What’s In My PC?

Owning a computer can be a tricky business. There are so many different components some hardware, some software and when something goes wrong it is almost impossible to know what is wrong without taking it to an expert.

Sadly, these experts rarely come cheap and fixing hardware and software problems can cost an arm and a leg. There are some PC problems that are easily solved however, such as the inevitable slowdown every PC seems to go through at some point – usually after its owner has had it a few years.

There may be many reasons for such slowdowns, but invariably a sluggish PC is down to a lack of RAM. Of course it was slick and smooth running when it was first taken out of its box, and probably for some time afterwards, but the more memory hungry applications that are installed, the more RAM you are going to need just to keep it ticking over.

Fortunately these days RAM is cheap, so cheap in fact that it is possible to effectively double the performance speed of many laptops and notebooks, for less than £20.

But how do you know what type of RAM to buy without opening the case and taking out what you already have?

Peeking Inside

There are easier options than simply opening your tower and taking a look inside, besides, there is no guarantee that the RAM inside your PC will have a nice sticker on it detailing what type of RAM it is.

This is where software such as SIW (System Information for Windows) comes in handy. This is a free program, it contains no viruses or spyware, it doesn’t ask for your email address and it can tell you almost instantly what type of RAM is installed on the PC you are using, and therefore what sort of RAM you need to buy. You can download the program directly to your desktop (or wherever you want to) and just double click it to use, it doesn’t need to be installed.

SIW is very complex program able to gather information on almost all aspects of your PC. However we are only interested in one section, the RAM.

Click to Enlarge

When the screen opens scroll down to the hardware section and locate the section entitled memory. This will then display some information, but the first section we’re interested in is the bit under Memory Summary.

There are several bits of information here that are needed. Firstly there is the Maximum Capacity, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem with modern PCs and laptops, but this PC is quite old and has a maximum capacity of just 1536MB (or 1.5GB), coupled with the last line, Maximum Memory Module Size, this shows how much memory can be added, and what size memory sticks. In this case no single sticks of RAM higher than 1024MB (1GB) can be used.

Memory Slots tell us how many memory slots there are, in other words how many sticks of RAM can be fitted, in this case just 3. Lastly there is the Error Correction (EC) section, which says None, so for this PC we’d need NON-EC RAM not higher than 1GB per stick or 1.5GB in total.

All this is very useful as it would have meant digging out the motherboard manual, if there ever was one, or just ordering some RAM and hoping for the best.

Matching RAM

Next we need the information below that and although it looks complicated, there are only a few sections that we need be interested in.

As you can see, all three of the available slots in this computer have been filled. In Slot 1 under Capacity we have 256MB of RAM, the Memory Type is SDRAM DDR and the Speed is PC2700 (166MHz).

The two most important pieces of information are the Memory Type and the Speed, they show what RAM we need to purchase and what speed RAM is already in the machine. In this case we will need to purchase DDR RAM of about PC2700 in speed.

Another important point to note is the capacity of the RAM already there, Slots 1 and 2 have 256MB of RAM, but Slot 3 has 512MB, giving a total of 1024MB (1GB). As this PC only has a maximum capacity of 1.5GB there isn’t much room for expansion, it is probably easiest to buy one stick of 1024MB (1GB) and replace Slot 3’s 512MB, which I could then sell on eBay for about £10-£15.

Performance Boost

Armed with the knowledge that I need DDR RAM, NON-EC of about PC2700, I am able to shop around for a good deal, knowing precisely what I want. At Horizon Flash Memory I can get one 1GB of PC2700 DDR RAM for £21.49, which coupled with the fact that I will make some money back selling the old RAM on eBay is a remarklaby good deal.

I will have boosted the performance of this ailing PC by half as much again, all for about a tenner.

RAM is quick and easy to replace and more importantly it provides a noticeable difference. When you increase the RAM of your PC, you should immediately notice that programs start quicker, you are able to open more windows without slowing the PC down and you should also notice that the PC boots up faster.

Upgrading RAM is by far the simplest and and most cost effective way of improving performance and a program such as SIW makes it even easier.

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