If you buy a laptop today, it will be difficult for you to expand or change its RAM. Most manufacturers solder the modules to the motherboard, so that option is usually capped as standard.
The funny thing is that Dell has decided to do something about it. They have created a proprietary DDR5 memory module called CAMM with good news and bad news. The good news is that it gives you the option to change it and thus expand that section. The bad news is that the only one who can change it is Dell.
It is not welded, but almost as if it were
A Twitter user nicknamed iGPU Extremist (@Emerald_x86) filtered in this network some screenshots about the Dell Precision 7670, a workstation with a very special feature: his memory.
Instead of traditional modules, Dell has created so-called Compression Attached Memory Modules (CAMMs), a new proprietary format which probably serves to replace the traditional SO-DIMM format.
These modules have two zones with eight integrated circuits in each of them, and according to Tom’s Hardware, that configuration would allow those two zones to work. as would two SO-DIMM modules in dual channel.
This type of module seems to allow Dell to simplify the design of its equipment and even make it thinner and lighter, and although it is indeed an interesting implementation in part because it does not use soldered modules, back to the same old problem: This type of proprietary module will prevent the end user from being able to upgrade or change the memory if desired.
It is not known if Dell will end up allowing other manufacturers to offer this type of module, but the truth is that many manufacturers solder these modules, although in other models – not so many – they do offer that option. At least we’ve been largely spared the doom of the 8GB RAM laptops we complained about a while back.
