Gadgetory

a quick search on our hype evaluation machine also known as the Google reveals just shy of 9 million hits about sixty four-bit vs. 32-bit processors I know some of this hype was started by the PC crowd back when AMD launched their first desktop PC 64-bit CPU back in 2003 but since last fall's launch of the iPhone 5s the first smartphone with a 64-bit CPU it's become a hot topic again but what does it actually mean for average Joe let's start with what a bit is very briefly here one bit is a single character in binary either 1 or 0 so it can only express up to two values with two bits we can express up to four values and with three bits that goes up to eight every bit we add increases the number of different values we can represent in binary exponentially now you'll hear about bits in relation to all kinds of computer things from data storage to data transmission to data processing so that brings us back to CPUs in the context of a processor the number of bits generally refers to the amount of memory it can address so while a 32-bit processor is without PAE magic trix limited to about four gigs of memory or ram a 64-bit processor can handle up to 16 billion gigabytes of RAM hahahahaha alright Linus that sounds interesting more RAM is good for performance right bring on the bits where's my 128 bit well hold on a second there cool your rainbows my pony friend more RAM is only beneficial if you need it to store data that's applicable to the task your processor is working on at a given time adding more RAM to this isn't going to make the ball move faster so move to more bits 4 processors it's not something to be undertaken for no reason aside from the hardware re-engineering and instruction set architecture extension or redesign it involves a complete rewrite of fundamental parts of the operating system via windows OS 10 Linux Android iOS or whatever it requires specific driver software for all hardware components that will be used and finally application 2 we'll need to at least recompile and debug their code just to achieve basic compatibility without taking advantage of any performance improvements well ok Linus but I really want that shiny new Roo 64-bit processor may be the entire hardware and software industries will cooperate for a fast migration for the first time ever so I can have huge performance gains right anyone I wouldn't hold your breath here we are over ten years after the release of the Athlon 64 and in addition to most of the applications on my 64-bit pc anyway running in 32-bit mode Microsoft is still supporting entirely 32-bit versions of even their latest windows 8.1 OS and furthermore if you think a 64-bit processor is faster then I'm afraid you bought into the hype my friends for certain workloads and nothing you're doing on your phone at the moment there will be a benefit but in most cases what you're actually benefiting from is that a 64-bit CPU will tend to have a newer more robust design overall with more registers functional units memory bandwidth and all that other stuff so until we need more than four gigs of RAM for our phone applications which who knows may not actually be that far away the 64-bit nests just a necessary transition being packaged up for the general consumer as a selling point speaking of selling points squarespace.com is our sponsor for this episode and boy do they ever have some real ones first the service is reasonably priced second it's easy to use and third its beautiful sounds great right can I sign you up right now oh wait you want to know what it does right right Squarespace is web based management tools allow you to quickly create your own amazingly customizable functional website they provide a logo maker templates that will make your site look great on desktop and mobile without any additional hassle and they even take care of your flexible scalable hosting solution so your site whether it's a blog online store or portfolio will look professional and continue to load fast as your business grows without really any intervention from you it's awesome we use it because it works and you should give it a try today at squarespace.com slash linus you a free two week trial and you can even save 10% with our offer code listed in the video description thanks for watching guys like the city if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me know if you have any suggestions for future fast as possible episodes share the video if the urge strikes you you know more shares as more cares and thanks again for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe