Does Windows 7 32bit have a smaller memory footprint?

PiKe

PiKe

PiKe

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Would a 32bit version of windows run better on a system with only 2gb RAM vs 64bit on the same system?

Obviously hard drive space would be better off but I'm concerned about the memory, it's DDR2 so it's not a cheap upgrade any more.
 
Yes it does have a smaller memory footprint. But not by much.

For example a 32-bit application running on x64 will use approximately the same memory as if it were running on x32.

Win 64 runs fine on 2GB of RAM.
 
NathanE said:
Yes it does have a smaller memory footprint. But not by much.

For example a 32-bit application running on x64 will use approximately the same memory as if it were running on x32.

Win 64 runs fine on 2GB of RAM.
Click to expand...

Even when you start trying to play games on it?
 
I played the odd game (CivV, Resident Evil 5) on my PC with 2GB ram on win64 for years, plus regular Lightroom photo editing. I then went to 12GB and can't say I noticed a difference. It prefetched more but running with 2GB isn't nearly as bad as people make out.

As with anything though your mileage may vary.
 
Lucero said:
for me, it's the knowledge that a cheap upgrade in memory is far more convenient than reinstalling Windows 7
Click to expand...

not all systems will support more than 2G of Ram. I upgraded my sister's laptop to 2G and Win 7 32 bit, it is so much better than it was with Vista and 1G of ram. In my opinion it was unusable before.

Yes, Win 7 32 bit in 2G will go!
 
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