In this century of rapid development of high technology, sophisticated PC users are very careful in choosing their iron "friend". A modern computer must meet a number of criteria: it must have good technical characteristics, reliability and, first of all, of course, high performance (the processor is responsible for the last item).
Modern CPUs are divided into 2 types: 32-bit and 64-bit. Before finding out whether 32- or 64-bit types of systems are preferable to use, we first need to understand what these numbers mean. Without going deeply into the fundamentals of computer architecture, we can say that bit depth is the number of bits of information that the system can operate simultaneously. Indeed, Windows 64 bit can use up to 16 GB of RAM, while x32 is limited to 4 GB. It is logical to assume that a 64-bit system is twice as fast as its "old" 32-bit predecessor, which means that it is better, however, this is only at first glance. In fact, this is a very controversial issue.
Firstly, when using the x64 processor in "home" conditions, there will not be much benefit for the user. The reason for this is that this system under this operating mode does not fully realize its potential. The fact is that processors of this type were originally developed for design institutes, enterprises and financial organizations (to work with super-large data arrays).
Secondly, the biggest problem of 64-bit computing systems is software incompatibility. The fact is that many programs and drivers for them were originally written for 32-bit types of processors, and when you try to use them on a new generation of systems, they either simply do not start or give an error message. However, it is worth noting that most developers are currently adapting their applications to the x64 version.
So how do you know: 32 or 64 bit? Which of these types should the ordinary user choose? If you are not going to develop three-dimensional graphical experimental models, but only plan to communicate on social networks, work with text or listen to music, then a regular 32-bit processor will quite adequately cope with all these tasks.
And how do you know if you have a 32 or 64 bit system ? Information about this can be found in the "My Computer" menu by going to the "System Properties" tab (or simply by clicking the "Win + Break" combination). If you have installed, for example, Win XP 64, this must be indicated, if in the system properties you did not find any information about the capacity of the CPU, then most likely it is 32-bit.
Based on the technical characteristics of the computer, you should choose the type of operating system to be installed . It is important to remember that on a 64 bit processor, Windows x32 will work quietly, and on a 32-bit computer, a 64-bit OS will never work.
By the way, at present, most manufacturers of computer equipment are gradually switching to the release of exclusively 64-bit systems as the most promising. Therefore, soon, as you might guess, the question of how to find out whether 32 or 64 bit is better will disappear by itself.