Determine all your RAM specs without opening a case or apps on Windows 10

You don't need to take your computer apart to find out all the information about the memory modules. You just need to use these commands on Windows 10.

On Windows 10, understanding the full technical specifications of the memory — also referred to as RAM (Random Access Memory) — installed on your computer can come in handy in many scenarios. For example, if your computer is getting slow due to memory demanding applications or games, adding more memory can improve the overall performance. And knowing the RAM specs can help to determine the correct size, speed, and brand to purchase a compatible upgrade kit.

If you're having problems, the manufacturer name, part number, and serial number can help to contact tech support and troubleshoot the issue. Or to order the exact replacement that it's known to work with your system. Also, when you're tweaking the memory settings inside the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), the ability to view the memory module's information will help you to understand if the configuration has been applied correctly.

Whatever the reason it may be, Windows 10 can provide all the information you need to know. And that's without the need to open the case or to install third-party tools using Command Prompt.

Related: How to quickly determine memory slots available on motherboard on Windows 10

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to determine the technical specifications about the RAM installed on your computer, including manufacturer, part number, serial number, speed, capacity, form factor, memory type, etc.

Quick note: While you can get detailed information about your machine's RAM configuration, depending on the hardware, some information may not be available.

How to determine RAM details using Command Prompt

If you suspect that Task Manager is showing inaccurate RAM information, or you want to find out even more details, such as serial number, part number, manufacturer, and more about each memory module, then you can use these commands.

Checking memory manufacturer

To determine the company (brand) that manufactured the memory modules installed on your computer, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to determine the memory manufacturer name and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, manufacturer

4. See the brand of the memory modules name under the "Manufacturer" column.

Checking memory part number

To find out the part number of each memory module, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to determine the memory part number and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, partnumber

4. See the product identifier number under the "PartNumber" column.

If your computer is slowing you down, a memory upgrade is perhaps one of the best ways to improve the overall performance. If you're not sure which memory upgrade kit to order, our pick is the TridentZ RGB from G.Skill. It has reliable performance, quality components, room for tweaking, and more importantly, price.

Our pick

G.Skill TridentZ RGB 3200

• $105 at Amazon
• $95 at Newegg

Best of DDR4

Using these RAM modules, you'll get excellent high-bandwidth components with room for tweaks at an affordable price. Timings aren't too shabby and robust overclocking support means these will meet pretty much everybody's needs.

Checking memory serial number

To find out the serial number of each memory stick, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to retrieve the serial number for each memory stick and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, serialnumber

   Quick tip: In the command, you can also replace "devicelocator" with "banklabel" to list the serial number showing the physical label of the bank where the memory is located on the motherboard.

4. See the unique product identifier under the "SerialNumber" column.

Checking memory capacity

Using command lines, you can determine the total capacity per module and from the entire system.

Capacity per memory module

To determine each memory module capacity, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to find out the memory capacity and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, capacity

4. See the size of each RAM stick installed on your computer under the "Capacity" column.

   Quick tip: The information is shown in bytes, but you can divide the number by 1073741824 (1 gigabyte in bytes) to determine the information in gigabytes.

Total system memory capacity

Alternatively, you can quickly determine the total amount of RAM installed on your computer using these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to determine the total physical memory and press Enter:

   systeminfo | findstr /C:"Total Physical Memory"

4. See the total amount of physical memory (in megabytes) installed on your computer.

Checking memory speed

To confirm the speed that the memory modules are operating, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to determine the memory speed and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, speed

4. See the speed of the memory modules (in MHz) under the "Speed" column.

Checking memory type

To check the memory type on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to determine the memory type and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, memorytype

4. If the output of the "MemoryType" column is 24, then your device is using DDR3 modules.

Complete list of supported memory types

Here's a list with the memory types that the command can identify:

• 0: Unknown.
• 1: Other.
• 2: DRAM.
• 3: Synchronous DRAM.
• 4: Cache DRAM.
• 5: EDO.
• 6: EDRAM.
• 7: VRAM.
• 8: SRAM.
• 9: RAM.
• 10: ROM.
• 11: Flash.
• 12: EEPROM.
• 13: FEPROM.
• 14: EPROM.
• 15: CDRAM.
• 16: 3DRAM.
• 17: SDRAM.
• 18: SGRAM.
• 19: RDRAM.
• 20: DDR.
• 21: DDR2.
• 22: DDR2 FB-DIMM.
• 24: DDR3.
• 25: FBD2.

Checking memory form factor

To determine if the RAM modules are DIMM or SODIMM form factor, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to determine the memory form factor and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, formfactor

4. If the output of the "FormFactor" column is 8, then your device is using DIMM modules (usually found on desktop computers). Otherwise, if the command output the number 12, then your computer is using SODIMM modules (usually found on laptops).

Complete list of supported form factors

Here's a list with the form factors that the command can identify:

• 0: Unknown.
• 1: Other.
• 2: SIP.
• 3: DIP.
• 4: ZIP.
• 5: SOJ
• 6: Proprietary.
• 7: SIMM.
• 8: DIMM.
• 9: TSOP.
• 10: PGA.
• 11: RIMM.
• 12: SODIMM.
• 13: SRIMM.
• 14: SMD.
• 15: SSMP.
• 16: QFP.
• 17: TQFP.
• 18: SOIC.
• 19: LCC.
• 20: PLCC.
• 21: BGA.
• 22: FPBGA.
• 23: LGA.
• 24: FB-DIMM.

Checking all memory details

The above commands allow you to determine some of the most critical information about the modules. If you want to find out all the details, then use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Type Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to view all the memory details and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip list full

4. See all the available information for each RAM module installed on your device.

5. (Optional) Type the following command to view only the desired details and press Enter:

   wmic memorychip get devicelocator, manufacturer, partnumber, serialnumber, capacity, speed, memorytype, formfactor

6. See the memory information.

Once you complete the steps, you'll have a vast amount of details about the RAM modules installed on your computer. Those will all come in handy when troubleshooting issues, tweaking configuration (such as overclocking), or when you're planning to upgrade the system memory to improve performance.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

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Hi, I'm Mauro Huculak, Windows Central's help and how-to guru. I wrote the post you're reading now, and I know the Windows OS inside and out. But I'm also a bit of a hardware geek. These are some of the affordable gadgets on my desk today.