I have a burnt ship on my old DDR4-compatible mainboard. I must order a new mainboard or a whole new laptop, and so my memory will have to be changed too.
Problem: all the DDR5 memory sticks on frame.work are backordered.
It’s urgent. I’ll probably order my RAM elsewhere because I can’t afford to wait, but I’m a noob and I’m afraid to buy the wrong thing.
Are all 2x8GB DDR5s on the market compatible with the AMD 7040? Else, what should I be looking for to make sure they’re is no issue?
Just get standard JDEC speeds at the same as Framework sold modules. Don’t bother paying extra for OC RAM as it will either down lock down to JDEC anyways or won’t boot at all. Other than that, anything should work. Keep in mind, the larger the kit (16GB vs 32GB vs 64GB etc) the longer it’ll take to train the memory at first boot so don’t panic if it doesn’t boot immediately, give it 5-10 mins to train on first boot.
The Framework DDR5 SODIMMs are DDR5-5600 with, as far as I can see
CAS# Latency (CL) = 46
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) = 45
RAS# Precharge (tRP) = 45
Cycle Time (tRAS) = 90
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) = 135
Sometimes DDR5-4800 is cheaper (but slower). They originally just recommended you get DDR-5600 or faster but maybe their more recent BIOSs can cope with slower RAM, I don’t know.
Oh and don’t forget you really want two identical SODIMMs. Using just one will mean your RAM runs at half speed, which doesn’t mean the whole PC always goes at half speed, but it does make a big difference to workloads that need fast access to a lot of RAM.
I would definitely recommend getting DDR5 5600 speed SODIMMs and NOT getting 4800 speed. You would probably be OK getting 6000 speed, although it will only run at the 5600 speed.
If you search the forums or other places on the Framework website, you can find lists of the different brands of RAM that people have successfully used in Framework notebooks.
I’ve used Crucial, SK Hynix, and Silicon Power. If I remember correctly, some people had problems with some Kingston RAM.
Also try to avoid mixing different brands of RAM if you can.
Sometimes you can get good deals on eBay on used or open box SODIMMs and I’ve gotten used RAM that way that has worked fine (you can usually return it for a full refund if it doesn’t work).
I would still say, if you buy DDR5 SODIMMs which are slower than 5600 speed, be sure that you can return them if they don’t work and be sure to run Memtest86+ for a few passes to make sure that it is working properly before pass the period where you could return them. If you use DDR5 SODIMMs which are slower than 5600, I think that Framework tech support would require you to install 5600 SODIMMs for testing if you have any memory-related problems. I don’t think Framework officially supports using RAM slower than 5600.
Here are lists of RAM that has some degree of validation by Framework. These lists are for Framework 16 models but they should also be true for Framework 13 models which use DDR5 5600 SODIMMs:
If getting memory other than 5600MHz this is just asking for problems. No matter how much is saved it can bite back hard and is not worth it.
The only 5600 ram that consistently sees issues is the Kingston Fury memory with AMD boards. Some work fine; others have nothing but issues.
Crucial, G.Skill, SK.Hynix, Corsair that is probably the order of personal preference.
Get a matching PAIR of memory sold together. They are tested and shipped together for a reason. 16gig is really not enough to future proof. 32 is the sweet spot and 64 is just ridiculous in price today.
If the SSD is getting on 5+ years think about replacing it too. Does not have to be directly from Framework.
