How to find out what kind of RAM your computer (notebook / laptop or desktop) uses

First published on August 21, 2006

Often, increasing the amount of memory (RAM) in your computer is the best way to increase its speed (well, along with blocking some programs from starting every time the operating system loads… those sneaky, awful programs!). However, I’ve found it quite confusing with all these new types of RAM as to which type is the one I need. PC2700, SODIMM, DDR2, 200 Pin… what in the world does that stuff mean? I’m not geek enough yet to even want to figure that out, but I know that it’s a bloody hassle to end up buying RAM that’s incompatible with your computer!

If you’ve bought a pre-packaged computer (i.e. if you didn’t build it yourself) here’s a very handy site that can tell you what type of memory your computer has. It has practically every model known to man! I’d been looking for something like this since… forever! Once you’ve found the type of memory you need, you can probably head over to eBay and find something cheap.

If you have a Windows computer, you could also try using the program System Information for Windows, as discussed in this post.

This entry is filed under Computer Stuff and written by Peter Keung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

15 Responses to “How to find out what kind of RAM your computer (notebook / laptop or desktop) uses”

March 29th, 2007 at 6:08 am
ash says:

You are a jolly good man. Useful site!

Thanks!
July 9th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Sam says:

That’s all good…

Also, if you’re after new stuff i’d suggest going to www.ebuyer.com

Fantastic customer service and very cheap prices.

Sam

PS: I’d highly reccommend buying the ram new… as memory modules die with time. either that or get a memtest done on the ram before it’s sent to you.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Martin says:

It did not work for me, this is the result it gave me:

YOUR COMPUTER CHECK RESULTS
Computer Make:
Computer Model:
Computer Version:
Motherboard Model: K8V-X SE
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
CPU: AMD Sempron 2.0Ghz
Installed Memory: 2 slots: 512 MB, 512 MB
Matched – Machine:
Matched – Model: http://www.memoryx.net/
ECC: Yes
MEMORY THAT MATCHES YOUR COMPUTER
Unfortunately, we were unable to provide an exact match.
December 16th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Josh says:

This is the best, I have been looking for something like this THANKS!
December 21st, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Ben says:

Hey,
TigerDirect.com is the best place for memory. Check it out.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 am
Leo says:

Thanks for the tip, but I couldn’t seem to find my laptop at MemoryX. Then I found this Memory Selector (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/memconfig.aspx) which told me what type of RAM I need.

The prices were way too high there, so I am ordering from http://www.laptopcentre.ca at half the price, and it comes with a lifetime warranty!
November 30th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Anna says:

Newegg.com is an amazing site for computer components. They’ve got RAM at basement prices. Thanks for the tip..I’d been trying to figure this out through my computer for a while.
<3 Anna
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Bob says:

I just purchased RAM from newegg.com and things worked out great!
May 5th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Mahendra varman says:

Thank you boss !!!
I got my appropriate model of RAM for my laptop
Good job:)
September 8th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Sreenivas says:

hey toooo gud site…thanx a looot…and one doubt…my laptop is gettin heated too much…if i play video or audio..its gettin stuck and causin truble…Upgrading the RAM solves the problem?? and i m havin 512 mb RAM

Reply from Peter: More RAM is only one of the many possible solutions for that. You should consult some sort of hardware specialist. The laptop might need better ventilation, there might be a failure in a different part, you might have too many programs running at once for your computer’s speed, or many other things.
October 7th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Robert says:

More memory is not always the best solution. A good professional tuneup can do just as much and in some cases more than a memory upgrade. I too use NewEgg and have for over 5 years. They have great delivery times (at least in California).
May 23rd, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Jeff says:

Thanks for the advice. I just got some RAM for cheap at www.geeks.com
October 11th, 2010 at 6:27 am
Kumar says:

Excellent link – ‘System Information for Windows’ above. Every windows user, esp on with a unix/linux background needs one of this kind. Hats off to the maker and to keep it up !
December 14th, 2010 at 7:58 am
mary says:

I had the same problem as Martin it did not work for me either but i found another website that did work www.crucial.com.
August 3rd, 2012 at 10:37 am
arjay says:

hi is it fine to upgrade my ram to 8gb but my processor is intel celeron?

Reply from Peter: That should be fine as long as your motherboard supports that much RAM.