Windows 7: which version for which Pentium?
I have to install Windows 7 on two machines, but I'm not sure if I must pick Windows 7 version 32 bits or 64 bits for each of them. Here's what appears in my computer > properties:
- Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
- Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz
2 Answers
Pentium D is better of those two. It's a dual-core vs. Pentium 4 single core, so regardless of what version of Intel pentium 4 you have (x64 or x86), it's faster. Pentium D Smithfield core (90nm) is actually 2x Pentium 4 Prescott cores, and Pentium D Presler core (65nm) is 2x Pentium 4 Cedar Mill cores
Anyway, I would suggest you to check the available memory as well. Minimum for Win 7 x86 is 1 GB, while for Win 7 x64 is 2 GB
If you don't have or you are not planning to use more than 3GB of RAM, I would strongly suggest you to go with the Windows x86, regardless of the CPU ability to work or not on x64 OS
If you have more than 3.5 gb of ram, go with 64 bit - its almost certainly a 64 bit system.
A more scientific way to find out is to look up if your processor supports EMT64T - you can look this up on intel's website or use a suitable tool to find out - on windows you can use cpu-z
This is a 64 bit system and has the EMT64T instruction (AMD systems may have a AMD64 instruction)
If these are systems with no os, boot a linux livecd and use /proc/cpuinfo - you're looking for the lm flag under flags so grep -E lm /proc/cpuinfo should have no output on a 32 bit system, and spit out everything under 'flags' including an entry that says lm
The one on my VPS looks like this , and they're running a 64 bit xeon core.
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon rep_good pni pclmulqdq ssse3 cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes lahf_lmIf you find that either tool tells you its 64 bit capable chances are you can run a 64 bit os, assuming you meet the other system requirements. Otherwise you will have to go for 32 bit.
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