RAM comes in various types, capacities, speeds and brands. If you always want to upgrade your RAM or need to verify whether your arrangement meets certain minimum requirements, you'll have to check the type of RAM in your PC. While the jargon and numbers might seem daunting at first, it's actually fairly like shooting fish in a barrel to make up one's mind what RAM your system is equipped with.

A Crash Grade on RAM

Before we go into the details of how to cheque the type of RAM your figurer is equipped with, it's important to brand sure we're all on the same page. RAM or Random Access Memory is a special type of very fast estimator storage.

It's different from your hard drive, which is relatively boring and non-volatile. That is, your hard bulldoze doesn't lose its information when the power is turned off. RAM, on the other hand, is volatile which, as you've probably guessed, ways that its data disappears when the electrons terminate flowing.

RAM is crucial in a computer, because the CPU (Key Processing Unit) needs to take swift admission to the next set of data it has to process. So applications and relevant information are loaded into RAM, which ensures the computer tin can perform at its peak.

If you want to know more near the technical details of RAM, check out Understanding Types Of RAM Memory & How It'south Used.

Checking Your Motherboard Manual or Website

If you lot only want to know what blazon of memory your reckoner supports, perhaps for the purposes of an upgrade, you tin can observe that information in the motherboard's transmission.

You tin can also Google the motherboard'south model number to discover its product page. That volition list the exact types of RAM that it supports. While this doesn't tell you the exact speed and capacity of the RAM that's currently installed in the system, information technology does tell y'all what type of DDR the system supports and at which speeds it supports it. It should also tell you what the maximum amount of RAM you can install is.

Use CPU-Z to See Your RAM Type

I of the easiest ways to get this information is by using a gratis application chosen CPU-Z. We have been using information technology for years to quickly check the most important technical details about a system. Later on downloading and installing CPU-Z, run the program and select the Retention tab every bit shown here.

Under the "General" section, wait at "Type". This tells yous what generation of DDR memory your organization has installed. Under "Size" you can come across how much RAM is installed

Side by side, switch to the "SPD" tab. This is where the information is displayed as reported by each individual RAM module. If all the modules in your system are identical then you don't need to switch betwixt them under the "Retention Slot Selection" dropdown.

As you can see here, this estimator is using Samsung retention with each module bookkeeping for 8GB of RAM. This system is using DDR4-2667 RAM. Yous can check the number of bachelor slots past counting them in the Memory Slot Option dropdown card.

You lot don't accept to worry about the Timings Tabular array in the lower half of the window, simply if you are curious about what those numbers mean, you lot can discover out more in our RAM overclocking commodity.

Getting Your RAM Info from the Command Prompt or PowerShell

Sometimes yous're stuck in a situation where you don't take admission to the graphical user interface of Windows or possibly you simply prefer the cold, infinite blackness depths of the Command Prompt. Either way, there'due south a Command Prompt instruction that lets you run across what'due south currently installed in your system. All you take to do is blazon:

wmic MEMORYCHIP become BankLabel, DeviceLocator, Capacity, Speed

This shows you details for each RAM module as yous can run into here.

This shows yous the size and speed of each memory module, but doesn't tell you the type of memory. If you lot desire that information, nosotros need to add a few bits to the command.

wmic MEMORYCHIP go BankLabel, DeviceLocator, MemoryType, TypeDetail, Capacity, Speed

Under MemoryType y'all'll see a number code. This code tells you lot what type of DDR the organization has:

  • 22 – DDR2
  • 25 – DDR3
  • 26 – DDR4

That'due south but a selection of the well-nigh common RAM types, but if you run across a number not listed to a higher place y'all can find a full listing of memory type codes in Microsoft's documentation.

Control Prompt is beingness phased out in favor of PowerShell, if y'all prefer to use that yous can, but the command is a piffling different:

Become-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PhysicalMemory | Format-Table Capacity, Manufacturer, MemoryType, FormFactor, Name, Configuredclockspeed, Speed, Devicelocator, Serialnumber -AutoSize

Check the BIOS

Regardless of what operating system your PC uses, you can oftentimes get information on what type of RAM your system uses earlier you even boot into it. The computer BIOS volition normally accept a section for retention, which should evidence you lot details about the installed RAM. This typically includes the generation of DDR you're using, what size each module is and the speed at which it operates.

The method for entering the BIOS differs between computers. It's normally a elementary fundamental printing right after the computer powers on. For instance, you many have to repeatedly tap the Delete central or perhaps F12 to enter the BIOS. The specific cardinal is normally shown on-screen just as the estimator starts, only it will besides exist in the motherboard manual.

Look at the Module'due south Notches and Pins

The terminal fashion to determine which type of RAM your computer has is to physically inspect the retentiveness modules. This will involve removing them from their slots, so only do this if you lot are comfortable with the process.

The details of the RAM modules may be readable on a label attached to the DIMM, but yous tin can as well identify them by the location of the notch, as seen in this illustration.

What About Laptop RAM?

Well-nigh of what'southward written in a higher place applies to laptop RAM, at least when information technology comes to the software-based methods to check RAM blazon on Windows 10. When it comes to the physical identification methods, these mobile RAM modules look different from desktop ones. Usually they are either upgradable SODIMM modules or are not-removable and soldered to the laptop's mainboard.

Cheque out Tin can You Upgrade an Old Laptop for more information on laptop RAM specifically.

What's Your Type?

Knowing what type of RAM your organization has empowers you to get a picture of what your computer's performance should exist and how far you lot can upgrade it.

There's ever some debate on how much affect RAM speed has on existent-world applications, merely then again if your system supports a higher form of RAM speed and your applications in particular can benefit from it, information technology's worth having this information.