32bit vs 64bit speed difference

Kurgen · 6 Aug 2015 at 15:59

this follows from an earlier post I made. I have 2 pcs that due to limitations of 3rd party addon software in 1 package, they MUST stay as 32bit.. (no questions on this part , as it has been dealt with)

what I want to know apart from 4gb limit. How much operational difference will there be by staying on 32bit. Assuming that the RAM is being used up.

ie is win 64bit 100% faster than 32bit.

MatsyLR · 6 Aug 2015 at 16:00

Only difference is the RAM, nothing else

Armageus · 6 Aug 2015 at 16:10

In general use no difference, if the specific app can make use of 64bit operations (i.e. in simple terms adding really big numbers together), then potentially there can be a big speed up.

I guess the app is actually a 16-bit app (or only has a 32-bit device driver?), as 32-bit apps work fine on 64-Bit Windows?

Kurgen · 6 Aug 2015 at 16:44

the main Application is AutoCAD 2010, which is available in both 32 and 64. the problem is a small piece of addon software which is end of life. it wont work in any 64 bit environment, will just crash to desktop and the supplier has confirmed this. the drawing are small and 2d, so can live with 4gb

ED209 · 6 Aug 2015 at 16:57

as others have said the only difference between the two is the amount of ram you can have. 32 bit has a limit of 4GB and 64 bit supports more.

~Dockie · 6 Aug 2015 at 18:01

Don't know if it's worth mentioning, but you can run 32bit VM's on a 64bit host.

Kurgen · 6 Aug 2015 at 18:46

to much hastle, plus you need 2 windows licenses

Orcvader · 6 Aug 2015 at 19:30

The addon itself is probably 16-bit.

Seems a bit of a waste though to install a 32-bit OS just for one software. What OS are you using at the moment?

lude1962 · 7 Aug 2015 at 10:32

even on 64bit os a lot of progs are still 32bit, dont worry about it