Random Access Memory (RAM) is a critical part of your rig.
Without it, your gear is as good as dead.
your rig’s CPU uses RAM to store program data temporarily.
The more RAM a PC has, the better it can handle memory-intensive programs or multiple applications running simultaneously.
But how do you figure out the maximum amount of RAM your system can use?
Why Upgrade Your System RAM?
Are your PC applications responding very slowly?
Does your system hang when you try and use more than a couple of programs?
Then it could be a sign that you need more RAM.
Mac users can find their activeRAM usage in the Activity Monitor.
Linux
Use thedmidecodecommand line utility to get information about your RAM on a Linux machine.
The utility is available on all major Linux distros.
If you do not have dmidecode, you caninstall it using snapdor any other package manager.
The advantage of snap is that it is distro agnostic.
trigger the following command to install dmidecode using snap.
With dmidecode installed, you could now check your RAM details by running the following command.
You’ll need elevated privileges.
The output shows you the maximum RAM capacity and the number of chips.
In this case, the PC has two RAM slots, with a maximum RAM capacity of 8GB RAM.
The dmidecode tool can be used to check other hardware details on your Linux PC.
Check the man pages orExplainShellfor more usage details and examples.
Windows
Checking the maximum supported RAM on a Windows PC is relatively easy.
For example, here’s an overview of memory specifications for theMac Pro (2019 model).
However, you’ve got the option to also check from within macOS, too.
Note that this option is only available on Apple hardware with upgradable RAM.
Also, there are other upgrade limitations.
For example, some M1 chips only support a maximum of 24GB RAM.
Upgrading your PC RAM is easier than you think.
