For the general community and a light poke at the Framework Team:
Has the idea of introducing mainboards with soldered RAM for the Framework Laptops been considered as a way to combat the massive spike of DDR5 RAM prices that is expected to last well into 2026?
There’s a discussion about Would soldered RAM be antithetical to the framework model? from 2021 that goes back and forth between the repairability ethics a bit, and this recent thread called RAM Pricing where users are talking at length about pricing and availability in the future given the AI craze.
Since the Framework Desktop is already using soldered RAM, would it be much of a hassle for users to accept a Framework Laptop with soldered RAM?
But also would Framework face similar problems with supply if they were to go the soldered route, making the jump futile?
Sorry, but how would soldered RAM help to a significant degree? Perhaps I’m missing something?
As I understood it, it’s just a matter of AI’s use of RAM pressing the supplies and driving up price. Supply vs demand. It’s the raw RAM chips, whether made into modules or soldered straight to mainboards, which is ultimately the part that has more much demand than supply available.
That’s kinda where I was going with my last question. But I do wonder if there’s any noticeable difference in price going soldered vs socket for computer manufacturers like Dell, FW, Asus, etc.
Soldering the ram or all the components to the mainboard is a little against the ethos of what upgrade/reparability is about. The memory thing is a warmer topic now but it will pass eventually.
It is just like the great “graphics card shortage” and look how that turned out; surprise surprise all the prices stayed much higher.
It is not just DDR RAM either. Expect EVERYTHING electronic to go up in cost because there is more “profit” to be made. SSDs are next in line. Grab some popcorn and watch the show.
It will pass eventually at a large expense to everyone in the market.
I’m sorry, but this statement is from bizarro world. Reality would be the opposite. Framework would have to raise the price considerably to cover the really expensive memory chips they soldered onto their motherboards. Then if I needed a new motherboard, I would be forced to pay “current” ram prices for the soldered on ram on the mainboard with no future upgrade prospects. Generally bad idea all around.
Best way forward is to keep the ram choice in the customers’ hands. I can buy a new motherboard and either use my existing ram, split some ram from another of my existing machines, or buy the minimum ram I need now and buy more later when prices come down.
I think soldered RAM would make the problem worse, not better. Right now, if I decided to upgrade any of my FW laptops, I could swap the RAM I already have to the new board. I also have an 8GB stick in a drawer from a previous project a couple years ago, so even if I was buying a new laptop, I could get one without RAM and pop that in to get me by with the ability to upgrade later if/when the prices come down (or if my needs simply necessitated an upgrade at some point). If RAM was soldered, I would be forced to pay current prices for RAM in those circumstances, rather than just using what I already have.
It’s the memory chips themselves that are getting more scarce/expensive. So soldering them to the board rather than having them on a separate stick wouldn’t save much.
Insignificant. Dell and other OEMs will charge more for soldered because they can. because soldering down make it difficult to upgrade.
To “justify” this cost, they would often arbitarily bundle it with something else, like a mandatory CPU or SSD upgrade. Not a hardware limit.
The price for a DDR5 carrier PCB (as in DIMM or SODIMM or CAMM), and the price of the connector is mostly fixed and mostly low (say, $20 maximum in raw component cost for two DDR5 SODIMM, in bulk). Complexity is largely unchanged, since the same amount of signals (2 channels) are used whether soldered or on sockets. At least they pretend to care, and it is still the cheapest 128GB option on the market, even before ramageddon.
Such are the reasons Framework Deskop can straight-up absorb the cost of ram inflation while still offering the 128GB option. Though it’s likely going to see a price hike as RAM surges past 500% in price.
Framework take a cut when they sell you RAM modules, because they have to test them (make sure it works), and also bring it to you (warehouse, etc). Also put it in the box for you. The “hidden costs”. Traditionally 50% higher than market price, its vastly insignificant compared to other OEMs like Dell or Lenovo, often charging 100% higher or more.
