What Is SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module)?

If you like tech, there’s a decent chance that you’ve seen inside a computer at some point. You may identify some or all of the parts by sight. The inside of a laptop may well be another thing entirely. Unlike desktop computers, you don’t really get laptops with sizeable tempered glass or polycarbonate panels to let you see inside.

Most people don’t open up their laptops, though you should probably clean the fans occasionally. With how thin RAM is, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you could just fit a standard RAM DIMM in a laptop without needing any changes. That’s not the case, though. Internal volume is at a high premium in laptops. So they use a smaller form factor, SODIMM.

Physical Appearance

SODIMM stands for Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module. As you might expect from the name, SODIMMs are smaller than DIMMs. According to the JEDEC standards, SODIMMs must be 30mm high and 3. 8mm thick. SDR, DDR, DDR2, and DDR3 SODIMMs were 67.6mm wide. While DDR4 and DDR5 SODIMMs were 2mm wider at 69.6mm. The other measurements are similar compared to PC DIMMS, which are almost twice as wide at 133mm.

Like the DIMM form factor, no generation of SODIMM form factored RAM is compatible. This is because the form factor is essentially the only difference between DIMM and SODIMM. There aren’t any performance impacts beyond increased thermal constraints and physical capacity limits inherent to the smaller form factor.

To keep each generation of SODIMM distinct and prevent hardware damage caused by the different voltage requirements between generations, each generation of SODIMM RAM uses a different cut-out “key.” The key position between DDR and DDR2 SODIMM memory was very similar. Making them hard to tell apart outside direct side-by-side comparisons. Other generations of SODIMM RAM have more distinct key locations.

Like desktop DIMMs, SODIMMs have also increased the number of pins over time. SDR SODIMMs had 144 pins, while DDR and DDR2 used 200 pins. DDR3 upped the pin count to 204, while DDR4 increased that to 260 and DDR5 to 262. This further ensures electrical incompatibility between generations of SODIMM memory.

Where Are SODIMMs Used?

The small volume of the SODIMM form factor makes them ideal for use in computers with unusually constrained space. As you might have gathered from the intro, SODIMMs are primarily used in laptops. Not all laptops use SODIMM memory, though. As much as it is convenient for users that want the option to upgrade RAM in the future. It’s slightly more complex and expensive to implement than simply soldering the RAM chips directly onto the motherboard. Similar to what you would see on a mobile phone.

Some small form factor motherboards may use SODIMM slots rather than full DIMMs. The Nano-ITX motherboard standard also includes a SODIMM slot rather than a full-sized DIMM slot. Some upgradeable office printers, routers, and NASs may also use SODIMM slots. However, this would be compared to soldering the memory chips to the motherboard rather than using full-sized DIMMs.

Capacity Issues

The main issue, at least historically, with SODIMM has been the reduction in the physical capacity compared to full-sized DIMMs. Single DIMM and SODIMM memory capacities have obviously increased over time as memory density has increased. The sheer lack of space has typically meant that available capacities in SODIMM form factors have been around half that of full-sized DIMMs.

This generally isn’t too much of an issue, as laptops aren’t typically used for hefty workloads that would require large amounts of RAM. Mobile workstations may be an exception to that. However, they can get around this by offering four rather than the standard two SODIMM slots.

Capacity shouldn’t be an issue with modern hardware. It’s possible to get 32GB SODIMMs with DDR4 or DDR5 memory, which are not even costly. That allows for up to 64GB of RAM in a laptop with the standard two SODIMM slots, which should be more than enough for almost any task.

Thermal Issues

One of the most significant issues with small form factor computers, especially laptops, is thermal constraints. It can be difficult to dissipate heat from such a small area, especially with the limited airflow. To make it even worse for SODIMM memory. Laptops typically only allocate the required space, meaning there’s no room for a large heat sink like you find on full-size DIMMs.

This all makes it harder to cool the RAM. This hasn’t been a massive issue in the p. Still, thermal management will get more complex as RAM speeds increase and the power management moves onto the SODIMM with DDR5. This will likely mean SODIMMs working on the lower end of the JEDEC standardized speeds. However, most use cases will see only a minimal difference with RAM speed changes.

The main tools to manage SODIMM thermals are airflow and surface area. Airflow is down to laptop designers, but the RAM manufacturers do their best by applying thermally conductive stickers. These provide as much surface area as possible without meaningfully impacting the size to provide the best conditions for cooling.

Conclusion

SODIMM is a miniature form factor version of DIMM, used for RAM in small form factor computing devices to offer RAM upgradability. SODIMMs and DIMMs of the same DDR generation are essentially directly comparable, with only minor performance differences. The reduced size does have some impacts, notably on cooling and capacity. SODIMMs are only compatible with the same generation of memory, i.e., a DDR3 SODIMM must go in a DDR3 SODIMM slot and can’t go in a DDR4 SODIMM slot. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below.

SODIMM | RAM | Micron Technology

With densities of up to 16GB and data rates as high as 2400 MT/s, our small-outline DIMMs (SODIMMs) are an excellent choice for space-limited computing designs including standard notebooks, ultrathin laptops, and tablets.

