64-Bit Computing Has Finally Arrived

We uncovered what 64-bit computing means (both to you and the pros) and ran hands-on tests with key apps on high-end workstations. What's more, we built our own 64-bit powerhouse, at a price that's lower than you'd guess. We'll show you how.

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In technology, some ideas take time to germinate, none more so than 64-bit computing, where the operating system and software (including most drivers) run on a 64-bit CPU from Intel or AMD. Linux has been 64-bit for eight years, and Apple's operating system for five. But compatibility problems have dogged the 64-bit versions of Windows since its introduction in Windows XP. There are several key advantages, such as improved performance and support for many gigabytes of RAM. The real question is, why 64-bit—and why now? And, why should you care?

Let's be honest: The promise of 64-bit computing has been around for a while—some would say it's a broken promise. Yet the planets have finally aligned: Microsoft offers a 64-bit version of both Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows XP Pro, and 64-bit versions of Linux are freely available. According to Gartner, one out of every four PCs sold today comes with a 64-bit OS installed. As for hardware, both Intel and AMD have offered 64-bit processors for years. And the additional RAM supported by the wider data bus is now amazingly affordable, thanks to a streamlined manufacturing process and mainstream levels of demand.

Most important, companies such as Adobe, Apple, and Autodesk (and that's just those that start with the letter A) now offer their flagship software products in 64-bit versions. Adobe, for the first time, offers its Creative Suite 4 in a 64-bit version—currently for PC only, with a Mac version in the works.

The main benefit has to do with memory addressing. A quick lesson in processor technology: Long ago, the brilliant minds in computer science (engineers working at Intel and other companies) decided that a PC would need only a 32-bit "register size"—the amount of RAM a CPU can access. In mathematical terms, that's 232 or exactly 4GB of RAM. Back then, the high cost of memory and the absence of 64-bit software or operating systems meant that few imagined a CPU running in 64-bit mode.

Fast-forward to 2003. AMD released the first 64-bit processor, the Opteron. Suddenly, the rules changed. The CPU could access an astonishing amount of RAM: exactly 264, which translates to several million gigabytes of RAM. Not that you would install that much memory—but you could if you wanted to. Since then, operating systems and software have been slowly catching up to the hardware, and today they have (finally!).

What 64-bit Means for You

There are two practical advantages to a 64-bit PC. For consumers, it means adding 8GB or even 16GB of RAM, so that memory-intensive programs such as Adobe Photoshop CS4 have enough overhead to avoid page-swapping virtual memory. On a MacBook running the 64-bit version of Adobe Lightroom 2, more RAM means never overloading the computer as it tries to process hundreds of megabytes of images.

Yet there's more to it than just one program running more smoothly. For consumers, 64-bit computing means never having to think about how many programs you're running. And I can attest to this fact: On a computer with 16GB of RAM, you'll rarely experience a BSOD (blue screen of death), because programs are free to consume all the RAM they want, drivers fight over memory space less often, and the computer is just processing information faster. This encourages experimentation. You'll find yourself asking questions like: What if I run six different browsers at the same time and test which is the fastest? Or what if I run Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, my browser, and a game like Crysis Warhead, all at the same time? Experienced PC users know the concept is ludicrous, a sure way to bring your system to its knees. It's interesting, though: Given enough RAM, even Windows Vista is a speed champ.

The second practical advantage is for serious workstation computing—such as engineering, animation, game development, and broadcast video production—where a large memory envelope can support massive data models. For example, an architecture firm designing a bridge might create a model that includes information about structural integrity, wind conditions, and traffic patterns. The designers load gigabytes of data into a software program that can handle the large data sets—such as Autodesk Revit Architecture, just released as a 64-bit version within the past month. Before 64-bit? Loading these massive data sets just wasn't possible; they had to be split into smaller sets.

Of course, the idea of moving to 64-bit is one thing. Actually making it a reality in your workplace or at home is more difficult. Even today, major applications and utilities such as Microsoft Office and QuickTime still run in standard old 32-bit. That's changing as you read this, because the snowball is rolling. In just the past few weeks, as more software moves to 64-bit, even the companies that make plug-ins for Adobe products and high-end software such as Autodesk 3ds Max are getting on the bandwagon.

"We're certainly ready for 64-bit," says Steve Kleynhans, a Gartner research vice president and expert on processor technology. "Vista 64 has brought a 64-bit OS to the mainstream, and resolved many of the old hang-ups with drivers and application compatibility. What we really need are applications that can benefit from the large memory models 64-bit makes available. Right now these are limited mostly to high-end technical apps, but with the recent release of Adobe Creative Suite CS4, we now have a version of Photoshop that's 64-bit, which speeds up handling very large RAW images. Going forward we'll see 64-bit entering high-end games, consumer video editing, and photo management."

We're in an exciting transition, because the PC has become more nimble and flexible—it can handle complex applications with ease. To understand why 64-bit computing is finally ready for prime time, we touched base with several companies that are taking advantage of 64-bit processors. We also did hands-on tests with a few key software applications, including the powerful Adobe Creative Suite 4 on high-end workstations. Lastly, we built our own 64-bit powerhouse, at a price that's lower than you'd guess—we'll show you how.

