32-bit
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| Microprocessors | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-bit | 8-bit | 16-bit | 24-bit | 31-bit | 32-bit | 48-bit | 64-bit | 128-bit |
| Applications | ||||||||
| 8-bit | 16-bit | 31-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit | ||||
| Data Sizes | ||||||||
| 4-bit | 8-bit | 16-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit | 128-bit | |||
| nibble byte octet word dword qword | ||||||||
In computer architecture, 32-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are at most 32 bits (4 octets) wide. Also, 32-bit CPU and ALU architectures are those that are based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. 32-bit is also a term given to a generation of computers in which 32-bit processors were the norm.
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295, or −2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647 using two's complement encoding. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory.
The external address and data buses are often wider than 32 bits but both of these are stored and manipulated internally in the processor as 32-bit quantities. For example, the Pentium Pro processor is a 32-bit machine, but the external address bus is 36 bits wide, and the external data bus is 64 bits wide.
[edit] Images
In images, 32-bit refers to 24-bit truecolor images with an 8-bit alpha channel.
