DDR1 RAM or DDR2 RAM - What is on my Computer?

The very common and frequently asked and answered question from many of our clients to buy their DDR RAM memory modules is, How to find the exact type and specification of the RAM memory modules on their Desktop computer or Laptop. For all them the answer was the same and here is the full explanation to find the type of RAM (Whether DDR1 or DDR2) and other specifications like, the FSB(Front Side BUS) of the Motherboard, Clock speed of the memory module, FSB:DRAM frequency ratio, Total size of the memory and total number of channels you are using right now. These details will help to determine what memory module will better suit the Computer or Laptop for upgrading or replacement. Also, it is very easy to find all the details using a free software program called CPU-Z.

The CPU-Z software program is the free and you can get it from many places. Do a Google search for the term " CPU-Z Download " and you will get this program to save and install on your computer. Once installed as per instruction following the installation wizard, re-start the computer and run the program. This program once started will give all the above mentioned details on the "CPU" and "Memory" panels by switching the panels from the top lined tabs. Once you got all the details, you may contact your memory module vendor or the manufacturer's technical representative to get the confirmation of the RAM memory module to use on your system. If you are going to buy a DDR RAM from a online shopping website, make sure there is a return policy if the memory module is not well suit with your computer.

Here the Effective Memory clock speed is the very common frequency written on the packing and on the memory module itself. The actual memory clock is different on DDR1, DDR2 and DDR3.
Effective Memory Clock For:
DDR1 RAM - 2xMemory Clock
DDR2 RAM - 4xMemory Clock
DDR3 RAM - 8xMemory Clock

An Example for memory clock speed of 100MHz on all three DDR RAM types. Let us calculate the effective memory clock speed for all the three types.

Effective Memory clock for DDR1/100MHz/DDR-200/PC-1600 = 2x100 = 200MHz
Effective Memory clock for DDR2/100MHz/DDR2-400/PC2-3200= 4x100 = 400MHz
Effective Memory clock for DDR3/100MHz/DDR3-800/PC3-6400 = 8x100 = 800MHz

Now using the above example, it is very easy to identify what kind of DDR RAM is on a Computer or Laptop. Plenty doubtful questions are still need to be cleared. But this is the basic to find which DDR RAM will suit best on your computer or laptop.

apart from all these better advice is to consult a computer specialist to know the best option on selecting the memory. It is not simply what type of RAM is on your computer. It is about to get the best performance. When upgrading a memory capacity, most of the time the real thing happens is a downgrading of the new memory module by using the new with the old. If the memory clock of the old memory is less than the new memory module, automatically the computer will detect and work to the speed of the old memory not the new one. You will get the real capacity of the memory. But the speed by which the data transfer happens will not change to the new one. The only solution is to remove the old DDR RAM an install only the new DDR RAM. As said earlier, there are many specific settings on the BIOS to set-up while upgrading or replacing a DDR RAM with a new higher capacity and higher speed one. It is highly advisable to consult a Computer hardware specialist before buying and installing a DDR RAM for this very purpose even you know how to install it by yourself.