Check your specs on Windows 11 and 10
On Windows 11 or 10, press the Windows key and X together and choose System. The About page that opens lists the processor and the installed RAM under Device specifications. That’s the quickest check, and for a quote it’s most of what you need. The rest of this page covers the details About doesn’t show: the exact model, the serial number, the graphics card, the drive and the screen size.
Everything on one screen: System Information
Press the Windows key, type System Information and open it. The System Summary page lists the System Manufacturer and System Model (HP EliteBook 840 G8, Latitude 5420 and so on), the full processor name, the BIOS version and date, and Installed Physical Memory, which is the RAM. Nothing here can be changed by accident, so it’s safe to click around.
Graphics card, drive and memory: Task Manager
Open Task Manager with Ctrl, Shift and Esc, then the Performance tab.
- GPU 0 and GPU 1 name the graphics. A laptop with a separate card shows two: the Intel or AMD graphics built into the processor, and the Nvidia or AMD card (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, say). One line means there’s no separate card.
- Disk 0 shows the drive’s size and whether it’s an SSD or an HDD.
- Memory shows the total, the speed and “Slots used”, such as 1 of 2. A free slot means more memory can go in; with no free slot, adding memory means replacing a stick.
Reading the processor name
The generation is in the number after the dash, and it’s the part that sets a laptop’s value. For an Intel Core chip, if the number starts with a 1 and another digit (10, 11, 12, 13 or 14), those two digits are the generation; otherwise the first digit is. So an i5-8250U is 8th generation, an i5-10210U is 10th, an i5-1135G7 is 11th and an i7-1255U is 12th. A three-digit number, such as an i5-520M, is a first-generation chip from around 2010. Intel’s newest chips are called Core Ultra (Core Ultra 5 125U, for example), and our form lists them as Intel Ultra 5 and Ultra 7. For AMD, the first digit after “Ryzen 5” or “Ryzen 7” gives the series: a Ryzen 5 5500U is a 5000 series.
A Celeron or Pentium name means a budget chip, whatever the number says.
Model and serial number
Both are on the label underneath, or on a laser-etched panel on newer slim laptops. On some, the label is under the battery. Dell calls its serial number a Service Tag, a seven-character code. The maker’s own app shows both on a working laptop: HP Support Assistant, Dell SupportAssist, Lenovo Vantage, MyASUS or Acer Care Center.
You can also read the serial number in Windows. Right-click the Start button, open Terminal (Windows PowerShell on Windows 10) and type Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS, then press Enter. It’s on the SerialNumber line.
Screen size
Windows doesn’t list it, so measure the screen diagonally from one corner of the visible picture to the opposite corner, leaving out the frame, and convert to inches (divide centimetres by 2.54). The model name gives it away on many laptops. HP’s EliteBook 840 is 14-inch and the 850 is 15.6; in a Dell Latitude number the second digit is the size, so a 5420 is 14-inch and a 5520 is 15.6; a Lenovo ThinkPad T14 is 14 inches; an Asus Vivobook 15 is 15.6.
Older laptops: Windows 8 and 7
Open File Explorer (Windows Explorer on Windows 7), right-click This PC or Computer, and choose Properties. The window lists the processor and the installed RAM. A laptop that shipped with Windows 7 or 8 almost always has a Core from the first five generations, or a Celeron or Pentium, and those are worth very little on the second-hand market.
What we need for a quote
Our form asks for the brand, the processor and its generation, the screen size and the condition, and on a gaming laptop the graphics card. RAM, storage and Windows version don’t change our price, so you don’t need to dig those out. If the laptop won’t turn on, the model number from the label is enough for us to look it up: ring us on 01440 784570 or email info@sellyourlaptop.co.uk. Our guide to a laptop that won’t turn on has the checks worth trying first, and what your laptop is worth shows how the processor sets the figure. When you’ve got the details, you can sell your laptop in a few clicks.
