Most laptops come with some kind of room for RAM upgrade. It could either be the size of RAM or even an extra empty slot to install another SO-DIMM module.
But, how do you know what is the right type of RAM for your laptop?
How do you know which RAM to buy to improve your laptop’s performance?
We are going to answer these questions in this article today. So, let’s get started.
1. Check your Laptop’s User Manual
On your laptop’s user manual, you can easily find out the type of RAM supported by your laptop. The manual will specify the supported type of RAM (e.g. DDR4, DDR5), maximum speed (e.g. 3200 MHz), and maximum capacity as well.
If you don’t have the user manual, you can simply go to the support page of your laptop manufacturer and select your specific laptop model.
Once you are on the support page of your specific laptop mode, you can find the “manuals” or “documents” sections and find the specification guide, user manual, or service manual.
In the user manual, go to the memory specification section and check the type, speed, and capacity of RAM supported by your laptop.
Now, if your laptop already has the 4GB memory chip as given in the user manual, you won’t be able to upgrade it with more memory. However, most laptops will have some room for upgrades in terms of capacity.
For example, below are the memory specifications of the Dell Alienware 17 R4. It has two DIMM slots and generally, it will have both of them occupied with two memory modules of the same size.
You can confirm the total available and utilized memory slots in the task manager.
If you see you have a free memory slot in your system, you now know which RAM to buy and how much capacity.
2. Check current RAM specs
No operating system would tell you exactly the DDR variant or the model of the installed RAM. You can surely check the speed of RAM in MT/s in the task manager but that doesn’t help clearly if we have to buy an SSD. So, there are two ways to check RAM specs.
Check RAM specs physically
If you are comfortable opening your laptop, it is easy to read the RAM specifications, speed, and brand/model name. This is the best and most effective way to know the RAM specs. In the image below as well, we don’t know the DDR variant and it isn’t written but we can search the model number and check the RAM specifications online.
However, some people may not be comfortable opening their laptops and reading out the specifications. For, them, there is another great and easy method by using some software.
Check RAM specs using third-party tools
I personally like the CPU-Z and HWInfo software to check not only memory but all other specifications of my computer. CPU-Z is a simple and easy-to-use software that tells you the type, channel, frequency, and many other specifications of the installed RAM.
HWiNFO, on the other hand, gives more details of the dedicated memory chips.
3. Use Online tools
There are many online tools that can be utilized to identify the right type of memory for your laptop. Let’s discuss some that I like and use the most.
NewEgg Memory Finder
NewEgg Memory Finder is a versatile tool that NewEgg uses to help its buyers pick the right memory modules for different devices. Not only laptops, you can use this tool to buy RAM and memory card chips for desktops, camcorders, network devices, and many other things.
Crucial Upgrade Selector or System Scanner
I am not promoting any brand here but I have found the Crucial system scanner and the upgrade selector helpful many times. You should give it a try.
With these tools, I hope you will be able to know which RAM your laptop supports. You can also check out my detailed RAM buying guide.
I hope it helps!