If you need a more detailed look at your RAM configuration
than the basic information a Windows report provides, you can find out all you
need to know without cracking open the case. Read on to see how you can check
your configuration and installed RAM module stats.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of
SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of
Q&A web sites.
The Question
SuperUser reader Vince wants an easy way to check the exact
configuration of his computer’s RAM. He writes:
I would like to check my RAM configuration.
I know it is easy to check the total RAM installed on a
computer (eg 32 GB), but is there an easy way to check in Windows if the RAM is
e.g. 2×16 GB, 4×8 GB, 8×4 GB or 16×2 GB?
This information is particularly handy if you’re shopping
for a RAM upgrade as you need to know which slots are filled and in which
configuration.
The Answer
Two SuperUser contributors came to Vince’s aid, offering two
unique ways of accessing the information he wants. Bob shows us how to use a
built-in Windows tool to get a detailed readout:
If you don’t mind using the command line, WMI can do this
and is native with Windows XP and newer.
Simply run wmic MEMORYCHIP get
BankLabel,DeviceLocator,Capacity,Tag
>wmic MEMORYCHIP get BankLabel,DeviceLocator,Capacity,Tag
BankLabel
Capacity DeviceLocator Tag
BANK 0
2147483648 Bottom - Slot 1
(top) Physical Memory 0
BANK 1
4294967296 Bottom - Slot 2
(under) Physical Memory 1
(DeviceLocator will likely give you DIMM numbers on a
desktop machine – the top/under slots are because I’m on a laptop. Both
BankLabel and DeviceLocator formats may vary by machine.)
There is a lot more data available, but it doesn’t display
well in the limited columns of a command prompt. You can export it all to a
text file for easier viewing (don’t forget to turn off word wrap):
>wmic MEMORYCHIP get >data.txt
>start data.txt
And you can use those extra columns to customise the first
command to give you, e.g., the manufacturer name, product number and serial
number.
For those of you that prefer a GUI, Hennes offers a
solution:
Yes, there a way to do this since CPU-Z can display that
information. If if one program can do that then so can others.
Between the two approaches, you definitely have enough
information to make an informed purchase.
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the
the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange
users?
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