If the Nintendo 64 is "64 bit"...

[Mouni]

Then what does that make other consoles or even a highend gaming PC?

Is "bit" even relevant at all today in gaming?

[MrHappy]

wii is 258 ps3 was 512 and new ones i bealive are 1024 and the "bit" refers to teh graphic card size

[Geniusdude]

64 refers to the 64-bit processor, which just means that it can handle more data, so more RAM.
It probably didn't use very much RAM anyway, it was probably due to

It is not very relevant to console gaming today.
I am not sure about the mechanics of 64-bit processors, but it seems to me like it is not very important to current consoles.

You might not trust wikipedia, but I tend to trust it, as it is usually accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit

gnlogic's post seems to make more sense, but just thought I'd post in case you meant the processor

[anti-wow]

bit is an obsolete term to compare graphic quality on older consoles.

Not used anymore.

[Deleted]

With more bits you can have more combinations of colours. before that you had 32, 16, 8 bit etc, so 01010101 could potentially represent a specific colour. Pretty much every colour u can imagine can be represented now, which is why how many bits the system is is never referred to. I remember the sega genisis used to have how many bits it was right on the front of it.

[Yohassakura]

Then what does that make other consoles or even a highend gaming PC?

Is "bit" even relevant at all today in gaming?

The processor was 64bit, although the FSB was 32bit.

All current CPUs in consoles and "highend gaming PCs" are 64bit processors.

The bit isn't exactly relevant in this context.

The processor of the N64 was 100MHz~ and it only had 4mb of RAM (8mb if you have the expansion pack like I have).

64bit means that there is more possible memory allocations, so you can increase your ram which was limited from 4GB at the most, to 192GB (for computers, servers can handle more).

Your typical processor is between 2-3GHz and is dual core (can obviously be hexacore, and core clocks can go up to 8GHz or so, on some processors, if you're using liquid nitrogen etc...), has much better/faster RAM timings (at a lower latency), not to mention an improvement in the architecture of a processor itself.

The main difference between Consoles and PCs would be that you don't change your hardware of your console, so all xbox360s are the same, and all PS3s are the same. This means that the games developers can use lower level code to exploit the hardware better. Whereas, with PCs, you need a higher level render to utilize the hardware. E.g. DirectX or OpenGL.

[thrilhouse1]

none of you are even close to correct.

In the context of N64 being 64 bits, it refers to the size, in bits, of the CPUs accumulator.

edit: person above is correct, posted as I was about to

[Geniusdude]

The processor was 64bit, although the FSB was 32bit.

All current CPUs in consoles and "highend gaming PCs" are 64bit processors.

The bit isn't exactly relevant in this context.

The processor of the N64 was 100MHz~ and it only had 4mb of RAM (8mb if you have the expansion pack like I have).

64bit means that there is more possible memory allocations, so you can increase your ram which was limited from 4GB at the most, to 192GB (for computers, servers can handle more).

Your typical processor is between 2-3GHz and is dual core (can obviously be hexacore, and core clocks can go up to 8GHz or so, on some processors, if you're using liquid nitrogen etc...), has much better/faster RAM timings (at a lower latency), not to mention an improvement in the architecture of a processor itself.

The main difference between Consoles and PCs would be that you don't change your hardware of your console, so all xbox360s are the same, and all PS3s are the same. This means that the games developers can use lower level code to exploit the hardware better. Whereas, with PCs, you need a higher level render to utilize the hardware. E.g. DirectX or OpenGL.

Good to see someone could fully explain the processor thing.
Also, is it actually possible to use liquid nitrogen for computer cooling?
Edit: Just looked it up, that's crazy.

[Yohassakura]

Good to see someone could fully explain the processor thing.
Also, is it actually possible to use liquid nitrogen for computer cooling?

I think you can get a good idea from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5PJ1bhF8TE

[insmek]

Good to see someone could fully explain the processor thing.
Also, is it actually possible to use liquid nitrogen for computer cooling?
Edit: Just looked it up, that's crazy.

You can also cool a computer using nothing but cooking oil.

[Kuntantee]

In essence 64-bit means the data package that is sent/got by processor is 64-bit(means 64 binary digit in a row). 32-bit is 32-bit length data packages are being send and get by processor. This won't allow computer users to get a performance boost as long as the programs in computer built according to 64-bit processors and since the data package is bigger in 64-bit, it can address more ram(between 0-2^64-1 and 0-2^32-1 for 32-bit). So 64-bit can be relevant but that's up to programmers.

[lianjie]

I think so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[inux94]

You can also cool a computer using nothing but cooking oil.

I'm gonna try that once I get my old equipment together.

Pentium, GT 9800 or something XD 2gb ram

[Sýf]

Also, is it actually possible to use liquid nitrogen for computer cooling?

Yes, it's used when heavy overclocking, such as in tournaments or world record attempts. As the system would be to warm for water or fans to handle.

[Deleted]

the Bit has been replace by the MHz,

[Deleted]

none of you are even close to correct.

In the context of N64 being 64 bits, it refers to the size, in bits, of the CPUs accumulator.

edit: person above is correct, posted as I was about to

none of you are even close to correct.

In the context of N64 being 64 bits, it refers to the size, in bits, of the CPUs accumulator.

edit: person above is correct, posted as I was about to

'

the reason why companies showed how many bits on their product was because you need more bits to represent colours

2^8 =256, so how do u think an 8-bit system can display 16+million colours like we do today?

super nintendo was a 16-bit system that used 15-bits for colours resulting in 32768 representable colours. Please learn ur shit

[wombinator04]

You can also cool a computer using nothing but cooking oil.

Looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Even though the oil doesn't break the parts, but what If the case cracks?. God I hate the feel cooking oil.

[Borzo]

'

the reason why companies showed how many bits on their product was because you need more bits to represent colours

2^8 =256, so how do u think an 8-bit system can display 16+million colours like we do today?

super nintendo was a 16-bit system that used 15-bits for colours resulting in 32768 representable colours. Please learn ur shit

I'm gonna go with this. I remember the marketing back in the day... and the 16-bit vs 8-bit etc was purely to show off how many colours your system could put out. The number of colours was the only relevant consequence of "bits".

What the reality was, who knows... but the marketing and advertising and the "tech" and gaming magazines talked about "bits" only because it meant more colours.

[insmek]

Looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Even though the oil doesn't break the parts, but what If the case cracks?.

Caulk. Lots and lots of caulk.