32-bit

32-bit is also a term given to a generation of computers, during which time 32-bit processors were the norm.

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The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4294967295, or -2147483648 through 2147483647 using two's complement encoding. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GiB of byte-addressable memory.

Related Topics:
Integer - 0 - Two's complement - Memory address - GiB - Byte-addressable

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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.

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