X86 and X64 what are they ?

[Frankonline]

HI,

I'm running Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit and I have come across reference to X86 and X64 based versions and I have no idea what this refers to or what I have. A recent Windows update gave me a choice of either downloading an update for "All supported x86-based versions of Windows 7" or "All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7". How am I supposed to know what I've got and what to download ? Thanks for any clarification.

[Just Plain Fred]

HI,

I'm running Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit and I have come across reference to X86 and X64 based versions and I have no idea what this refers to or what I have. A recent Windows update gave me a choice of either downloading an update for "All supported x86-based versions of Windows 7" or "All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7". How am I supposed to know what I've got and what to download ? Thanks for any clarification.

Frank,
Hello.. see this for a good explanation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86 if your system is Windows 7 \ 64 you need the "64" version of updates. Regards Fred

[Frankonline]

Thanks Fred for your reply, but the Wikipaedia link might as well have been written in Swahili, I find it incomprehensible. I was looking for a simple straightforward answer. So in answer to the Microsoft update question can I take it that "All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7" is the one I should be using ? Can you give me an example of who would choose (with what operating system) the "All supported x86-based versions of Windows 7" option then ? Thanks

[RetiredGeek]

Frank,

Ok, here's what IMHO you need to know.

First, you are running a 64 bit version of Windows 7. This means that you will want to only download 64 bit updates for windows. Frankly, {no pun intended} I'm surprised that you were even offered the 32 bit (x86) updates since windows update knows what version you are running.

Secondly, all your security programs, i.e. Anti-Virus, Firewall, Spyware, etc. should also be 64 bit to do their job properly since they have to hook into the operating system. This also applies for hardware drivers which can be a big problem for older hardware you may want to use with your new system. Check the manufacturer's web site for 64 bit drivers if Windows doesn't find them when you try to hook them up.

If you look on your C: drive {Windows System Drive} you will notice that you have a Program Files directory and a Program Files (x86) directory. All your 64 bit programs will be stored in the Program Files directory while any 32 bit software you load will be stored in the Program Files (x86) directory. Most notably here is that most users running 64 bit windows will load 32 bit Microsoft Office. This works fine just be aware that it will be loaded in the Program Files (x86) directory. I've personally yet to find a program that I use on my 32-Bit Windows 7 installation on my desktop that doesn't also work on my 64-bit installation on my laptop, YMMV.

This is a quick and dirty explanation but I hope it gets you started down the right path.

[CLiNT]

In your control panel, go to "Control Panel\System and Security\System".
You should ba able to pull up a screen that looks something like this...
You will find the operating system's "bit rate" to the right of "System Type", circled in red...

If your operating system says 64 bit, go with the 64 bit update. Frankly, I'm surprised you would even get a choice, as RetiredGeek alludes to. X86 is refering to 32 bit.
Curious, what specific update? I don't ever recall an update giving me a choice between the two.

[Medico]

Some of this info is somewhat difficult to follow. Your OS is Windows 7 64 Bit (it appears). This allows access to a much higher amount of memory, and lots of other changes that a simple Google search shows many links for explanations. You PC has both 32 Bit and 64 Bit sections because many/most apps you may want to install are not yet 64 Bit compatible, but are still 32 Bit. The X86 designation is the 32 Bit designation (makes a lot of sense doesn't it) whereas the X64 is obviously the 64 Bit designation.

What this means to you:
1) In most cases if you have a choice to install 32 Bit or 64 Bit versions of an app, choose the 64 Bit version. Two notable exceptions are MS Office, use the 32 Bit version, it is much more compatible for now. Second, most people choose to use the 32 Bit version of IE (both versions are on your PC by default) because Adobe Flash does not yet have 64 Bit versions available. For Java, install both 32 Bit and 64 Bit versions to allow both versions of IE to display Java applets. Yes Windows does know which version you have and will download the appropriate versions of files on your PC. Since there are both 64 Bit and 32 Bit sections and files, both will be updated by Microsoft Updates.

2) You must use 64 Bit drivers for all attached hardware. If the hardware manufacturer has not released a 64 Bit driver for Win 7, then many 64 Bit Vista drivers have been working fine. The point is you must have 64 Bit drivers. Any hardware not having 64 Bit drivers available will most likely not work in your 64 Bit environment. Your Security apps must be 64 Bit as Retired Geek mentions.

I hope this explanation will answer some of your questions.

[Frankonline]

I would like to thank all of you for your explanations, It makes a bit more sense now. It does say in the system part of my basic information page that I have the 64 bit system.






Regarding the Windows updates, I have mine set so that I am alerted to them and can then choose which to install. I am currently being offered a number of optional updates. When I click on the "more information" link alongside I am directed to a microsoft page which has the options listed.

