If you are going to invest your hard earned cash in a new computer, you most likely want to get the most bang from your buck.  For most people this starts with the CPU, Central Processing Unit, or the brain of your computer.  If you thought a 32-bit 3GHz CPU was fast, wait until you get a hold of a 64-bit based one.   But what does 64-bit really mean to you and should you get one on your next computer?

The big deal about 64-bit CPUs is not more megahertz, but doubling the amount of data that the CPU can process for each clock cycle.  64-bit CPUs can process twice as many instructions per second as a comparable 32-bit CPU, 64-bit systems are definitely faster than their 32-bit counterparts.  The other big difference between a 32-bit and a 64-bit system is the amount of memory that they support.

A 32-bit system only has 32-bits of data to work with meaning that they can only address up to 4 GB of RAM. A 64-bit system though could theoretically address up to 16 exabytes of RAM (That's over 16,000,000 GB of RAM).  Far more memory than you would probably need now, but the real point is that this is the new technology that is not going to be surpassed tomorrow.  As software requirements rise, 64-bit systems will have lots of room to grow before they are outdated.

So, the question is, should you buy a 64-bit based computer now?  Well, that will depend on your perspective.  The new incarnation of Windows, VISTA, due later this year will be a 64-bit version with more driver support.  With its release you can expect developers to really ramp up with software and hardware support for 64-bit computing.  The 64-bit CPUs can run 32-bit applications just fine and even more efficiently giving you some improvement now.  What it comes down to is if you are going to buy now and you want a computer that is going to have lasting power for a few years you may want to consider the 64-bit versions.  However, if you are not buying now, but just doing the research then wait until the new Windows VISTA is available and take full advantage of the 64-bit system.