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Valve promises a range of game consoles

At CES 2013, Valve Software finally opened up about gaming systems compatible with their proprietary game distribution service. To call what we heard talking about another game console is difficult. We are talking about a whole range of gaming systems, the release of which will be dealt with by the company’s partners and, of course, Valve will not deny itself the pleasure of releasing a branded device under its own name, the code name of which now sounds like “Steam Box”.

Valve’s gaming systems are developed by Xi3 Corp. with a serious equity participation of the first. In Las Vegas, Xi3 brought a compact gaming system called “Piston”. It is alleged that some of Valve Software’s future gaming platforms may have a similar design and layout. But since the release of “prefixes” will be handled by several manufacturers, we can expect to see other forms and fillings. Branded prefix Valve in the current year, as it became known later, will not. Until the devices of the company’s partners appear.

Director of Valve has also confirmed the development of proprietary game controller. It will be a manipulator with low latency and high accuracy of command execution. The new controller or the principle of its execution will be used when promoting the mobile version of the Steam Box. The company is aware that it will have to compete with a mass of portable devices and, above all, with smartphones. Therefore, the ease of control in games and the affordable price of a mobile device can be a factor that will encourage users to buy a Valve handheld game console.

Initially, it is planned that Steam Box will use one of the Linux versions as the operating system. However, the company will not put obstacles in the way of those who want to install the Microsoft operating system on the console. In general, there is nothing surprising here. The demonstrated Xi3 Piston system is based on a modern AMD processor with an integrated graphics core (in fact, it is still the same PC platform, only squeezed into a small form factor). Now it’s APU Trinity, and closer to the announcement, we can see a Valve console with APU Richland or even Kaveri on board, with four Steamroller cores and AMD Radeon HD 7000 class graphics. Current Xi3 products are 1,000 evergreens, so a $500 set-top box might not be such an expensive option.

However, Valve expects to see three conditional classes of systems on sale: Good, Better and Best. Good-level systems will be somewhat similar to the just-announced NVIDIA Shield handhelds. First of all, this is work with streaming video and cloud gaming services, where the main video and processor load will fall on the remote hardware. By the way, in this regard, one should not underestimate both the initiative of Valve and NVIDIA. Clouds today are the only source of profit for the server market, so this direction will definitely find development in portable consoles.

Better-class consoles are similar to what Xi3 showed at CES. Some compact device with more or less defined hardware capabilities. Not sky-high, but sufficient for a comfortable game. On the other hand, the Best class of devices will enable manufacturers to produce everything that their imagination is enough for, whether it is the choice of processor, graphics subsystem, case, and everything else. What class of devices Valve will try on is not specified.

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Let’s add that the disclosure of such features of future NVIDIA GPUs as video card virtualization was a revelation. Processors after Kepler (obviously – Maxwell) will be able to process up to eight game “requests” at the same time. In fact, this means that eight games can run simultaneously on one video card, each displaying on its own monitor. The computer thus becomes a game server for eight people (and eight Valve handhelds). Similar things are already implemented by NVIDIA in adapters for cloud services. For example, based on GK110. We can also add here that Valve can work with platforms such as NVIDIA GRID.

2 GB of RAM for Android, is it necessary?

LG recently introduced the Optimus LTE2 for Korea, the first Android smartphone with 2GB of RAM. In addition, it became known that a special version of the Samsung Galaxy S III for Japan will also have 2 gigabytes of RAM on board. This trend…

Recently, LG introduced the Optimus LTE2 for Korea, the first Android smartphone with 2GB of RAM. In addition, it became known that a special version of the Samsung Galaxy S III for Japan will also have 2 gigabytes of RAM on board. This trend provides food for thought and a hint that all the top smartphones of 2012 are likely to increase the amount of RAM compared to past models.

The Wall Street Journal claims that Optimus LTE2 will also appear in America, having similarly received 2 gigabytes of RAM. Do smartphones really need that much RAM now? Without trying it is difficult to unequivocally answer this question, but you can try to turn to the history of the PC, tracing how the evolution of iron took place there.

The amount of RAM in a PC usually does not lead to an increase in its speed and speed, but it definitely adds convenience. After all, we can already perform more tasks at the same time and keep more running applications in memory. So it’s likely that with more RAM in Android smartphones, we’ll finally experience true multitasking. In addition, it is logical to be able to open more tabs in the browser. And maybe even heavy web pages with flash will stop being stupid and freeze. Although, most of all I would like that now the launchers from Google and third-party developers would always have enough memory to forget about the moments when, when you return to the desktop, it loads again.

The Linux kernel that Google uses for Android can handle more than 2 gigabytes of memory. But despite the analogies with the PC and assumptions, it is still impossible to say for sure what will fundamentally change when devices with a large amount of RAM appear on board.

Google IO will take place very soon, where we will presumably see new hardware and the latest version of Android 5 – Jelly Bean. Perhaps it is with the advent of version 5 that the system will become even more convenient, and in terms of functionality and capabilities it will come even closer to desktop PCs.