New processors coming soon from Advanced Micro Devices and Apple suggest 64-bit computing will make its way to a desktop near you this year. But what does that really mean for you? Let"s put it this way: If you think today"s computers are fast, wait until they make the leap from 32 bits to 64 bits. This isn"t about more megahertz--it"s about actually doubling the amount of data a CPU can process per clock cycle. Servers and high-end workstation have been reaping the technology"s benefits for years.
It"s true a 64-bit desktop computer won"t make your word processing program run faster (sorry, you"re the bottleneck in that equation). But a 64-bit chip has the power to dramatically improve the performance of your more demanding applications, such as audio and video encoding, complex engineering programs like CAD, and--of course--games. And in the long term, 64-bit computing will give programmers much more power to play with, and could revolutionize what desktop software can do.
The Skinny on 64
The amount of data a chip can process at once is a fundamental difference between today"s 32-bit desktop processors--like Intel"s Pentium 4, AMD"s Athlon XP, and Apple"s Motorola-made G4--and future 64-bit desktop CPUs, says Kevin Krewell, senior editor at Microprocessor Report. In the 64-bit camp are Apple"s pending IBM-made G5 and AMD"s upcoming Athlon 64.