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Originally Posted by LoganSnake
I'll get you the performance update when I build it at the end of this week (parts are coming tomorrow). The case has 3 120mm fans (with an option to install 8 total). What's the difference between 64-bit and 32-bit versions?
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The most visible difference is the maximum amount of memory your OS will use.
<a href = "http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html">Codinghorror</a> (some blog I saw) has this to say on the issue:
32-bit OS:
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In any 32-bit operating system, the virtual address space is limited, by definition, to the size of a 32-bit value:
2^32 = 4,294,967,296
4,294,967,296 / (1,024 x 1,024) = 4,096
As far as 32-bit Vista is concerned, the world ends at 4,096 megabytes. That's it. That's all there is. No más.
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Well, actually, it's stuck with even less-- 2 GB or 3 GB of virtual address space, at least on Windows.
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64-bit OS:
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The proper solution to this whole conundrum is to use a 64-bit operating system.
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2^64 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,616
18,446,744,073,709,551,616 / (1,024 x 1,024) / 8 = 2 exabytes
In case you're wondering, the progression is giga, tera, peta, exa.
Although the performance benefits of 64-bit are somewhat dubious on the desktop, a 64-bit OS absolutely essential if you run applications that need to use more than 2 GB of memory. It's not common, but we're getting there.
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So if you want to get 4 gigs of memory, with a 32-bit OS, a lot of it won't be used at all.