Processor 64 bits

A Processeur 64 Bit S is a processor whose width of the registers is of 64 bits on the integers. Indeed, of the processors known as 32 bits for a long time manage the floating numbers on 64 even 128 bits.

Examples of processors 64 bits

the Itanium of Intel based on architecture IA-64
the X86-64 or X64 (AMD64 of AMD or Intel 64 of Intel)
the IBM POWER
Their derivative great diffusion, like the PowerPC G5 of IBM.
Of the companies like Sun Microsystems, SGI or DEC respectively has since the middle of years 1990 developped at the point of the CPU 64 bits UltraSparc, the MIPS and the Alpha.

Advantages

Theoretically, the processors 64 bits can address 16 exbioctets (2⁶⁴) of memory against 4 gibioctets for processors 32 bits. In reality, it is much less (in the case of GCV), since CPU do not have (still to date, In 2007) a physical bus of 64 bits to address the memory. Some have of them 40 (what gives a limit of 1 Tio to the maximum) or 42 (4 Tio).

All the modern operating systems support the 64 bits:

Linux
UNIX
Mac OS X for Power PC and x86-64
Mac OS X 10.5 " Leopard" is 64 bits
Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista for X86-64
Windows Server for Itanium
HP-UX
IRIX first system 64 bits

External bonds

Introduction to 64bits computing and x86-64
OpenVMS.org OpenVMS on the original platform 64 bits.
Dual Core Click - BBC, Click Online, 8 September 2005

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