CODEWITHSUNDEEP
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LazyPhD
LazyPhD

Reputation: 1

Is 32-bit word size limits the virtual space to 4 gigabytes?

I understand 32-bit word size allows us to $2^{32}$ different numbers. But, why is this number called 4 gigabytes? 4 gigabytes = 4 x 2^30 bytes = 2^32 bytes = 2^35 bits (1 byte = 8 bits) Is the equation above wrong?? Or the meaning of "bytes" is different?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 76

Answers (1)

Peter F
Peter F

Reputation: 123

A 32-bit word size allows us to have 2^32 different addresses, and each address points to a byte, not to a bit.

(In pretty much every modern architecture, individual bits are not addressable.)

Therefore we get 2^32 bytes = 4 * 2^30 bytes = 4 gigabytes of addressable space.

Upvotes: 1

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