I am looking at purchase of a Framework 16. I just have one question, regarding the DRAM sockets: For the machine to operate most efficiently, do both of the SO-DIMM sockets need to be populated? In other words, can I initially use just one 48gB stick, and add a second one later If I ever find that I need more memory? Or does this machine need to have both SO-DIMM sockets filled at all times to operate properly, and I would need to buy 2 sticks for the initial build?
I am trying to future-proof this laptop by leaving the second SO-DIMM (and M.2) sockets empty, in case I ever get some future OS or app that might need more memory or storage.
Thanks!
You can leave a slot empty, however performance will be reduced (especially if you plan on using the iGPU).
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No, you can run with one 48GB RAM just fine, I had to do that for a while when one of my RAM modules went on the blink.
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Performance will be reduced with only one socket, but do note that this is true with every computer.
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nope, just one works great!
two is better because you can leverage dual channel speeds but it still works great without it
Thanks everyone who replied. My take from your replies is that it’s not mandatory to populate both DRAM sockets, but that performance is somewhat better if both are filled, so that both data channels between the CPU and the DRAM can be used. This makes sense. Since memory is only about 10~15% of the total cost of one of these machines, $160 for 64gB (2-32gB modules), or $250 for 96 gB (2-48gB modules), I should probably just get the 64gB kit for $150. I do all my heavy-hitting work on my desktop machine anyway - I just want this laptop for portability when I am away from home and want to store photos on a field trip, or check email. The only time I’ve ever actually needed the 64gB in my desktop is when I occasionally process really huge landscape panoramas in Photoshop - sometimes as many as 60 individual 24 megapixel stills in these big composite images. I would hardly ever need to do that in a laptop, but I am sick of spending hundreds of dollars on laptops that only last 4 or 5 years and end up in the trash because they can’t be repaired or upgraded. I guess that’s why mose of you bought Framework machines - you want to get 10 years out of it, if possible. That’s my hope, anyway. My current laptop is a Dell Vostro 1700 built in 2011. It has a 2 core Pentium and since it pre-dates the invention of SSD’s by several years, it’s incredibly slow, so much so that I can barely tolerate using it any more.
Anyway, thanks for your replies, you all answered my question perfectly!
I can reccomend either getting the kingston 5600mts kit or the gskill 5600mts kit. If you get the cl40 timings, that is the best set of ram you can get for your system. I also was debating over 96 or 64gb, I settled on a 64gb set of gskill as I was able to wait for the set I wanted to go on sale for 170usd during the 8 or so months from when I placed my 16" preorder.
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Another thing to consider is battery life. More ram = less suspend duration.
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James - that’s a good point to keep in mind. In Sleep/Suspend mode, the more electronics of all types, either DRAM or SSD storage, the greater the drain on the battery. Not much of an issue for me, because I rarely need to put a laptop into Sleep mode; typically, when I am finished with whatever I was doing on my laptop that day, I won’t be needing it again for at least a week or two, so I power it completely off. I do almost all of my home computing tasks on my desktop PC - it has 64gB of DRAM, about 20 tB of hard disk storage, an AMD RX-6800-XT GPU, and a three-monitor layout so I have all the display screen real estate almost anyone could ever need or hope for. I just need the laptop for photo editing when I’m away from home on vacation or a camping trip, and for my D&D game that I run twice a month. I have all the reference material for the game as PDF’s, and it’s actually this use case that’s pushing me to get a new laptop: my old Dell Vostro 17", built in 2010 I think, has become so slow that it takes nearly 10 full minutes just to boot Windows 7, and searching through a 400-page PDF game manual in Adobe Acrobat to find a specific page has become intolerably slow. Yeah, I said Windows 7. I tried to install Windows 10 on it, and it became unusable - took 20 minutes to complete the boot-up process. So I don’t need a laptop on a daily basis, but when I do need one, I want it to be at least as fast as my desktop machine, which has a Ryzen 5-3600 CPU, and have enough DRAM and storage that it’s not going to become an obsolete dinosaur in 4 or 5 years. I’m sick of throwing laptops, phones, and tablets in the recycle because there’s no way to upgrade them for new operating systems and software. And I have a feeling that all of you who already have Framework laptops feel the same about this issue, or you wouldn’t have shelled out 2 grand for these machines.
Kelton - Thanks for your reply. I actually didn’t know about CL (CAS Latency), so your recommendation sent me over to WikiPedia to read up on CL timing. Learn something new every day, and you’ll never get old, ha ha! I was aware that DRAM has to match the requirements of a specific set of CPU’s and system architectures (mobo chipsets) - so I knew that DDR4 sticks can’t be used in DDR5 motherboards (the card edge connector wouldn’t physically fit in the socket anyway), and that if the CPU wants 5600 mHz RAM, using slower RAM will hurt performance or not work at all, but I didn’t know what the CAS Latency thing was. So now I have more knowledge, which will help me not make a mistake when ordering parts for my next PC build. Thanks! I’ve been building my own PC’s since the days when the 80286 CPU with an 80287 math co-processor was the hot set-up - the late 1980’s that was - but obviously I don’t know everything about computer hardware and still have more to learn.