How do I know which RAM I'm using?

Question

I want to buy some extra RAM but Hardinfo wont tell me which brand, model, latency and speed I'm currently using to buy the same kind.

What else can I use?

What sort of device are you running? Laptop or desktop? Did you buy the whole system prebuilt or is it custom built? — slayton1213, Jan 08 '13 at 18:58
Desktop, built it myself but I can't remember the exact details of the RAM and I have to buy more. Guess I have to open the case then. — zShell, Jan 09 '13 at 01:31

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 08 '13 at 19:05

11

You can get all you want from this command:

sudo dmidecode --type memory

1st part of the information you get:

SMBIOS 2.7 present.

Handle 0x001B, DMI type 16, 23 bytes
Physical Memory Array
    Location: System Board Or Motherboard
    Use: System Memory
    Error Correction Type: None
    Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
    Error Information Handle: No Error
    Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x001C, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
    Array Handle: 0x001B
    Error Information Handle: 0x001E
    Total Width: 64 bits
    Data Width: 64 bits
    Size: 4096 MB
    Form Factor: SODIMM
    Set: None
    Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0
    Bank Locator: BANK 0
    Type: DDR3
    Type Detail: Synchronous
    Speed: 1333 MHz
    Manufacturer: ELPIDA
    Serial Number: 5A0C95A6
    Asset Tag: 0123456789
    Part Number: EBJ41UF8BAS0-DJ-F 
    Rank: Unknown
    Configured Clock Speed: 1333 MHz

answered Jan 08 '13 at 19:05

Rinzwind

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I am fimiliar with `dmidecode`, but didn't know about the `--type` option. +1 – gertvdijk Jan 08 '13 at 19:20
I'm getting Manufacturer: Manufacturer03 Serial Number: SerNum03 Asset Tag: AssetTagNum3 Part Number: ModulePartNumber03 And I don't get why it says speed: 667 when its 1333 DDR3 memory – zShell Jan 09 '13 at 01:27
@zShell Looks like another "broken" BIOS. I see this often on low-quality consumer-grade hardware, unfortunately. – gertvdijk Jan 09 '13 at 22:34
its an asrock mobo and now that you mention it is kind of unstable under windows, any idea how to fix this? – zShell Jan 11 '13 at 04:54
@zShell you could make a new question on http://unix.stackexchange.com/ about that ;) – Rinzwind Jan 11 '13 at 06:30
@zShell the 667 is your speed, the 1333 is the name see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR3_SDRAM – Scott Goodgame Aug 27 '14 at 12:50
My laptop showing `Maximum Capacity` 0 bytes. – aagjalpankaj Apr 14 '18 at 13:34

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 19 '13 at 01:40

This answer isn't particularly Ubuntu, but it's often the most convenient one.

Find out the model of your computer (or if it's a custom assembly job, of your motherboard). Enter the model in the memory search tool on the website of a major RAM vendor (for example Crucial or Kingston). The site will tell you which of their product are guaranteed to be compatible with your system. Even if you don't wish to buy from that vendor, you can note the characteristics and look them up on your favorite vendor.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 08 '13 at 19:07

0

Open a terminal (control + alt + t) and type the following command (it's sudo so you'll need to enter the password):

sudo dmidecode --type 17 | less

From here you'll see all the details you could ever want.

answered Jan 08 '13 at 19:07

philshem

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Getting Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: Manufacturer00 Serial Number: SerNum00 Asset Tag: AssetTagNum0 Part Number: ModulePartNumber00 – zShell Jan 09 '13 at 01:29

How do I know which RAM I'm using?

3 Answers3