Does it make the computer faster? And how are they different from 8 and 16-bit video game consoles?
In: 2446
If you could only do 1-digit math, you can calculate things like 5 x 3, but to calculate 2-digit problems you have to split them into single digit steps: 12 x 45 = 10 x 40 + 10 x 5 + 2 x 40 + 2 x 5.
If you can calculate 2-digit math, you could do 12 x 45 directly, but 4-digit problems need to be split into steps.
Now for a 32-bit computer, it can calculate problems up to 32 bits in size (about 10 digits) immediately, but bigger problems need to be split into steps. A 64-bit computer can do problems up to twice as large in a single step.
For small problems it doesn’t make a difference. 4 x 5 will be done in a single step on any computer, no matter if it’s 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits. For bigger calculations it does get important.
Another important thing is memory addressing. The way RAM works is that each part of memory has a number address. A processor that can only handle 2 digit numbers could only recall 100 parts of memory. Similarly, a 32 bit chip is limited to about 4 GB of RAM. That’s the main reason why pretty much every computer nowadays is 64 bits.
There are still some old programs written to run on 32 bits which have the issue that they can’t use more than 4 GB of RAM, even if they’re running on a 64 bit machine with far more available.
Latest Answers