When you buy a new desktop or laptop, it’s much more affordable to go for a cheaper model and then upgrade the RAM to its maximum performance. The question is, how much RAM can your computer take? Is it already at its maximum or is there still room for an upgrade? Follow this easy-to-understand guide to find out how much RAM your computer currently has and the maximum amount of RAM it supports.
Find out how much RAM your computer has
It is quite easy to know the amount of RAM on your computer. In Windows 10, you can learn your installed RAM using the keyboard shortcut To win + PAUSE. This will also provide the name of your processor and the type of operating system (32 or 64 bit).
After that, use Ctrl + Offset + ESC to open the taskbar and size your RAM limits. It gives the number of slots you have, the clock speed per slot, the type of RAM you have (DDR3 or DDR4) and the amount available.
Mac users can select “About This Mac” from the Apple menu for their chipset information and RAM values.
Linux users can use the hardware information of the software to obtain detailed system information, including memory information.
Find out the maximum RAM your computer can support
the Windows
Windows users can determine the maximum RAM capacity in the command prompt with the command below. It gives the final value in kilobytes which can be converted to gigabytes (divide the value by 1048576 to convert KB to GB).
wmic memphysical get MaxCapacity, MemoryDevices
The example above shows that my maximum RAM capacity is 8 GB. If your motherboard has two memory slots, this means that the maximum RAM capacity per slot is 8/2 = 4 GB.
macOS
The easiest way to find out the details of a Mac’s RAM is to check “About this Mac”, which will identify the type and speed of the memory module, the number of RAM locations on the Mac and the locations used.
1. Pull down the Apple menu and go to “About this Mac”.
2. Click on the “More info …” button to invoke the system information.
3. Look in the “Memory” tab for information on your Mac’s RAM, including maximum capacity, memory locations used, and the type of RAM the Mac accepts.
Linux
To find the maximum RAM capacity in Linux, you can use the command dmidecode, although it is not installed by default in most distributions.
1. Install dmidecode:
#ubuntu/debian sudo apt install dmidecode #arch sudo pacman -S dmidecode #Fedora sudo dnf install dmidecode #openSUSE sudo zypper in dmidecode
2. Run the command:
It will give you information about your memory capacity.
In my case, my Linux computer has 4 memory locations and a maximum RAM capacity of 128 GB (32 GB per location).
After finding your computer’s maximum RAM capacity, if your computer supports more memory than it currently has, you can upgrade your RAM and improve your performance. Do not forget to check the elements to take into account when buying a RAM memory. And if you’re running out of memory on Windows, use these tips to free up memory on Windows.
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