Do I need more RAM for programming if I switch to a 64 Bit OS?

Posted by Buttercup on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Buttercup
Published on 2009-09-20T19:13:16Z Indexed on 2010/03/18 14:21 UTC
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operating-systems

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32-bit

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64-bit

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variable

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alignment

Hi,

Given that today (for performance reasons?) variables are usually aligned to the "bit-width" (I wanted to use "word-width" here, but on x86 a "word" is still 16 bits right?) of the processor, would switching from a 32 bit OS to its 64 bit version double the RAM usage?

Would this then in turn mean that to do the same work a 32 bit OS can do with 4 GB RAM (well, the 3.x GB actually...) with a 64 bit OS I would need 8 GB of RAM for programming?

Please note that I'm only talking about everyday x86 computers here.

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