If you don’t know how much RAM your computer has, don’t worry, in this article I’ll tell you what you need to do to find out in a simple and quick way. I will also explain how you can know what type of memory do you have exactly at what speed it works and how it is configured on the motherboard.

There are many options, but in this article I will share with you the ones that are easier, faster and completely safe. Using third-party applications is a good choice because there are solutions that are completely reliable, lightweight and very easy to use and interpret.

Why is it important to know how much RAM I have, its type and configuration

It is important because knowing it will allow you to be clear if your team does or does not meet the requirements various operating systems, games and applications. For example, if a game asks for 16GB of RAM and you only have 8GB, it’s very likely that it won’t work for you, or if it does load, it will offer poor performance.

Knowing the type of RAM, its configuration, and the memory it works with will allow you to explore What memory does your motherboard support?as well as the generation it belongs to and the performance it is capable of offering. Let’s look at another example, if you have DDR4 memory configured as dual channel and running at 3200 MT/s, you will be at a good level of performance, but within the previous generation and your board will not support DDR5.

If this memory is installed correctly to enable dual channel it means you will be using a 128-bit buswhich doubles the bandwidth of single-channel configurations whose bus is 64 bits. This significantly increases performance when using the integrated GPU and also improves performance in games and applications that are more CPU dependent.

Knowing the number of occupied slots will also give you clarity if you can install multiple modules for RAM expansion, or if, on the contrary, you have them all occupied and need to exchange for a new kit and remove the one you are using.

How to find out how much RAM my computer has

There are many ways in Windows, but the easiest and fastest way is to press the Windows key and type “System Information” and enter the first result. The amount of RAM installed is displayed directly in the lower half of the list of components and settings.

We can also go to the “This Team” icon, do it Right click on it and type “Properties”. A basic summary will appear with the equipment specifications including the amount of RAM installed, which in my case is 64 GB.

How do I know what type of RAM I have, its speed and configuration

In Windows, we can know the memory speed by pressing the Windows key and typing “Task Manager”. We enter the first result and go to the tab “Performance > Memory”. The slots we have available and occupied and the RAM speed will appear. In my case, I have two slots occupied and the memory works at 6,000 MT/s.

If we want to dive into other important things, it is very easy and there is no need to enter the BIOS. My recommendation is to download CPU-Z, an application that will allow you to do this display a lot of important information on RAM and is very light and easy to use because it automatically compiles information about the computer when it starts.

Once we install it, just open it and go to “Memory” tab. There we find:

• Memory type, which in my case is DDR5.
• Size which in my case is 64GB.
• Channels, if “2 x…” appears, it means we have activated a dual channel.
• DRAM frequency, which is the speed of the memory. In my case, it’s 3000 MHz, which corresponds to 6000 MT/s, because it’s DDR (double data rate) memory.
• CAS or CL Latency, which is the total latency value. In my case the value is 30, the lower the better.

CPU-Z doesn’t show how many RAM slots we have occupied on our motherboard, but that’s something we can easily see just by check out the team page If we have a transparent side door and we look at how many modules we have installed.

How to find out how much RAM I have in Linux and macOS

It is very easy, we will find out with the command “sudo dmidecode – type 17” (without quotes). After executing this command, a lot of information about the memory will appear, including not only the capacity, but also the type of memory, its speed, the bus, and even more advanced data such as the voltage and the slot it occupies in the memory. plate.

In the picture we can see that the installed memory is of type DDR4which works on 2,667 MT/s on a 64-bit bus, and that it is installed in slot 2 of the motherboard. In this case, the memory is not configured as dual, since this is a laptop with a single RAM module installed. DDR4 memory is slower than DDR5.

If we are using a macOS computer, we must click on the apple icon in the upper left corner. We enter “about this Mac” and a window will appear with very clear information indicating the amount of memory we have, its speed and the type of memory. In this case, it is 16 GB LPDDR3 at 2,133 MT/s.

In Macs prior to the Apple M1, RAM was not integrated into the SoC, but was installed or soldered onto the motherboard. To find out how many modules we have occupied, just enter the search and write option “System Information”. We enter the “Memory” option located on the left and voila, a complete summary will appear with additional information about the RAM of our computer, including occupied slots.