JEDEC, the trade organization and standardization body that oversees memory standards in the computer industry, has adopted a new memory standard. The new standard, called CAMM2 (JESD318), will be valid for both DDR5 SDRAM and LPDDR5/5X SDRAM used in desktop and laptop computers. However, CAMM2 memories are expected to be used in the upcoming laptop, essentially replacing the old SO-DIMM form factor that has been used for more than twenty years.New memory standard: CAMM2
CAMM, which stands for Compression Attached Memory Module, was developed by Tom Schnell and started to be used by Dell in 2022 on the Precision 7670 workstation laptop. CAMM’s biggest advantage over SO-DIMM was its slim profile, which Dell says is 57 percent thinner. Dell also said it could break the 6,400MHz barrier for DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and “scalable to higher clock speeds.”
However, the fact that CAMM was produced by Dell prevented its adoption. On the other hand, SO-DIMM RAM is available from numerous companies. Now, the standardization of CAMM2 by JEDEC, which determines the technical specifications of memories such as GDDR6, HBM3 and DDR5, eliminates this problem.The CAMM2 specifications include two variants, one for DDR5 and the other for LPDDR5(X). In particular, CAMM2 will make solderless LPDDR5(X) memory possible and will also prevent the use of soldered DDR5 RAM. However, since the two variants have different pin connections, it will not be possible to use one variant on a motherboard made for the other type of RAM.
One module is enough for dual channel
Another advantage of CAMM2 is that it does not require multiple memory modules to enable dual-channel memory. A single CAMM2 module can be made with two memory channels, providing more memory bandwidth to the CPU and integrated GPU for higher performance. In SO-DIMM memories, two modules had to be used for dual channel.On the other hand, since CAMM2 is still a very new technology, it will be much more expensive than SO-DIMM, but it looks like it will eventually become the new standard for laptops and other mobile devices. However, it will support capacities ranging from standard 8 GB to 128 GB. In the past months, Samsung announced the world’s first LPCAMM memory.
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