hello the community.
I’m wondering if the LPCAMM2 - LPDDR5X ram is a good option for long term?
Basically it’s unavailable everywhere in France. Not on amazon, not on LDLC, not on every big tech resellers.
Is it only caused by the current prices of the RAM and the low stocks everywhere or because it’s a new “standard” that no one will adopt and therefore by buying a FW13 pro there is chance to be stuck for ever?
Thanks for you answers
I think it is a mixture of both.
Currently, as many RAM chips as possible are going onto modules for data centers, so availability of modules that are not used there is sparse. And if available, prices are extreme.
LPCAMM2 is a relatively new standard that quite a few manufacturers adopted, so aftermarket availability is expectedly low as most manufactured modules will go to them for building pre-built laptops.
As for availability in Europe… I was originally thinking about bringing my own module, because the Crucial 32GB one was available briefly in Germany when I configured my preorder. But it was more expensive than the 16GB module from framework. As I was not sure how much RAM I’d really need, I preordered 16GB with the intention to edit the preorder or upgrade later depending on module availability.
Since then I’ve made up my mind that I’d need 32GB RAM and saw that LPCAMM2 modules with that capacity are still either not available or prohibitively expensive (e.g. the 32GB one from Lenovo with 7500 MT/s is currently listed at almost 1100 EUR). So I will take the module from framework.
Having said that, it is really hard, if not impossible, to predict how RAM availability and prices in general and LPCAMM2 in particular will evolve in the next 5 years. So, depending on your intended lifespan of the machine, the possibility to upgrade the RAM might not be feasible, because the situation didn’t get better, or even no longer relevant (e.g. if the next generation mainboard does not use LPCAMM2).
So, I’d recommend to order the amount of RAM, you think you’ll need now and worry about the upgrade when it comes to it. Good thing about framework is that they have proven that they’ll try everything to keep compatibility. Worst case, you also upgrade the mainboard in 2-3 years.
LPCAMM2 seems to be the only way forward for removable ram. SODIMM has hit its end of life, it just can’t accommodate the speeds of newer ram. So it’s either LPCAMM2, soldered ram, or slower ram using old SODIMMs, with a speed gap that will only grow worse over time.
LPCAMM2 is already rarer than SODIMM before the RAMpocalypse. If it’s not availabe in your region, configure the laptop with the RAM preinstalled and pretend it’s a soldered RAM and re-evaluate its cost-effectiveness