Making the Most of 64 Bits

A wide range of computing paradigms today take advantage of 64-bit computing, things like the design and development of a video game, a TV commercial, a casino and hotel, and a wind farm. These examples constitute proof of concept: computing activities only a 64-bit platform allows. Sure, 64-bit computing has been around for some time. But the development and engineering shops described here, and others as well, have finally transitioned entirely to 64-bit—all of their software, OSs, drivers, and final products run in 64-bit mode. It's a crucial workflow shift. For people working in shops like these, 32-bit software and older Intel and AMD processors are just a distant memory"?.

"64-bit enables applications that work with a lot of data to load that info into memory, creating really big data structures," says Gartner's Kleynhans. "A game developer could create a model of an entire island and keep the whole thing in memory, enabling a more realistic and smooth experience; a weather modeling program can keep much more data in memory, enabling it to create a more accurate model; or a video-editing program could store more video frames in memory and more layers of content to enable it to do more complex compositing or special effects."

GearBox

You probably already know the name Gearbox Software. The well-regarded company has created the popular Brothers in Arms series and many other PC and console games, but the latest project, called Borderlands, is much more ambitious. It's a frenetic sci-fi shooter that's part Diablo and part Halo (just check out the game's trailer on 1UP.com). "Frenetic" because the game will surely test the processing power of video-game consoles and PCs. In an online match, there are thousands of guns available, each one customized with special equipment. There's a four-player co-op mode for the single player missions. And the rendering looks simply outstanding. It's what Halo 3 should look like by now.

Michael Athey, the IT director at Gearbox, told me the company has moved entirely to a 64-bit platform, mostly using HP xw8600 Workstation PCs with at least 8GB of RAM each. The game editor the developers use, a tool designed specifically for Unreal 3, gobbles up 2GB of RAM just by itself. They also run Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max, the Beast lighting system, various open-source tools, and the game itself—all at the same time. In early November, the company also started using Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Athey explained that many of Gearbox's design and development tools are now optimized for 64-bit, including Microsoft Visual Studio and most of the rendering plug-ins the firm uses. When the company's programmers test multiplayer maps in Borderlands, they can set up multiple clients on the same workstation. While maps typically rendered overnight on a 32-bit platform (for the actual game, they're compressed to fit onto one DVD), they now "cook" in as little as 45 minutes. This encourages experimentation: Designers don't have to wait overnight to play-test file revisions. "Prior to 64-bit, we had developers who cried a lot," jokes Athey.

Zoic Studios

Like Gearbox, Zoic Studios is a high-profile design firm—you've probably seen some of its 3D rendered commercials, such as animations for the CSI television show and an advertisement for the Mazda 6. What you might not realize is that the company uses only 64-bit computers for its animations.

Lead artist Kevin Quattro says the move to 64-bit was necessary because the television industry has finally caught up with the film industry; the 3D animations on TV are just as believable and realistic as those in films, and they require as much processing power. The studio uses NewTek LightWave 3D 9.5 for much of its animation modeling work. For Quattro, the main advantage to using LightWave on a 64-bit CPU is, interestingly, speed. Despite the common misconception, 64-bit software doesn't run twice as fast as 32-bit apps. But LightWave does run 10 to 15 percent faster, says Quattro, a noticeable increase when you've loaded several 1GB files at the same time and want to create a realistic animation.

"A system with 8GB to 24GB of RAM and multiple cores allows me to do many tasks at once," Quattro points out. "I can have a 3D motion-tracker application running as a background process and a 3D program rendering a scene. In a 32-bit environment, I'm forced to break down shots into smaller portions so that the system can handle them. This takes precious time. It's far easier to be able to load up a 64-bit system and let it cook. The extra headroom allows for even more complex scenes; it's great for the tight deadlines we face weekly."

Friedmutter Group

For architectural design firms, the 64-bit platform has one compelling benefit: Designers can load entire buildings into a software program and show the results to clients, even letting them examine the finer points of wall construction. Take Friedmutter Group for example, a Las Vegas-based firm that designs casinos and hotels. Without 64-bit computers, Friedmutter had to split the 3GB model of a building, including all the minutiae of construction—the structural integrity of a balcony or the exact width of hallways—into 20 different chunks. Designers would pull up one section, then typically run out of memory when they needed to review details of another section. The process of stitching models together could take as long as 12 hours. During an Autodesk Revit session, engineers and designers couldn't even open Microsoft Outlook—if they did, models wouldn't load.

Friedmutter Group still uses Revit, just the recently released 64-bit version instead (it's available for Windows Vista, XP, and Linux). Lonnie Cumpton, a Revit manager at Friedmutter, says the new version lets his team pull up a large model all at once, such as the 7.5 million–square-foot Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. Rendering these models now takes about an hour. The firm uses Mac Pros running Apple Boot Camp and Windows. The firm uses Mac Pros running Apple Boot Camp and Windows Vista, choosing Macs mostly because they run the lightning-fast Intel Xeon quad-core processors.

"Windows Vista 64-bit seems much more stable than previous versions. We sure have a lot fewer crashes," says Cumpton. "It manages memory better, so we can run Revit Architecture with Autodesk AutoCAD and still have plenty of RAM left over for other applications."

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BY John Brandon

Source：PCMAG.COM