On many occasions, many users wonder for various reasons if their computer is upgradable in terms of RAM. Sometimes, due to software needs, we find ourselves in the situation of implementing more memory , or simply changing modules to improve its speed and thus gain performance, but how can we know which RAM slots are empty on our PC?
Whether you have a laptop or a PC there are many situations where you might need to know how many RAM slots you have available. On PC it’s easier because as soon as you have a box with a window you can see it with a simple glance, but on laptops everything gets complicated and many don’t know how to do it, but that’s what we’re here for.
How to check empty RAM slots
Like everything in life, there are several methods to know exactly what slots we have available and where in some cases we can know much more data that can come in especially handy.
We will see several methods, some by software and others by hardware, that in any of the cases none usually fail, but both Windows and the programs could be wrong in certain cases, so it is better to have options to compare and be sure that the information is correct.
with Windows
The easiest way is using Windows 10 or Windows 11 (if we have this version of the operating system installed, of course), but at the same time it is the most basic and the one that provides the least information. To do this, it is as simple as pressing the right button of our mouse on the taskbar to display the following menu:
It can also be achieved by pressing the Control + Alt + Delete keys and clicking on task manager, in case it is easier for us. So you can know the empty RAM slots that your PC or laptop has in task manager and it will open. At that time we will have to go to the performance tab and once inside we click on the memory section , as shown in the following image.
Within this section, in the lower right part , Windows 10 will indicate how many slots we have used. In our case we have the two slots of our Intel NUC occupied, but our OS also indicates the reservation we have for the integrated graphics and their speed .
If we need more specific information for a replacement of our memories or an expansion, we will need to know the exact modules , both their serial numbers and their latencies.
View empty RAM slots with CPU-Z
In this aspect we can resort to more specialized programs without having to resort to opening our laptop or computer. To do this, we recommend you follow the steps of our CPU-Z tutorial , where we will find everything you need to download and start it up.
Assuming that we have already downloaded it from its website and we have it operational by following said tutorial, we will go directly to the SPD tab , where this small, but powerful program provides us with all the possible data, in our case it marks the following:
Our CPU-Z correctly tells us that our modules are of the CORSAIR brand, where their speed is 800 MHz at 1.35V with latencies of 9-9-9-24-39 . We can jump between banks if we set the upper tab, so we will see what type of module each specific slot has.
This is the specific section of the memory where each slot will mark the model, type, serial number or latency, but the way to know if we actually have free slots is precisely to change the slot in the drop-down menu in this section.
If the program can read the SPD of the RAM, it will mark the data, if it is empty these will be blank, so it is a very interesting way to see the empty slots of the RAM memory and, above all, to know which ones have a specific module installed. . In the Memory section of the same program we will be able to see if we have a Dual Channel or Quad Channel configuration, depending on our platform, because it is one thing to have two or four modules and another that they are well placed to enable these key technologies.
AIDA64 Extreme
Another equally valid and more powerful method is to use the AIDA 64 software. A much more complete program than CPU-Z and that has a trial version to be used at no cost of any kind. We recommend the Extreme version because it is more focused on our sector and has specific options, although for this task that concerns us to check how many empty RAM slots our PC has, it is not influential as such.
The only problem is that as a rule it hides the information we are looking for unless we register it with a valid password or Key , something quite simple on the other hand, we already understand each other, although it is always good to support all developers by buying their work .
Assuming that we have our software already registered, accessing the summary menu we will have the same information that CPU-Z provided us but we will have many more options, tests, benchmarks and general information about our equipment.
For those of us who are concerned, we will see something similar to this:
Where we will also see details such as the type of memory (DDR3L in SO-DIMM format) which we cannot appreciate with CPU-Z. More information is available here, for example, under the Motherboard section, which is under the equipment section. Here we have the most reliable information for what we are looking for, since it will indicate the type of bus, the width of the bus and, above all, the RAM slots that the motherboard supports.
In our case, and having seen the previous step, we already know that it has two modules installed, where it will also now tell us that there are two occupied RAM slots and therefore none are available. In other cases and being the norm in PC, it will mark 4 DDRx DIMM or 8 DDRx DIMM, depending on the platform and motherboard, so we will know everything necessary to be able to discern how many modules we need based on those empty RAM slots.
Check your PC or laptop physically
It is the simplest or most complicated method, depending on the type of computer we are talking about and especially the type of information we are looking for. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, if you want to know how many modules you have installed or how many you can install on your PC and it has a tower with a window, look at it and take a look at it in a second.
This in laptops implies disassembling a cover or the entire lower structure of the same to be able to access the RAM. In this case, we will not only see the modules and get to know them thoroughly, but we will also see the empty RAM slots that our laptop has, which as a rule will be none except in very well-crafted or high-end models.
It is not the easiest thing to do and in the case of disassembling the entire lower case it can mean loss of warranty according to the manufacturer, but you will not find anything more reliable than that at the same time.
