Honored Contributor
Honored ContributorThe advantage of 64-bit is to have more than 4GB of RAM. For 32-bit windows, it can only detect 3.25GB and 750MB is reserved for PCI, IDE, etc. So, if you are compiling for huge devices like the Stratix III and you almost use up all the logic, you might require more than 4GB of RAM. The 64-bit windows will come in handy.
The bigger impact of compilation will be the RAM. CPU power will come in picture if you have adequate RAM. I have a core 2 duo 2.66GHz with 4GB RAM on 64-bit Vista, it compiles faster than my P4 3GHz with 1GB RAM on 32-bit XP by 2 to 3 times faster for small designs. While for bigger designs like for the 3S340 (Stratix III) with >50% logic, it compiles faster by more than 5 times faster. I think it's the RAM issue here because it keeps reading from my HDD and use up my virtual memory.
