64 bit cpu with 32 bit software?

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woot7800GT

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I have decided that I will be getting an AMD 64 bit cpu some time this year, but I have a question, Don't 64's only provide performance gains on software written for the 64 bit arcitecture? So there really won't be any performance gains in 32 bit software?
 
Depends what you classify as a performance gain. Currently AMD holds the title of fastest single and multithreaded processors with the Athlon 64 FX-55 and Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (an opteron may be faster but I frankly don't know as they aren't compared as competetively as the desktop platforms are) in 32 bit enviroments, which I would consider a "performance benefit" if anything at all.

Since an Athlon 64 hasn't been given the ability to run in a true 64 bit enviroment it's real performance attributes are still unknown.

Regardless, it is still a powerful 32 bit processor platform, not to mention a cheap and flexible one at that.
 
If the question u are asking is whether the processor being 64-bit will benefit its capability of running 32-bit applications, then the answer is no - except in some very few outlier cases. There are reasons why AMD processors are better for gaming.. And it being 64-bit is not one of them. Similarly, an AMD chip being the "color black" or came in a pretty box has nothing to do with its superior performance in 32-bit applications either. I would imagine, everything being equal, if AMD came with a 32-bit processor, it would probably be "faster" in 32-bit apps than the 64-bit processor, since resources aren't wasted - like the cache.
 
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