Performance difference between 32-bit and 64-bit OS when i use Visual Studio 2010?

Question

Is there a performance difference between 32-bit and 64-bit operating system when I use Visual Studio 2010 ? (Mostly working with .NET and C# )

Answer 1

don't know all implication, but one major benefits of the 64bits is that the process can go further than 2GB of memory.

When you have dozens of plugins, or large projects with heavy process (Resharper real-time analysis for my experience), this can be a large benefits to go beyond 2GB of ram.

Also, 64bits will allow you to beyond the <4GB limitation of the OS..

Answer 2

Taking a risk answering this, I think, but...

Visual Studio is only available in 32-bit, and so runs as such in either environment. I'm certain Windows is very well optimised for running 32-bit applications in the WOW64 emulator.

Indeed, it performs well enough for me to be productive.

For some information on this from MSDN, check here ; neatly, this states:

Processor hardware. Instruction emulation is performed on the chip. On the x64 processor, instructions are executed natively by the micro-architecture. Therefore, execution speed under WOW64 on x64 is similar to its speed under 32-bit Windows. On the Intel Itanium processor, more software is involved in the emulation, and performance suffers as a result.

Though this is not an exhaustive explanation. The link covers more ground regarding the variability.

Answer 3

Here at work, he have 32 bit and 64 bit boxes, some with Windows XP, some with Windows 7. Even though we work with quite big solutions, I can assure you that we can't notice any significant difference in performance. Nevertheless, @SteveB's right about going beyond the memory limitation, so I'd say go 64 bits.