0

Does it make sense to replace a factory Win8 64-bit OS with a 32-bit one on a netbook-like Intel Celeron 847 laptop with 2GB non-extensible (soldered) RAM?

avo
  • 163
  • 7
  • It does not make sense. The amount of overhead that might exist on a 64-bit operating system cannot be compared to the performance increases that come with a 64-bit operating system. A 64-bit operating system allows better use of registers which is very important. – Ramhound Oct 19 '13 at 06:08
  • @Ramhound, hmm... would you post this as an answer next to the other one, which is quite contrary? – avo Oct 19 '13 at 06:11
  • No I will not do that. – Ramhound Oct 19 '13 at 06:11
  • @Ramhound, no problem. I'm just a bit confused now. Thanks anyway. – avo Oct 19 '13 at 06:12

2 Answers2

2

Yes, 2GB is really the minimum to run a 64Bit Windows and you don't have fun. Windows itself would use too much RAM. Everything under 3GB RAM should be 32Bit Windows.

magicandre1981
  • 97,301
  • 30
  • 179
  • 245
  • I disagree. We are starting to see phones with less then 3GB be migrated to 64-bit operating systems and the performance increases just from the additional registers make it worth it. I don't think he will get any performance increases that he can actually measure by using a 32-bit operating system. – Ramhound Oct 19 '13 at 06:11
  • 64Bit has more overheat and this doesn't mean it is faster. 64Bit uses 500B more RAM compared to a 32bit system, so it is nonsense to use it with only 2GB. – magicandre1981 Oct 19 '13 at 06:12
  • It's a netbook with a 1.1Ghz CPU, I'm not looking for any performance increase, I'd rather see it doing less page file swapping, despite it has an SSD. – avo Oct 19 '13 at 06:18
  • @avo it's not going to magically not need the same size page file Windows 8 supports using a flash drive to boost performance on low memory systems I would use that instead – Ramhound Oct 19 '13 at 06:59
  • 1
    @avo go for 32Bit. 64Bit has much higher paging without having a proper amount of RAM (at least 4GB). That's why all new Atom Tablets still have 32Bit when they are sold with 2GB RAM. – magicandre1981 Oct 19 '13 at 09:30
0

Microsoft's system requirements for Windows 8 suggest that the 32bit version consumes significantly less RAM and HD space:

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Aside from that, you're unlikely to notice the performance gains of a 64bit OS on a low end netbook.

Founder
  • 9
  • 1