Swapping your HDD for an SSD is one of the best upgrades you can make to your PC to improve its overall performance. It's one of the first things I recommend upgrading for an instant boost without spending too much money. However, not all SSDs are made equal, and some are considered to be better than others. There are plenty of things to consider while looking for an SSD, but one thing that you may have heard the most is checking whether your SSD has DRAM. Well, there is no definitive way to tell if an SSD has DRAM, but there are a few things you can do to verify the presence of DRAM in your SSD or the one you're planning to buy.

Physically inspect the SSD for a DRAM chip

The best way to tell if your SSD has DRAM is by physically inspecting the unit to see if it has the DRAM chip on it. The lack of software to confirm the presence of DRAM in your SSD leaves you with no option but to physically tear down the SSD to get to its internals and locate the DRAM. You can locate the DRAM chip as a separate unit that rests between the memory controller and flash memory chips, as highlighted in the image above. It may or may not have obvious markings or a label to indicate it's a DRAM chip, so look for a relatively small rectangular chip sitting in proximity to the memory controller. Below is an image of a WD SN550 SSD to show you what a DRAM-less SSD looks like.

This isn't a foolproof method either, as some SSDs may have DRAM integrated into the controller. It's also not the easiest thing to spot, especially if you don't know how to carefully tear down the SSD to get through its heatsink and get a peek at its internals.

If you can't physically inspect the SSD yourself, then you can also rely on technical teardowns and reviews online to verify the presence of DRAM. Alternatively, you can count on community experts over at the XDA forums and similar online forums to check if a particular SSD has DRAM.

Check the specifications of the SSD

Checking the specifications list of the SSD you plan to buy is also a good way to verify if it has DRAM. Not all manufacturers confirm the presence of DRAM on the product, but most of them list it in some capacity as a part of their specification sheet or marketing material. Notice how the DRAM chip is distinctly highlighted in the promotional image of the Samsung 980 SSD above? Most manufacturers — if not all — will highlight it as an important feature, so keep an eye out for those. I also recommend looking up the product on other websites and marketplaces to get a more detailed specification sheet. Sites like PCPartPicker and johnnylucky.org have more details about a particular product that's sourced from various portals and is often updated.

Not all manufacturers clearly mention the presence of DRAM on their SSDs, so you might want to look at some keywords like DRAM, or even SLC, QLC, and TLC NAND memory to tell whether it's a DRAM or DRAM-less SSD.

Opt for higher-end SSDs for DRAM

SSDs with DRAM cost more than DRAM-less SSDs on the market, so it's safe to say that the higher-end and more expensive SSDs out there are generally the ones to carry DRAM. There's no shortage of SSDs with Host Memory Buffer (or HMB) on the market these days that deliver good performance at relatively lower prices. However, they're still not as performant as the SSDs with DRAM, especially when you compare them with synthetic benchmarks. SSDs with HMB designs aren't necessarily bad as they don't struggle with sequential transfer performance, but you'll definitely be stretching thin with random transfers.

Closing thoughts

The lack of programs or benchmarking tools that detect DRAM cache makes it a bit daunting to distinguish DRAM and DRAM-less SSDs. But it's worth highlighting that most modern SSDs -- regardless of whether they have DRAM or not -- deliver great performance for day-to-day usage, and you don't have to opt for the absolute best SSD out there to get reliable read and write speeds. You can check out our collection of best M.2 SSDs and SSDs for gaming, in which we've highlighted both DRAM and DRAM-less SSDs that are worth considering right now in 2023.