ll keep this part short and sweet.
A bit is short for “binary digit.” It is basically how a computer stores and makes references to data, memory, etc. A bit can have a value of 1 or 0, that’s it. So binary code are streams of 1’s and 0’s, such as this random sequence, 100100100111. These bits are also how your processor does calculations. By using 32 bits your processor can represent numbers from 0 to 4,294,967,295 while a 64-bit machine can represent numbers from 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615. Obviously this means your computer can do math with larger numbers, and be more efficient with smaller numbers.
Now see, that description wasn’t too bad, but the question is how does this affect you, the average PC owner? The largest benefit will go to academic institutions and private companies, where large calculations are being performed, huge databases are being accessed, and complex problems are being solved.
Everyone that doesn’t fall into that category will see some benefit of using 64-bit processors over 32-bit processors, but not much in today’s marketplace. The AMD Athlon 64-bit processor is completely backward compatible, meaning you can currently use it with 32-bit operating systems and software programs. You will see some benefits by using this setup, but because the programs weren’t written to take advantage of the extra power, they won’t use much of it.
The true benefits of this set up don’t come from the amount of bits, but by the improved structure of the 32-bit processor’s now antiquated platform versus the new 64-bit processor's platform. A 64-bit processor is made with more advanced silicon processes, have more transistors, and faster speeds. This is currently where the true benefit of switching to a 64-bit processor lays.
The transition to the 64-bit platform is already in motion. AMD, the first microprocessor manufacturer to produce a 64-bit processor, beat out their primary competitor, Intel, to the 64-bit platform. Since then, Intel has been playing catch-up but on June 30th 2004, they introduced the Itanium2 processor although, unlike the AMD processor, Intel’s is not backwards compatible. Meaning, You can’t run current 32-bit software (like Windows XP) on the Itanium2 processor like you can on the AMD64 processor.
On top of a mandatory hardware upgrade to enable 64-bit processing, you’ll need software, as I briefly mentioned before, that’s 64-bit as well. The next piece of the 64-bit puzzle, is a 64-bit operating system: low-and-behold, Microsoft announced that a 64-bit version of it’s successful version of Windows XP, Microsoft Windows XP 64.
It won’t be long before 64-bit, 3rd party software (your word processor, games etc) are designed to run on 64-bit operating systems.
So, the next question now should be, do you buy a 64-bit processor now, or wait?
Disadvantages:
You’re currently not able to take full advantage of the technology because the software vendors haven’t made the switch from 32-bit to 64-bit processors.
Most AMD Athlon 64 bit processors are expensive, with prices sure to go down in the future.
Advantages:
Better performance out of a 32-bit operating system.
Probably the last processor you’ll have to buy for many years to come.
Sources:
http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/windowsxp/articles/581/1/The-difference-between-64-and-32-bit-processors
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111347,00.asp |
