First thing before ordering memory or drives, is to identify exactly which computer make and model you have.

Q: How do I find my machine's Make and Model?

• PCs and Laptops
• Unbranded and Motherboard
• Macintosh
• Servers
• Dell
• Lenovo
• Sony and Toshiba

Once you have the make and model, either look it up you brand under the MEMORY menu or the SERVER RAM menu at upper left, or email us at CanadaRAM for an expert recommendation for RAM upgrades and SSD drives.

Note: Even with the make and model, it is often useful to take a photo of the memory from your machine, as a model of machine might have multiple RAM options, and it is important to match new RAM to the existing.

A: For PC's and Laptops

Depending on your machine, you may be able to find the make and model information from the label on the back panel, side panel or bottom of the machine, or sometimes inside the battery compartment of a laptop. If this label is not legible, then you can use some software to identify the machine.

The free utilities Speccy from Piriform or CPU-Z from CPU-ID will give you a report of the motherboard, including the amount and speed of the memory installed.

Or you can open the command prompt by running cmd, opening the Command prompt from Start: Windows System: Command Prompt, or searching for Command Prompt with the search box beside the Start Menu

Once you have the Command Prompt (>) open type the following (without the quotation marks)

“wmic csproduct get name”

and hit Enter. The Result will be something like

>Name
>HP ProBook 450 G6

A: For unbranded parts-built machines, whitebox machines and boutique brands, the Motherboard make and model is what we need to identify

If the machine doesnt have a major brand make and model, then the motherboard is the identifying part that will determine the RAM needed. You can often read the motherboard make and model of a desktop machine by shutting it down, opening the case, and reading the silkscreened lettering on the face of the motherboard. The model is usually the largest letters.

Or if you don't want to open the machine, usually Speccy or CPU-Z will report the motherboard make and model. Again, we will want to know the speed and capacity of the currently installed RAM.

For unbranded laptop machines, this can be more difficult, we may need to see a photo of the existing RAM as well as the Speccy or CPU-Z data if the model information is not available

A: For Macintoshes, it is a bit different.

Apple doesn't have a label with model identification on the machine. You can get information about the machine by going to the Apple menu and choosing "About this Macintosh..." The first screen will give you the model and the year, the CPU type, plus the amount and speed of the memory installed. If you select the "System Report" or "More Information..." button under the Hardware tab you can find the machine's MacintoshID number, such as iMac17,1 or MacBookPro9,2 and under Memory Tab the actual sizes of the RAM modules installed

The MacintoshID number is usually definitive for identifying the hardware of the machine and its expandability. Once in a while we will also need the CPU type as it makes a difference in a couple of machines.

Keep in mind that the year of the machine is not the year you purchased it, it is the year that Apple released the model. There can be differences between Early-, Mid- and Late- models of a given year, and differences between screen sizes in a given year, so the definitive is the MacintoshID plus the model and year.

Note that the A#### number printed in tiny type on the bottom of a MacBook / Air / Pro laptop is a chassis number and is not definitive for the motherboard and RAM contained in the machine. If you are ordering a battery however, the A#### that is printed on the battery itself is good information.

A: For Dell machines,

Each Dell machine has a Service Tag, which can be looked up here on Dell's Support site. This should get you to a page where you can look up the model number of the machine, the original configuration of the machine as manufactured, and also access user manuals.

Usually Speccy or CPU-Z will report the type and size of RAM currently installed.

A: For Lenovo machines

Sometimes the model name is enough (Thinkpad 560p) but sometimes you need more specific information. There is a Type number on all Lenovos in the form of a number and a character extension 1234-ABC or 2 numbers followed by an alphanumeric string 20AAAAAA##

Or you can use the Lenovo Vantage software program to look up the model and serial or use Speccy or CPU-Z

A: For Servers and workstations of any brand,

A given model of machine can have multiple different configurations and processors, so sometimes the model number alone isn't enough. In these cases it is best to refer to the original purchase documentation, or to get a report from Speccy or CPU-Z in additional to make and model. We will want to know the speed of the RAM currently installed and whether it is ECC Unbuffered, ECC Registered, or Load Reduced (as these types cannot be mixed). As well, the model of CPU it has, and whether there is one or two CPUs installed, can be significant.

A: For Sony and Toshiba laptops

There are often two model numbers for each machine, please give us all the numbers you can find so they can be looked up.