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While it true that 64bit can handle alot more ram then 32bit but if he ever wants more then 4gb he going to have to buy a new motherboard again because none of the current skt 939 motherboards supports more then 4gb of ram.
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I ended up getting 2 gig of RAM for my computer because I was stitching some very large panorama images which were up to 5000 X 60000 pixels. I also had to edit some multi-layer versions of those images in PhotoShop. I was endlessly stopped by various programs' inability to access more than 2 gig per application. And even if my data could fit into a 2 gig address space, memory fragmentation quickly reduced the practical working set to much smaller than could fit in my physical RAM. Even if I tried to stick 4 gig of RAM in my machine, I could only access a 3 gig address space using the /3G switch and the memory fragmentation still jumps up and bites you.
Basically, translated to english, that means that I was constantly running out of virtual address space and even adding more physical RAM wouldn't solve the problem. If I had only had a 64 bit CPU with a 64 bit operating system then my 2 gig of RAM would have gotten through the task just fine. A 64 bit CPU does not just increase the amount of physical RAM you can install. It also makes sure you cannot run out of virtual addresses and each program can operate without regard to memory fragmentation. In the end, the only way I could solve my problem with a 32 bit operating system was write my own program which chopped the images into pieces, called the other programs to do the work, and then blend the separate images back together into a single piece. Once you start working on things which have huge data sets (like video), you just long for the day when you don't have to worry about bumping into 32 bit (or 31 bit) limitations. 64 bit operating systems are a great idea even when you have 4 gig or less of RAM installed.