Here are just 2 examples of what I mean .....

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982110

http://support.micro....com/kb/2272691

Hence I needed to know what X86 meant as Microsoft are not that user friendly. Maybe if I'd just ignored the more info link and selected the update my PC would have chosen the right one anyway, but I still needed to know what X86 was all about, so thank you for that.

[Medico]

In your control panel, go to "Control Panel\System and Security\System".
You should ba able to pull up a screen that looks something like this...
You will find the operating system's "bit rate" to the right of "System Type", circled in red...

If your operating system says 64 bit, go with the 64 bit update. Frankly, I'm surprised you would even get a choice, as RetiredGeek alludes to. X86 is refering to 32 bit.
Curious, what specific update? I don't ever recall an update giving me a choice between the two.

Clint, What seems to be the bottleneck with your system? You have a faster CPU, quad core, twice the RAM and yet my Windows Experience Index is identical to yours???

[attachment=89946:WEI.png]

Could it be the Graphics VRAM??? My Desktop Performance for Aero and Hard Disk transfer rates are both 5.9. It's hard to understand. I guess I'm just curious.

[veegertx]

Frank, All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7. I manually download all them myself so I can integrate into my next install and am faced with that quite a bit. I have been offered 32 bit and look further down and see what other people are downloading and the 64 bit version is in the list.

oh crud the Index then check this out. Yes my graphics card drags me down and even put in a better than came with it but best I could afford at the time

[JoeP517]

Could it be the Graphics VRAM??? My Graphics Processor and Hard Disk transfer rates are both 5.9. It's hard to understand. I guess I'm just curious.

If you click on the WEI text you'll see the breakdown. The WEI is always presented as the lowest score of any of the subsystem tested. Without knowing Clint's configuration my guess would be video performance in one of the two video categories.

Joe

[JoeP517]

Regarding the Windows updates, I have mine set so that I am alerted to them and can then choose which to install. I am currently being offered a number of optional updates. When I click on the "more information" link alongside I am directed to a microsoft page which has the options listed.

Here are just 2 examples of what I mean .....

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982110

http://support.micro....com/kb/2272691

Windows/Microsoft update will NOT offer you patches that are inappropriate for your operating system. Since you are running a 64-bit OS, even though a patch may be for 32-bit or 64-bit Windows Update will only apply the 64-bit version for your PC. The only time you have to worry about "bitness" is if you download an operating system patch yourself. Even if you download the wrong version Windows will NOT apply it.

Joe

[Medico]

If you click on the WEI text you'll see the breakdown. The WEI is always presented as the lowest score of any of the subsystem tested. Without knowing Clint's configuration my guess would be video performance in one of the two video categories.

Joe

Joe, Thanks, I was just curious because my score was identical to Clint's score even though his CPU is faster and quad core and more RAM. I did check my breakdown and that's where I came up with the Desktop Performance for Aero and HD transfer rate on my system. This tends to show that an entire system will cause performance hits when used as a system and that the system is only as good or fast as the weakest link in the system. I was just attempting to verify that. My slow down did come from my graphics card while using Aero (even though it is an actual card - ATI Mobil Radeon 4650 - instead of on board integrated graphics) and my HD transfer (My HD is a 5400 RPM sata). I'm more looking for future reference and as I said out of curiosity.

Thanks for the response. I should have been more clear in my question to explain to those of our forum members who do not appreciate what these things mean.

[Frankonline]

Hi guys,

Now that the discussion has moved onto WEI I noticed that mine was worst of all at 3.3 despite having the fastest processor of those displayed. Not having 8Gb of memory will not help. I looked at the breakdown and noticed that there was an option to re-run the assessment. I had never run it in the first place, so I thought I'd got nothing to lose so I ran it. It upgraded me to 3.7! Graphics still seem to be letting me down despite me paying more for a better graphics card when I bought my machine.



Edit:- I just noticed a dedicated thread has been started on this topic, perhaps a moderator can move this post ?
Thanks

[Medico]

Control Panel, Performance Information and Tools. Select Advanced visual effects on left. (See attached)

[attachment=89945:AdjustVisualEffects.png]

I have adjusted for custom performance just using the things I like. This could make a big difference in your numbers. (See attached)

[attachment=89944:PerformanceOptions.png]

[CLiNT]

It's my hard drive that is deterministic of overall score; It's a 10000 rpm WD raptor rated
at the Windows experience index of 5.9. (it's the slowest thing in the system)
If I had a few of these in a raid configuration I'm sure I'd see improvement. An SSD
would improve that score considerably too.
Other than that, my GT 8800 NVIDIA GPU is getting a little long on the tooth as well, pushing
nearly 3 years.