How to Upgrade Computer RAM Quickly and Effectively

Check your computer's RAM capacity and type

To successfully install any software, you must consider whether your computer's RAM type and capacity can handle it. You can quickly check with 3 steps:

Step 1: Open Task Manager by typing in the search bar.

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Step 2: After the Task Manager interface appears -> Select Performance -> Select Memory .

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Step 3: Looking at the screen, you can easily see the capacity and type of RAM in the upper right corner.

The computer in the image above has a capacity of 8.0 GB and the RAM type is DDR3.

Some notes before upgrading computer RAM

To determine whether your computer needs a RAM upgrade, here are a few things to keep in mind first:

How much RAM is available in your computer?

Many people after upgrading the version of software such as design or video making, the computer encounters a state of freezing or running slowly. The first step, you need to consider is how much RAM is equipped in your computer.

Determine how much RAM you need to add

Before deciding on which RAM level to upgrade to, you need to determine your needs. 2GB RAM will be suitable for those who only use 32-bit Windows. Including basic tasks such as office work, web surfing or using Photoshop with versions CS3 and below.

Balancing price and efficiency, 4GB of RAM is a great number. With this capacity, you can work with Photoshop or edit videos. 8GB is a suitable number for gamers or those who do advanced work with computers such as running ads. Upgrading computer RAM to 16GB or 32GB is also normal for livestreamers or running

Note when replacing RAM

Because most computers have a sticker right on the screw of the RAM tray. During the removal process, the sticker can be torn and the warranty will be void. Therefore, for those who have never touched the hardware, you should bring your laptop to the store for a technician to handle. 

Guide to choosing the right RAM

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Choosing the type of memory to upgrade your computer's RAM is important, because it needs to be compatible with the machine. Currently, there are 3 popular types of Ram memory with different pins: . In each DIMM slot for plugging in the Ram stick, there is only one type of memory to plug in. , you cannot plug in DDR RAM and a DDR2 or DDR3 slot, and the same goes for other cases.

You should look at the type of RAM your computer is using, then buy the corresponding type of RAM. For those who are not familiar with it, you should go to the store to choose the RAM you like as well as get advice on the appropriate type of RAM.

How to upgrade computer RAM quickly and effectively

Step 1: First you need to see how many RAM slots your computer has. Usually, new computers today support multiple RAM slots to support upgrading and using more RAM.

Step 2: The type of RAM you are using is type . To upgrade, you need to buy the corresponding type of RAM, and each type of RAM has a different number of pins so that we can easily distinguish and avoid confusion.

That's why you can't plug a DDR stick into a DDR2 or DDR3 slot and you can't plug a DDR2 stick into a DDR or DDR3 slot, and you can't plug a DDR3 RAM into a DDR or DDR2 RAM slot, which means each RAM slot can only plug in one type of memory.

- DDR: Computers using Pentium-M CPU.
- DDR2: Computers using Intel Core Duo, Core 2 Duo CPU.
- DDR3: Computers using Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i

Step 4: When you insert the RAM sticks into the slots, you should choose the RAM sticks on the same bus.

If the bus is different, you will not be able to take full advantage of the RAM and will waste money when upgrading. When you use 2 RAM sticks on a computer with different buses, the computer will only use the smaller bus.

Learn more about RAM BUS: RAM Bus is the operating frequency of RAM (in MHz). The larger the RAM Bus, the faster the system speed is, the shorter the data transfer time with the CPU and vice versa.

David Pac

Update 17 January 2025