Author: Michael Crider / Source: howtogeek.com
Adding memory is one of the easier ways to boost your PC’s performance. There are a few things to check before spending your money, though, so let’s talk about them.
Choosing Your New RAM
As with most things about upgrading your PC, figuring out what you need and then doing some comparison shopping is the hard part.
After that, physically installing your new memory is a breeze by comparison. Here are some of the things you’ll need to figure out when making your decision.How Much RAM Do You Need?
Generally speaking, more RAM is better. That said, the law of diminishing returns applies. Moving from 4 GB to 8 GB of RAM is likely to make a huge difference. Moving from 8 GB to 16 GB still shows some good gains in performance, but not as much. And moving beyond 16 GB is going to be a smaller boost still. Of course, some of that depends on what you use your PC for.
Right now, we generally recommend at least 8 GB of RAM for most people. That’s kind of the sweet spot for how the majority of people use their PCs. If you’re a gamer, or you often multitask lots of bigger programs, you’ll probably want 12-16 GB, if that fits in your budget.
RELATED: How Much RAM Does Your Computer Need for PC Games?
And, if you work with large media files (like projects in Photoshop or Lightroom), you use virtual machines on your PC, or have other specialized needs, you’ll want as much RAM as you can afford (and that your PC can physically accommodate).
How Much RAM Do You Have Now (and In What Configuration)?
It’s easy enough to pop open your Settings app, head to the “About This PC” section, and see how much RAM you have.
That only tells part of the story, though. That 32 GB listed in the screenshot above (yes, it’s a lot—this system is used to run multiple virtual machines at the same time) might be four modules of 8 GB each, or it might be two modules of 16 GB each. That matters when you’re upgrading because memory is typically installed in pairs, and different systems can have different numbers of slots available.
For example, let’s assume we wanted to upgrade that system to even more RAM. We now need to know some additional information. How many total memory slots does the PC have? How many RAM modules are installed? Are there free slots?
For that, you could open up your case and count the number of modules and slots inside, or you could turn to another tool. There are several hardware information tools out there, but our favorite is the free version Speccy (made by Piriform, the makers of CCleaner).
After installing and running Speccy, we just switch to the RAM category on the left, and the right panel shows us gives us the info we need.
Unfortunately, we can now see that we have four total slots available and that all four are taken up with memory modules. Since we have 32 GB total RAM, we can assume that we have four 8 GB modules in place. This means that to get more RAM in the machine, we need to replace some or all of what’s there.
If we had found that only two slots were taken up by two 16 GB RAM modules, we could have simply added another pair of modules—two 8 GB modules for a total of 48 GB, or two more 16 GB modules for a total of 64 GB.
How Much RAM Can Your PC Handle?
The other part of the RAM equation is knowing how much total RAM your computer can support. There are two factors here: the maximum RAM your version of Windows can handle, and the maximum that your motherboard can handle. Whatever is lower is what you’re stuck with, but it’s typically the motherboard that’s the more limiting factor.
The Windows part is easy:
- 32-bit Windows: 32-bit versions of Windows 10 can only handle up to 4 GB of RAM, no matter whether you’re running the Home, Professional, or Enterprise edition. The same holds true for Windows 7.
- 64-bit Windows: 64-bit versions of Windows can handle up to 128 GB for Windows 10 Home, and up to 2 TB for Windows 10 Education, Professional, or Enterprise. On Windows 7, things are a bit different. The Home Basic edition can handle up to 8 GB, Home Premium up to 16 GB, and Professional up to 192 GB.
The second part of the equation (how much your motherboard can handle) depends entirely on the manufacturer, though most modern computers will support at least 8 GB, and more likely 16 GB or more.
You’ll need to check the documentation for your motherboard or PC for the details. If you’re unsure what motherboard you have, you can again turn to Speccy, where the Motherboard category shows you the information you need.
Just hit up Google with your model number and you should find what you’re after.
What Type of RAM Does Your PC Require?
You’re also going to need to determine what type of RAM your computer is capable of using. And there are a few parts to that puzzle, as well.
First up, RAM for desktops usually comes in DIMM modules (the longer stick pictured on top in the image below). RAM for laptops—and some ultra compact desktops—comes in smaller SODIMM modules (the shorter one on the bottom in the image below).
Next, check the generation of RAM your computer’s motherboard accepts. This information is presented as a DDR version:
- DDR2: This generation was introduced in 2003. Chances are your computer is not using DDR2 memory unless it’s a pretty old system.
- DDR3: This generation was introduced in 2007. It’s much more common in PCs that were built in the last 5-8 years use DDR3, and it’s still a common choice in budget computers today.
- DDR4: This generation was introduced around 2014. It’s found on most brand-new computers, especially those designed for (or built by) gamers and enthusiasts.
Motherboards are designed for a specific generation of RAM, so you’ll need to determine what you need. You can’t just buy the latest DDR4 RAM and stick it in a PC designed for DDR3. In fact, it wouldn’t even physically fit. Note the different position of the notches at the bottom of the memory below. They’re keyed differently so that can’t be inserted into slots not designed for them.
So, the next obvious question. How do you know which generation you need? The answer, of course, is that we’re going to turn to Speccy again. Switch back on the RAM category on the left. On the right, at the bottom, expand the “SPD” entry. And right there, you can see the generation, size, manufacturer, and model…
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