Monday, April 18th 2022
Dell Will Have Custom DDR5 Memory Module for its Upcoming Laptops
A leak with details about upcoming Dell notebooks has revealed that Dell's upcoming notebooks with DDR5 memory will feature a custom memory module that Dell calls CAMM, or Compression Attached Memory Module. The CAMM can support up to 128 GB RAM according to the leak and initial modules will support memory speeds of 4800 MHz. It's unclear if notebooks with CAMM support will have soldered down memory as well, but what is clear is that Dell is not looking at using traditional SO-DIMM type modules.
The first notebooks from Dell to feature the new module appears to be the Precision 7-series, which will also feature an Intel 55 W Alder Lake-HX series CPU, a choice of an NVIDIA RTX A5000 GPU or Intel Arc DG2 based graphics with a 90 W TDP, as well as up to 12 TB of NVMe storage over PCIe 4.0. Apparently Dell has developed what it calls DGFF or Dell Graphics Form Factor for these laptops, which suggests that they'll feature some kind of modular graphics solution. Considering that at least some models in Precision 7-series will sport 16-inch displays, there should be plenty of space for a GPU module, although it'll be interesting to see exactly what Dell is bringing to the table that's new here.
Sources:
@Emerald_x86, via Videocardz
The first notebooks from Dell to feature the new module appears to be the Precision 7-series, which will also feature an Intel 55 W Alder Lake-HX series CPU, a choice of an NVIDIA RTX A5000 GPU or Intel Arc DG2 based graphics with a 90 W TDP, as well as up to 12 TB of NVMe storage over PCIe 4.0. Apparently Dell has developed what it calls DGFF or Dell Graphics Form Factor for these laptops, which suggests that they'll feature some kind of modular graphics solution. Considering that at least some models in Precision 7-series will sport 16-inch displays, there should be plenty of space for a GPU module, although it'll be interesting to see exactly what Dell is bringing to the table that's new here.
76 Comments on Dell Will Have Custom DDR5 Memory Module for its Upcoming Laptops
cant wait for 600$ 8gb laptop and 800$ for the same laptop with 16gb
It all comes down to these giant corporations wanting their large cut of the purchases to fill their deep pockets & profits for shareholders while paying the individuals that do the actual physical work peanuts. Peanuts, with the shells still on them, so they have to do more work to get the mediocre prize. Most of the cost to these companies goes towards manufacturing equipment/tech and CEO salaries. :shadedshu:
My friends group?
We literally buy/collect older laptops thrown out by users and businesses, add SSD's and upgrade the CPU's and RAM, and can re-sell them.
(E-waste recycyling center, sadly closed down due to covid)
I've got an 'antique' 1155 SFF PC that came with a pentium and 4GB of RAM, and now has a 3570K, 16GB 1600MHz ram and an SSD and is a game server/steam link box.
My last laptop was the same, went from a dual core i3 to a quad core i7
Anything with soldered parts just gets scrapped, literally. SSD's come out, the rest gets melted down.
The only use-case for soldered parts is true ultra portable designs like ipads, tablets and phones.
So with my dumb head i just replaced the HDD, with a larger, 500GB one myself. Half year later, laptop stops functioning completely. I warrant it back, and be told, sorry sir, youve replaced the HDD on your own behalf thus losing your warranty with that. I was pissed. Never bought a "commercial" laptop from such brands ever again.
The target audience for such laptops is not for people who upgrade their parts without the use of dell.
Actually there are dealers, that buy stock Dell laptops and tailor them to the company order. Basically they take the basic configuration and boost SSD, RAM and display panel to customer needs and it always ends up cheaper than the original offering, the margin appears for profit. If done so for some business ventures needing multiple same machines it means money and a good ones. There are no warranty issues also with that as it is done usually by official warranty service partners who are warranty givers themselves.
Cutting it down, would mean some changes...
The Framework laptop manages impressive modularity for its size and featureset, but also has a relatively small battery and thus mediocre battery life due to this. Of course other laptops have the same bettery size and life due to just being stupidly thin, which is another problem entirely. But looking inside the Framework, the area taken up by the dual SO-DIMMs is huge. If that could be reduced by even 1/4, that would be very welcome, especially if this also comes with a lower z-height for the memory module and connector. If gains like this can be had by moving to a module that integrates dual channel RAM into a single module, I'd say that's a decent tradeoff overall, even if it rules out the "buy xGB, single-DIMM laptop, add same capacity DIMM for 2xGB laptop on the cheap" approach to upgrading. And, of course, it would rule out the bane of budget laptops: the single SO-DIMM, single-channel design. That alone would be worth the move to a new standard to me.
IMO, to safeguard upgradeability and repairability for laptops we need new, future-oriented connector standards that are suited to the products people actually want (as well as manufacturers willing to sell motherboards for CPU/platform upgrades, though IMO that's rather unlikely outside of niche outfits like Framework). We need to maintain the importance of repairability and upgradeability, but we cant tie those demands to a demand for unsuitable, old connectors. The sockets we have now work well for what they do, but none of them are designed for the density required in contemporary designs. Some quick googling tells me that a standard DDR3 SO-DIMM socket is 5.2mm tall (tall versions are 9.2mm), and DDR4 sockets are quite similar. If that could be cut to just the thickness of the PCB+memory chips (and VRMs for DDR5) - I would guess < 3mm), that would make adding upgradeable memory a lot easier on thin-and-light designs, especially if the socket/connector could be mounted to a PCB edge with the memory module overhanging its edge. In a 15mm-ish laptop, another 2-ish mm from lower profile RAM connectors could be the difference between a great keyboard and an unusable one, or a mediocre battery and a great one. DIMMs and SO-DIMMs are great for their toolless installation and ease of use, but if they're too large to fit a design, those advantages are meaningless. And IMO a RAM upgrade is a sufficiently advanced and infrequent thing that requiring a screwdriver is ... well, not an issue. Thus I think this is a good initiative from Dell even if it is likely largely motivated by profits - if nothing else, it can serve as a showcase of how a more up-to-date memory connector might look.
Intel dont want to sell you a CPU, they want to sell you *everything* - CPU, motherboard (chipset), network card, wifi card...