SK Hynix: CAMM memory is about to enter the desktop computer market

According to news from this site on January 15, SK Hynix revealed that the new CAMM memory standard is planning to enter the desktop field.

#CAMM is a new memory standard that is smaller and more compact than traditional DRAM modules and supports larger capacities. The standard has evolved into its second generation, LPCAMM2 for notebooks and thin-and-light PCs. LP stands for Low Power, and existing modules are based on the LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X standards, offering transmission speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps.

At CES 2024, blogger ITSublssub visited the SK Hynix booth. Representatives of the company confirmed that the CAMM standard will enter the desktop platform. The first desktop platform CAMM product is also under development, but for the time being No specific details were disclosed.

The whistleblower HXL (@9550pro) also discovered that JEDEC’s recent press release on the CAMM2 memory standard mentioned that CAMM2 will adopt a unified connector design and be compatible with DDR5 and low-power LPDDR5/X memory module. CAMM standard target platforms listed by JEDEC include notebooks and mainstream desktops.

DDR5 and LPDDR5/5X CAMM2 are suitable for different application scenarios. DDR5 CAMM2 is targeted at performance laptops and mainstream desktops, while LPDDR5/5X CAMM2 is targeted at the broader laptop and select server markets.

It should be noted that although JESD318 CAMM2 specifies a common connector design for DDR5 and LPDDR5/X, the pinout of the two is not the same. In order to be compatible with different motherboard designs, DDR5 and LPDDR5/X CAMM2 will use different installation methods to prevent misinstallation.

The introduction of CAMM memory will bring major changes to motherboard design. Currently, mainstream motherboards use 2 or 4 DIMM slots, with capacities up to 256GB available using the latest 64GB modules. To support CAMM, the entire PC motherboard ecosystem needs to be redesigned, which is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

Just like the notebook market, there are currently a few designs using LPCAMM, but most products still stick to traditional SO-DIMM or onboard memory layouts. As CAMM technology matures, motherboard manufacturers may test the waters and launch a small number of CAMM motherboards to observe consumer reactions. At the same time, memory manufacturers also need to design new solutions based on CAMM modules.

Each CAMM module has a connector on the back that plugs into the socket like a CPU. High-speed memory overclocking, tuning and support for Intel XMP and AMD EXPO ecosystem overclocking profiles also need to be redesigned. . All in all, it will take some time for CAMM to land on the desktop market, but once it does, it will mark a major innovation in the memory industry.

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