What are the requirements for running a 64 bit operating system?

What are the requirements for running a 64 bit operating system? I'm a bit confused about this. I always thought you'd have to have at least a CPU that was a "64 bit" cpu, and probably a motherboard that could handle 64 bit memory addressing.
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Guest [Entry]

"The only technical requirement to be able to install a 64bit version of an OS is that the CPU supports 64bit extentions. Most CPU's by AMD and Intel in the last couple years have included the 64bit extentions (AMD64/EM64T)

Your motherboard would most likely not prevent you from installing a 64bit OS, but you may not be able to go beyond 4gb of RAM depending on what the motherboard supports.

Some helpful questions:

Other benefits of 64-bit OS apart from memory expansion?
What is the difference between 64-bit and 32-bit Operating systems?
Is 4GB Ram sufficient for a 64 bit OS
Should I install 64-bit versions of operating systems?"

Guest [Entry]

Most, if not all, new Intel CPUs (I don't know about AMD) will run 64-bit. The motherboard is unlikely to be an issue, if you're running a Q6600.