What does x64 and x86 mean?

[harrygreen90]

Hi guys,
I am using Windows and it says Windows 7 unitimate 64-bit, it did a searching on Google and seem this OS stands for x64, right?
What does the x64 and x86 part mean with operating systems?
I want to exactly know what do they use for and which I should use on my PC. Thanks

 

[dbs00]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15056/windows-7-32-64-bit-faq
"The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer's processor (also called a CPU), handles information. The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system. "

with windows on 32 bit (86) your limited to 4 gb ram, and old CPU models.
with 64 bits your budget is your limit

 

[Datacentreplus]

Without getting too technical and complex, the only really relevant thing you need to know about the difference between x64 and x86 is that one accepts more ram than the other.

x86 refers to 32 bit - takes up to 4GB
x64 refers to 64 bit - allows you have more than 4GB RAM

Having more than 4gb Ram might be critical and tbh, recommend nowadays anyway. If you work on things like adobe premiere pro, illustrator, photoshop etc, you'll need as much RAM as you can get hold of. A 32 bit machine would limit you there severely.

In short, 64bit is faster.

 

[Hiral Patel]

Hi guys,
I am using Windows and it says Windows 7 unitimate 64-bit, it did a searching on Google and seem this OS stands for x64, right?
What does the x64 and x86 part mean with operating systems?
I want to exactly know what do they use for and which I should use on my PC. Thanks

it is a bus for transferring data processor to memory... its like a road.. which has 64 lane and 86 lane..
it means as much more wider road it will too faster work

 

[Riviera]

Please check that out at wiki. I have finded it hre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64

I often download software, i see the providers noted.
x86 for 32 bit os.
x64 for 64 bit os.
In windows os, the 32bit software can run in 64 bit os.
But the 64 bit software can not run in 32 bit os.

 

[Mike001]

I read through all the answers and what surprised me most was that only one had the true meaning of the x32 and x64 bit designation.

Most of the answers are partially right but Hiral Patel hit the nail on the head.

The biggest difference between a 32 bit software design and a 64 bit software design is the number of bus lines that are dedicated to the processor. As Patel said, think of it as a highway with lanes of traffic dedicated to the communications to the CPU. The more lanes of traffic available to send information available to the CPU, the faster the response time can be as it responds to the instructions.

These lanes work in both directions so not only will it execute faster on commands it can also issue commands faster to the connected devices. That in is where most of the speed issues lie. The connected peripherals will normally operate much slower than the CPU's. The biggest culprit being the hard drives. SSD's have made this a little better, but still have problems keeping up with the CPU demands, and that is why they tend to cache their commands and responses.

In the old days we actually had 4, 8 and 16 bit machines. At the time they seemed very fast but when compared to today they were very slow.

One thing I want to clear up on a statement that Riviera made. 32 bit software running on a 64 bit machine. It is true that the slower software will run on a 64 bit machine, but there is a cost to that. It does run slower, then it would on a normal 32 bit machine as many times it must run through a translator for proper bus assignment, this extra step can slow the operation of the software down.