For a really very long time, the most typical path to enhancing your PC’s efficiency has been by means of upgrading the RAM. RAM stands for “random access memory” and it’s successfully the element of your PC that’s holding observe of what your pc is at present engaged on. When RAM is proscribed, your PC has to maintain that present data saved someplace else, which might dramatically decelerate your workflow and cargo instances. This is especially notable in computationally heavy initiatives, similar to video encoding and high-quality artwork creation.
Whether you’re seeking to improve otherwise you’re seeking to harvest the RAM from one PC to make use of in one other, it helps to know what sort of RAM your system is utilizing. That’s doubly true now that Intel’s 12th-gen motherboards can use both DDR4 or DDR5 RAM, and AMD’s impending Ryzen 7000 CPUs will make the swap to DDR5. There are a handful of how to determine that essential data out!
In Windows 10 and 11
You can discover primary details about your RAM by means of your system’s About web page and thru the Performance tab in your Task Manager.
Here are two easy strategies to entry the About web page:
- Press the important thing mixture Win + Pause/Break
- Type “About your PC” within the Windows Start menu search
To entry the Task Manager, listed here are three easy choices:
- Press the important thing mixture Ctrl + Shift + Escape
- Press the important thing mixture Ctrl + Alt + Delete and choose “Task Manager”
- Type “Task Manager” within the Windows Start menu search
These two strategies will offer you essentially the most simplistic view of your PC’s RAM data, primarily exhibiting how a lot RAM you at present have, together with some RAM pace data. If this isn’t sufficient data for what you’re seeking to do, then chances are you’ll wish to take a look at the Windows Management Instrumentation command-line utility, or wmic.
In order to make use of wmic, you’ll want to open a Command Prompt window, which is rapidly finished by typing “cmd” into the Windows Start menu search. Once there, you should use a “wmic MemoryChip get” command to sometimes pull up the knowledge you’re in search of.
You can discover a complete set of properties to incorporate in your “wmic MemoryChip get” command here, however the next ought to cowl the sensible bases for many RAM identification wants:
wmic MemoryChip get MemoryType, Capacity, Speed, Configuredclockspeed, DeviceLocator, FormFactor, Manufacturer, Serialnumber, Partnumber
This will present a desk with the next data, if it’s obtainable:
- MemoryType will report again a quantity that aligns to a specific “type” of RAM module. 20 means it’s DDR reminiscence. DDR2 is 21. DDR3 is 24. DDR4 is 26. Sometimes, this may increasingly present a 0. If so, you’ll wish to use “SMBIOSMemoryType” as an alternative.
- Capacity will present the uncooked byte worth of the RAM’s reminiscence capability, so one thing like 8,589,934,592 can be for an 8GB RAM module.
- Speed is the supported reminiscence pace worth that your RAM module signifies it may possibly help, which is often wherever between 800 and 3200.
- Configuredclockspeed pertains to the pace at which your RAM is at present configured to be working at.
- DeviceLocator will let you know which bodily slot the RAM module is plugged into in your system’s motherboard.
- FormFactor is the bodily form kind of the RAM module. This will sometimes be the quantity 8 for DIMM modules discovered on desktop PCs or the quantity 12 for laptops’ SODIMM types.
- Manufacturer signifies an recognized producer of the RAM module. This might present up as Unknown generally.
- Serialnumber will provide you with the {hardware} serial quantity for that particular stick of RAM, which is often solely related when coping with the producer for troubleshooting functions.
- Partnumber supplies the producer’s mannequin quantity for that specific RAM module, which will be very helpful with the assistance of a Google search to establish the RAM stick you have got and whether or not or not you should purchase it once more.
Additional software program choices
Much of the above data can also be obtainable with the assistance of some third-party software program, similar to CPU-Z and Speccy.
In CPU-Z, you’ll wish to use the “Memory” and “SPD” tabs to see details about your RAM. Memory will present you reminiscence kind and present frequency data. The SPD tab, which stands for “serial presence detect,” supplies data associated to the RAM modules themselves together with the producer and half quantity data.
In Speccy, you’ll wish to go to the “RAM” view from the left menu. In there, you must discover just about the entire RAM and reminiscence data you’d want. You might must broaden the “SPD” drop-down in an effort to get extra particular details about the RAM relying on what you’re looking for.
In Linux
You can discover just about the entire data proven above by way of your Linux terminal through the use of the next command:
- sudo dmidecode —kind reminiscence
This ought to present a sorted checklist of details about your reminiscence gadgets, aka your RAM, together with dimension, varieties, and producer data.
Physical RAM module
Most client RAM modules will include a label to establish the kind of RAM it’s. Typically, these labels will both be a sticker utilized on to the stick of RAM, engraved onto the flamboyant warmth spreader on higher-performance modules, or could also be printed instantly onto the circuit board. In these circumstances, you’ll sometimes discover the half quantity, which you’ll then lookup together with your favourite search engine to determine the remainder of the specs. If you may’t find a label or identifier wherever, then it could be prudent to make use of one of many strategies described above as an alternative.
These choices ought to assist you determine what RAM your PC is utilizing. If you’re seeking to improve, ensure that you’re getting the identical kind and type issue of RAM, as a result of you may’t instantly swap out DDR3 for DDR4 RAM with out having to additionally exchange your motherboard. For extra data on upgrading RAM, see our information on how to install new memory in your PC.