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Why Some Games Need 64-Bit Support?

why some games need 64-bit support

Are you a PC Gamer? If YES, then you must have come across the 64-bit problem. The gaming era has been continuously changing throughout the past decade with the advent of new technology.

Back in the days, worrying about system requirements to run a game wasn’t that of a headache. Most of the games used to run on 32-bit support. But the games have now evolved considerably, and so have the system requirements needed to run them!

Game developers like EA, Nintendo, and Ubisoft have moved on to 64-bit system support for their games. Even the older games are updated and patched according to the 64-bit system. But what’s the rush to such a transition? Why is such a change required in the first place?

Let’s find out.

Understanding 32-bit and 64-bit

To understand the difference between 32-bit vs. 64-bit, let’s look at them individually first:

  • 32-bit: It means that your computer can process 232 = 4,294,967,296 values in a single go. Even if you are a non-technical person, you understand that this is a very high number.
  • 64-bit: You guessed it right, by this your computer can process 264 = 8,446,744,073,709,551,616 values in one go. It is a billion times higher than a 32-bit processor.

To sum it up, the higher the bitrate, the faster your system will process data.

Modern Games and 64-Bit Support

After clearing the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit, we have concluded that a 64-bit system processes the values faster. In present times, modern games have such high-intensity graphics that they require such high-processing speed.

The requirement of such processing quickly helps out the game developers to provide the gamers with realistic experiences in their games.

Behind the Scenes in Your Computer System

Now we know PC gamers’ problems, the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit, and why modern games require a 64-bit system. The question here is, what happens inside the computer system that helps modern games to look realistic than ever before?

In your computer system, there are different types of memory devices. A kind of memory is called Registers. The registers are the fastest temporary storage devices that can be accessed directly by the CPU. The registers come in various sizes, including 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit.

The backend of a computer system does not understand anything except numbers, more specifically bit numbers. So your CPU manipulates the numbers to get things going. Whether you are running a game or browsing in your system, it’s all numbers behind the scenes.

The size of your register plays an important role here. For your CPU to process a number, it needs the number to be in registers first. The larger the register’s size, the more significant processing your CPU will do, resulting in faster processing by the CPU.

Modern games nowadays provide you with a more realistic experience than ever. With 64-bit support, they can run in a stable and faster way providing you with the best gaming experience.

Computer Games and Addressing Space

Computer games require memory to run on your system. The more significant memory your processor supports, the more beneficial it is for the game.

For example, you are running a game on a 32-bit processor that only supports 4 GB of RAM. As you launch the game, it starts to occupy space in your memory. The space that it acquires is addressing space. Your game is now using this addressing space to load game objects such as cars, menu items, locations, player profiles, etc.

Now when you are playing the game, game objects frequently required to be loaded are stored inside the cache memory. The cache memory address space depends upon your processor bit support. If it is 32-bit support, it will only hold the number of objects that the system can accommodate within this limited memory.

For a 64-bit system, this memory support would be much higher. It can allow the system to make more things stored inside the cache memory. Your game objects will load faster; you can autosave your game and play the game without experiencing any loading delay.

Remember that there are games that will come with memory-constraints. Most modern games come with 64-bit processor requirements these days. These games do not run unless the system has the necessary support.

Modern Games and CPU Calculations

We now know that a computer manipulates numbers to perform the tasks. You give input; some instructions in the form of numbers go to the CPU, CPU processes them, and return the output.

Now in modern games, when you are playing, you are doing multiple tasks inside the game. For example, running the car in a racing game, you accelerate and then press the car break at once. How do you think your system deals with these tasks behind the scenes?

Well, your system would process your tasks in numbers. The numbers can be in decimal form as well. For a 32-bit system, a number as long as 7 decimal digits work fine and processed efficiently.

But in modern games, these decimal digits would be more. An alternate, but slow solution that your 32-bit systems do, is to store these numbers in multiple places in the memory. It is slow because you can say that you have a single task number in 2 different memory locations.

But for a 64-bit system, you can even store a 16-digit decimal place number in a single place. It allows for faster processing of the number. Hence, your game runs even more smoothly.

Modern Games and Desperation for GPU’s

You must be wondering that you have got a 64-bit processor, making your computer machine capable of modern games out there. But it is not the only case.

The 64-bit processing system does help to an extent, but the GPU’s need is quintessential. GPU provides much larger memory-width space as compared to a CPU. It helps to cover up space even as big enough as 256-bit.

So, a GPU is more important when it comes to running modern games. However, your CPU with a 64-bit processor helps you handle better memory decisions that boost your game performances. So, if you have a 64-bit processor, the next step to running modern PC games is a better GPU.

Conclusion

The article helped you understand that why modern games require 64-bit processor support. But summing up everything:

  • We got to know the actual difference between 32-bit and a 64-bit system and how they impact the gaming experience.
  • Behind the scenes calculations of a computer system. How all it matters to the computer is just the numbers at the end.
  • Addressing space in computer memory. How running your games requires object loading into the memory space and the importance of cache memory.
  • Registers and CPU calculations. A larger register size is the key to faster game processing.
  • The role of GPUs for modern gaming and their importance as compared to a CPU with 64-bit processing.

We tried to build some sound understanding of the above things. We hope you have understood the technicalities behind the 64-bit CPU processor and its impact on computer gaming.

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