How to find out what RAM is on a computer: 7 ways

Some users are wondering how to find out how much RAM is on a computer in order to upgrade their PC: increase the total amount of memory. First you need to find out what kind of RAM is on the device in order to have an idea about the characteristics of the RAM (random access memory) of the computer.

RAM (RAM, Random Access Memory) is an important component of computer hardware that affects the performance of the device. For comfortable work, the computer must have enough RAM. If there is not enough RAM on the PC, the memory needs to be added or replaced.

To upgrade your computer hardware, such as increasing the amount of RAM, you will need to find out the general characteristics of the RAM installed on your device. You need to find out the following parameters: how much RAM, how many RAM slots are available, what frequency of RAM and some other technical characteristics (timings, etc.).

First you need to find out how much RAM is available on the computer at a given time. The rest of the memory selection steps depend on this information.

Often, users add additional memory sticks (modules), if possible, to increase the amount of RAM. Therefore, you first need to find out the number of RAM slots on the computer, whether there are free slots (connectors, sockets).

Additional memory modules can be inserted into free slots. Otherwise, you will have to change the memory strips of a smaller capacity for larger memory modules.

For example, if a PC has two 2 GB memory sticks operating in dual-channel mode, and the user wants to increase the total amount of RAM from 4 GB to 8 GB, then the availability of free sockets (sockets) for installing RAM modules is of great importance.

If there are no free slots on the computer, then the user will have to replace the installed memory modules with two 4 GB sticks that will work in dual-channel mode or with one 8 GB module that works in single-channel mode. It is desirable to use memory in dual-channel mode, this is a more productive way of working.

This guide contains instructions on how to find out how much RAM is on the computer, as well as how to find out how much RAM is on the computer. You can get general information about the amount of memory using the operating system tools, and we will find out more detailed information about the technical characteristics of memory modules using third-party software.

Laptop owners can find out the main characteristics of RAM on the manufacturer’s official website, guided by the description of the device (laptop) model, if such information is available on the website. It is possible to find out the amount of RAM in the BIOS (UEFI).

How to find out how much RAM is on a computer using msinfo32

The user can quickly get data on the amount of RAM in the operating systems Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, using the built-in system tool “msinfo32” (“System Information”).

Do the following:

1. Enter the start menu.
2. In the list of programs, find the folder “Windows Administrative Tools” (in Windows 7 – “Utilities”).
3. Launch the System Information utility.
4. In the “System Information” window, in the “Installed RAM” item, you will see the total amount of memory on your computer.

How to find out how much memory is on a laptop or desktop PC on the command line

To obtain information, you can use an alternative method: run the “systeminfo” command in the Windows command line.

Go through the steps:

1. Run command prompt as administrator.
2. In the command line interpreter window, type the command “systeminfo” (without quotes), and then press the “Enter” key.
3. In the command prompt window, you will see information about the RAM of this computer.

The “Total amount of physical memory” item shows the amount of RAM available on this computer.

Find out how much RAM is in Windows PowerShell

In Windows PowerShell, you can get PC memory data by running a similar command.

Do the following:

1. Run Windows PowerShell as an administrator.
2. Run the “systeminfo” command (without quotes).
3. Check out the information about the RAM of this device.

How to find out how much memory Windows 10 has

In the Windows 10 operating system, you can find out the amount of memory and the number of slots used without using third-party programs.

For information about RAM memory, do the following:

1. Right click on “Taskbar”.
2. Select “Task Manager” from the context menu.
3. In the “Task Manager” window, open the “Performance” tab, select the “Memory” option.

Here you can find information about the RAM: total (I have 8.0 GB), type (in my case, DDR3), as well as other characteristics, in particular, the use of the number of slots (on my computer – 2 out of 4).

Knowing these characteristics, I can additionally add two more memory modules to my computer.

How to find out what RAM is on a PC in CPU-Z

Using the free CPU-Z program, you can get data about the computer’s RAM memory. The CPU-Z program runs in English.

The application shows the characteristics of the central processor, motherboard, RAM, video card or integrated graphics.

1. Run the CPU-Z program on your computer.
2. In the “CPU-Z” window, open the “Memory” tab.

Here are the basic information about RAM:

• Type – type of memory: DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR
• Size – the size of the memory in gigabytes.
• Channel – memory operation mode: Dual – dual-channel, Single – single-channel.
• NB Frequency – memory controller frequency.
• Timing – memory timings, in the “DRAM Frequency” item, the current memory frequency is indicated.

The “SPD” tab contains information about the characteristics of the RAM modules located in separate slots. You must select a slot to receive the desired data. The number of slots corresponds to the number of slots on the computer motherboard, empty slots will not display information.

Here you can find various information: type of memory, manufacturer, model number, amount of memory, time of release of the product, type of use, timing table, voltage in volts.

How to find out what RAM is on a computer in Speccy

The free Speccy program provides information about your computer’s hardware. The application works in Russian.

Follow these steps:

1. Launch Speccy.
2. In the application window, click on the “RAM” section.
3. In the left part of the program window, information about the computer’s RAM will be displayed: type, volume, number of channels, DRAM frequency, and other characteristics.

To get information about each memory module, in the “SPD” section, click on the corresponding connector. It contains information about the memory module: type, size, manufacturer, bandwidth, part number, week and year of manufacture, information about timings.

How to determine what RAM is on a PC in AIDA64

The powerful AIDA64 program (paid) provides detailed information about the computer’s hardware. The AIDA64 program supports the Russian interface language.

Go through the following steps:

1. Launch AIDA64 on your computer.
2. In the “Menu” tab, in the “System board” section, open the “Memory” section.

This section displays basic information about your computer’s RAM.

For information about the specifications of individual memory modules, please go to the “SPD” section.

After selecting a memory module, the program window will display all kinds of information: module name, serial number, release date, module size, module name, memory type, memory speed, module bus width (capacity), voltage, error detection method, refresh frequency, manufacturer DRAM, memory timings, memory module functions.

Article Conclusions

If necessary, the user can change the memory modules on his computer, or increase the amount of RAM by adding new RAM memory strips. First you need to find out how much memory is currently available on the computer, and what kind of RAM is currently installed on the PC in order to select the appropriate RAM modules.