3 ms·

> it matters in the mid and ultraportable segment if you want decent battery life. Memory buses consume very little power compared to the rest of the component

> it matters in the mid and ultraportable segment if you want decent battery life. Memory buses consume very little power compared to the rest of the components. Even memory itself doesn’t consume much, except VRAM in high-end GPUs but that’s an order of magnitude faster than system RAM in most computers. Battery impact of soldered versus socketed RAM is negligible. For instance, HP ProBook 445 G7 and G8 have two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, yet the battery life is up to 14 hours. Computers with soldered RAM are slightly cheaper to manufacture (less parts). Also, it’s not user-upgradeable, users are likely to replace the complete computer after a few years. Memory and disk requirements of software grows quickly over time: https://techtalk.pcmatic.com/research-charts-memory/ https://techtalk.pcmatic.com/research-charts-memory/ These two factors create incentives for computer manufacturers to solder the RAM, despite that’s not in the interests of users, and the environment.

sitkack 5y ago
To you an titzer, as much as I don't like non-modular RAM, what I am advocating for goes even beyond this. Allow the soldered on ram to be upgradable, or put vacant spots for more ram to be added later. Allow HBMs to be stacked, or sell a machine with the HBM not attached and I can source one myself. There absolutely could be a socketed standard for memory. But in general I am arguing for a more upgradable philosophy and manufacturers should be obligated to adhere to that philosophy. The technicals will always be changing, it isn't really a technical problem at all.
- hedora 5y ago
  We already have standard pinouts, etc for DRAM. However, desoldering and resoldering in new chips is error prone, requires special equipment, is labor intensive and can damage nearby capacitors, etc. Anyway, if you want, nothing (except economics) is stopping you from upgrading your soldered DRAM.

sitkack 5y ago

To you an titzer, as much as I don't like non-modular RAM, what I am advocating for goes even beyond this. Allow the soldered on ram to be upgradable, or put vacant spots for more ram to be added later. Allow HBMs to be stacked, or sell a machine with the HBM not attached and I can source one myself. There absolutely could be a socketed standard for memory. But in general I am arguing for a more upgradable philosophy and manufacturers should be obligated to adhere to that philosophy. The technicals will always be changing, it isn't really a technical problem at all.

hedora 5y ago
We already have standard pinouts, etc for DRAM. However, desoldering and resoldering in new chips is error prone, requires special equipment, is labor intensive and can damage nearby capacitors, etc. Anyway, if you want, nothing (except economics) is stopping you from upgrading your soldered DRAM.