Wednesday, October 11, 2017

64 bit - Do I need more RAM for programming if I switch to a 64 Bit OS?


Given that today (for performance reasons?) variables are usually aligned to the "bit-width" (I wanted to use "word-width" here, but on x86 a "word" is still 16 bits right?) of the processor, would switching from a 32 bit OS to its 64 bit version double the RAM usage?


Would this then in turn mean that to do the same work a 32 bit OS can do with 4 GB RAM (well, the 3.x GB actually...) with a 64 bit OS I would need 8 GB of RAM for programming?


Please note that I'm only talking about everyday x86 computers here.


Answer



There will generally be some increase, but rarely near double.
Some info here :


http://www.codeguru.com/cpp/cpp/cpp_mfc/tutorials/article.php/c15711/


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