While I know that Windows 7 64-bit is the way to go for future computing and 32-bit will be a thing of the past, I am wondering if its at all worth it to get an extra 1GB of memory out of this current build? ( I am thinking it will be a wash on the gain going from 32 to 64-bit )
The computer has a 64-bit processor. What this means is that it has an
entire operation mode and set of instructions optimized and designed for 64-bit usage.
if you run a 32-bit OS, you can NEVER use those features from within it. They are unavailable. The processor acts like a conventional 32-bit x86 processor and you get none of the added benefits of 64-bit. (being able to access more memory is not 32/64-bit specific insomuch as a license restriction MS has purposely put in 32-bit versions of consumer Windows versions (Windows 2003 Enterprise, for example, is 32-bit but can use up to 64GB of memory).
Also I read something about 16-bit applications not supported under Windows 7 64-bit and I have some old games and software that I occasionally run on my Windows 7 32-bit build, would I need to now run these 16-bit applications within a dosbox type environment etc or would they still run in Windows 7 64-bit with xp compatability selected etc?
Yes. Absolutely no pure DOS or 16-bit Windows Applications will run directly on a 64-bit Windows OS no matter what you do. (thus requiring DOSBox or another virtualization system). DOSBox gives them a better environment anyway, IMO.
I also read that while I would get the full 4GB of RAM, since the data is 64-bits wide, it would consume more memory with each clock cycle, so would Windows 7 64-bit on 4GB of RAM run worse than Windows 7 32-bit on 3GB RAM? ( To me it seems that if the data width in memory is 2x the 32-bits for 64-bits that the consumption may be double, and so while right now my system runs idle at 2GB free with 1GB at idle in use with Windows 7 32-bit, it should mean that 2GB is in use at idle and I would still remain at 2GB free at 4GB addressable, so there is no extra memory gain with Windows 7 64-bit? )
Whoever told you this doesn't know what they are talking about. the Width of the data bus is how much can be transferred at once. Using the standard analogy of highway lanes, a 32-bit processor has 32 lanes, and a 64-bit processor has 64 lanes. a 64-bit processor run in 32-bit mode only uses 32 of those lanes. The rest
sit idle. "data" doesn't have width. Only the bus. The idea that bus width directly correlates to memory consumption
makes absolutely no sense. Some people say that Pointers become 64-bit, but the fact is that the impact that has is so negligible, it's hardly worth mention.
Thinking that maybe I should save this Windows 7 64-bit license for a system that runs on more than 4GB of RAM which would benefit far greater than current build, but I also dont have any intentions on upgrading hardware yet since what I have currently is plenty of processing power hardware wise for games etc, although the thought remains that I am not using my system to its full abilities running hardware that is capable of 64-bit at 32-bit and running at the 3GB memory limitation.
Running a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit system is like running a 16-bit OS on a 32-bit system. There is an entire operating Mode and set of instructions that the processor is pretty much optimized for that sit's completely unused.
Personally I don't see what reason you would ever have to run a dual-boot with a 32-bit system- or reasons to run a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit system at all.
