Find the Maximum RAM Capacity of Your Computer on Windows/Linux OS

Typically, the more RAM your computer has, the more programs it can handle simultaneously. The question is, how much RAM can your computer take? Is it already at its maximum, or is there still room for an upgrade?

To find out the maximum RAM capacity of your computer, here are the detailed steps.

Windows

Press Windows key + R simultaneously. Then type cmd in search box and press Enter.

Windows users can determine the maximum RAM capacity in the Command prompt with the command below. It gives the final value in kilobytes which can be converted to gigabytes (divide the value by 1048576 to convert KB to GB).

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.508]
(c) 2020 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\WINDOWS\system32> wmic memphysical get MaxCapacity, MemoryDevices
MaxCapacity  MemoryDevices
67108864     4

That means my system’s maximum RAM capacity is 64 GB. If your motherboard has 4 memory slots, it means the maximum RAM capacity per slot is 64/ 4= 16GB.

Linux

Using dmidecode tool we can find out the maximum RAM capacity in Linux OS. It is not installed by default in most distros.

1. Install dmidecode:

#ubuntu/debian
sudo apt install dmidecode

 
#RedHat/centOS
sudo dnf install dmidecode

2. Run the command:

$ sudo dmidecode -t 16
[sudo] password for rakesh.jain: 
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x001B, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: Multi-bit ECC
Maximum Capacity: 512GB
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Number Of Devices: 32

So my Linux computer has 32 memory slots and 512GB maximum RAM capacity (16GB per slot).

Note that It is not recommended that you add more RAM to your computer than the maximum amount of RAM. If you add more RAM installed than the maximum, the extra RAM will not be used.

Hope you like the tutorial. Please let me know your feedback in the response section.