How To Find Out What Memory Is Installed

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If your PC is feeling a little sluggish—plagued by freezing, spinning wheels, or even error messages most "low memory"—you might need more RAM.

What Is RAM?

RAM stands for Random Access Memory, and it's a type of super-fast storage your computer uses to hold data it needs in the short term. Think of your hard drive as a filing cabinet where all your data is stored and the RAM like your desk, where you put the stuff you're currently working on. The more RAM yous have, the more than projects and programs your computer tin can keep open up at in one case without getting bogged down by taking things in and out of the proverbial filing cabinet.

Unfortunately, in the age of thinner and thinner devices, many modern laptops have their RAM permanently soldered to the motherboard, meaning you tin't upgrade it without buying a whole new PC. Merely if you have a desktop PC or an upgrade-friendly laptop, adding more than RAM is usually quite like shooting fish in a barrel. Yous just need to find a compatible stick (which may require some Googling), pop open your computer, and bandy the RAM into its dedicated slot. Before you lot accident $50 on a new stick, information technology'south a expert idea to see if you lot really need information technology, or if that coin is better spent on another upgrade, similar a solid-country drive.

Hither'southward how to run across how much RAM is currently in your PC, and whether y'all need to upgrade.

Find Out How Much RAM You Have

If you're using a Windows 10 PC, checking your RAM is easy. Open Settings > System > About and look for the Device Specifications department. Yous should see a line named "Installed RAM"—this will tell you how much y'all currently have.

If you lot're still using Windows vii, yous should upgrade because official support has ended. In the meantime, open up the Outset menu, correct-click on Estimator and then click Properties. This should bring upward a window with your computer's basic specs. Nether Organization, you should see a line denoting your Installed Retentivity.

Mac users have a simple way of checking their calculator's specs: but click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of the screen, and select About This Mac. In the Overview tab, you'll be presented with a simple list of specs, including the corporeality of retentivity currently installed.

RAM Problems? Consult Chore Manager or Activity Monitor

Every bit a general rule, 4GB is starting to become "not enough," while 8GB is fine for almost general-use PCs (with loftier-end gaming and workstation PCs going upward to 16GB or more). But this can vary from person to person, so there's a more precise style to see if y'all reallyneed more RAM: the Job Manager.

Get about your piece of work every bit normal, and if the computer begins to slow downward, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to bring upward Windows Task Manager. Click the Performance tab and select Memory in the sidebar to see a graph of your electric current RAM usage.

You don't desire the graph to exist completely empty—later on all, unused RAM is wasted RAM—but if your RAM is completely full when you're trying to do bones tasks like browse the web or write upward some Word documents, you're probably due for an upgrade. (Though you lot can also endeavour closing applications that Task Manager says are using lots of RAM, or uninstalling needless extensions from your browser.)

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If your RAM isn't bursting at the seams during those slowdowns, then your bottleneck is probable somewhere else, and yous should wait to other solutions for speeding up your PC.

On Macs, you should bank check Activity Monitor. When you experience a slowdown, press Command + Space to bring upwardly Spotlight, blazon "Action Monitor," and press Enter. Click the Memory tab along the top of the window. Y'all'll see a graph at the lesser showing you how much of your RAM is currently in use.

Remember that more than gratuitous RAM does not equal amend—as long as y'all take some free RAM, yous're fine, and should look into other potential upgrades. Merely if Activeness Monitor is saying that your RAM is full to the brim, you probably demand more than. In the meantime, you tin can check the list of processes and close whatsoever programs that are using lots of memory.

Sadly, many modern Macs do non have upgradeable RAM. Most iMacs and older MacBooks are upgrade-friendly, while newer MacBooks have their RAM permanently soldered to the motherboard. Google your specific model (the 1 listed in About This Mac) and see what's doable on your automobile. And for more on choosing exactly the right RAM for your PC, check out our deep-swoop feature on RAM buying strategy.

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