32 bits machine running 64 bits software

just a quick question. what about runing 64bits os on 32 bits laptop, will that be faster?

 

I don't think that is possible. You can go the other way around, a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit processor, which is pretty fast as shown by results from Windows XP on Core 2 duo or X2 processors. But you need a 64 bit processor to run a 64 bit OS on it.

 

It cannot be done...sorry.

 

Correct - 64b on 32b machine is not possible. You'll need a new processor when that time comes, but 64b mainstream software is still quite a ways off by all indications.

edit - ack! beat me by 1 minute while I was typing...

 

Yeah a buddy was telling me how you can run 32 bit software on a 64 bit OS, but there isn't any performance gain in doing that. However, if you run a 32 bit OS on 64 bit hardware, there is and advantage. Seems if that is the case the 64 bit has got some work to do before it becomes the norm. I'd love to start using it but I need to know my main apps are going to run blazing fast.

 

64-bit is good in theory, but not practical at the moment. It's not getting adoption as quickly as 32-bit got.

- All your drivers must be 64-bit, XP64 and Vista64 drivers are not interchangable. Since they're not always up to date, you will not have the fastest and most optimized drivers for your card,
- 32-bit applications run under a 32-bit virtual machine but realize virtually no benefit whatsoever,
- 16-bit applications do NOT work without DosBox or similar emulators (not checked under Vista, XP64 definitely does not support it),
- compatibility with older games is flaky (heck even Vista 32-bit has trouble with older games, 64-bit makes it worse),
- programs recompiled under 64-bit sometimes work much faster, sometimes not a lot.
- 64-bit OS is required for > 4 GB and necessary for proper memory addressing of > 3 GB. Proper chipset support is also necessary. The range from 3-4GB is reserved for memory-mapped devices (ie: PCI cards, PCI-E cards, controllers, etc.). PCI-Express x16 slots eat up a lot of address space (ie: memory space which overlaps with RAM and is consequently "lost"), it gets worse when you have two PCI-Express graphics cards.

 

Thanks for the helpful info... didn't know XP 64 drivers don't work in Vista 64... that's a problem

I think at this point server apps like databases are the best reason to use 64 bit OS.

 

hey, thanks for ur answers. what about the duel OS, 32bits and 64bits

 

Old news. 64 bit OS and hardware has been around since at least 2001. Link