The maximum amount of DRAM that the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Home Basic OS can read is 4GB. The 64-bit version of Windows 7 can read up to 192GB DRAM. The maximum limit of DRAM on the 32-bit version of Windows 8 is also 4GB while the 64-bit version can handle up to 512GB of dynamic random-access memory. Here are the physical memory limits.
Similar to a Windows-based computer, Linux-based machines' maximum RAM is based on whether they have 32-bit or 64-bit architecture. Most 32-bit Linux systems only support 4 GB of RAM, unless the PAE kernel is enabled, which allows a 64 GB max. However, 64-bit variants support between 1 and 256 TB.
I downloaded Nightly, the beta 64-bit browser from Firefox, and also JAVA 7 64 bit version. I haven't yet found my new heap limit, but I just opened a JVM with a heap size of 5900m. No problem! I am running Win 7 64 bit Ultimate on a machine with 24gb RAM.
I have a choice of running 64 bit and 32 bit windows 7. I have the i5 intel duo core 2.27 processor and 4 GB memory laptop. I am not planning on sucking up lots a memory with a ton of applications running at once so the memory management with the 64 bit is not all that necessary. I am looking for performance so which would be better for me?
One of the major differences between a 32-bit and 64-bit Windows is the support for more than 4GB of RAM. Here is good news for Windows 8, 7 and Vista users because we have some patches here to make your 32-bit Windows support more than 4GB of memory.
From what I understand, running two machines with the same specifications (one 32-bit, one 64-bit) with a small amount of RAM (say 2GB), will have the 64-bit machine running slightly faster. Based on some test results, a 64-bit machine might run approximately 10% faster -- but it comes at a cost: RAM consumption is much higher with approximately 30% more overhead.
The Windows 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (Vcache) determines the maximum cache size based on the amount of RAM that is present when Windows starts. Vcache then reserves enough memory.