CAMM2 is coming to desktop, both boards and modules were already on display at Computex
While we focused on the new processor architectures most, Computex 2024 featured all sorts of things. One of these is worth revisiting. We’ve written several times recently about the hypothetical possibility of desktop motherboards switching to CAMM2 memory modules instead of the DIMMs that have been standard for almost thirty years. It seems that this is much closer to reality than it seemed, CAMM2 is indeed coming to desktop.
The usage of CAMM2 outside of laptops isn’t some experimental thing that will only come with the transition to the next generation of memory (DDR6 or LPDDR6) who knows when. Or at least that is something suggested by the fact that quite a few memory manufacturers have displayed these modules at Computex 2024. And it doesn’t seem it’s just modules targeting the laptop market.
First flat RAM modules at Computex
The Taiwanese company Team Group has announced the T-Create Expert AI series of CAMM2 memory, which it says is designed for AI PCs and laptops in particular. They will provide speeds of DDR5-6400 with CL24 and DDR5-7500 with CL28 and capacities of 32 or 64 GB (you only install one module at any time, which therefore delivers the same capacity as two DIMM or SO-DIMM modules).
The company Neo Forza has straight up displayed LPCAMM2 modules which means they are based on LPDDR5X mobile memory technology. Also with capacities of 32 and 64 GB, the supported speed is LPDDR5X-6400. LPCAMM2 modules could also be seen from the Klevv brand (originally founded by Hynix as a retail brand), in this case it is a 32GB module running at speeds as high as LPDDR5X-8533.
GeIL, a company that also manufactures enthusiast desktop modules, has introduced both LPDDR5X (i.e. LPCAMM2 modules) and DDR5-based memory (CAMM2). Unfortunately, we don’t have any information on the speeds for these.
The competing G.Skill is also on board this ship. The company demonstrated CAMM2 modules that achieved DDR5-7800 speeds on an Asus board with a Core i9-14900KF processor, however this was an overclocked configuration, not yet some stock module product configuration where the XMP profile would provide this speed out of the box.
The modules from Kingston might be the closest to actual appearence in desktop PCs. The company displayed CAMM2 modules of the Fury Impact series, which will initially have a capacity of 32, 64 or 128 GB (256 GB should be possible later). Importantly, according to Kingston reps, the first product should come to market before the end of 2024. So far, these modules are said to use relatively low speed, DDR5-5600, but the company should hopefully release some running at higher speeds (using XMP profiles) as well later, since that’s the reason for this whole change.
MSI Z790 Project Zero Plus board with CAMM2 really is coming to market
At Computex there were already boards using CAMM2 memory. Asus has a board named “Lengshuikeng”, but it is probably just a prototype for now. However, that first board, which MSI showed in a tweet before the show, was also shown (it was used in Kingston demos as well). And we have to come back to it. According to documents we received from MSI, this board is not merely a concept hardware or a prototype, as one might expect at first.
The company lists it as an actual standard product. So it should actually be coming to market, perhaps as one of the first CAMM2 motherboards available. It’s not yet known when MSI will release it, but the release date is “to be determined”, which again implies that a launch is expected.
MSI revealed that this MSI Z790 Project Zero Plus model has a 14+1+1 phase power delivery (powered by two eight-pin connectors) and will provide PCIe 5.0×16 GPUs, but no Gen5 connectivity for SSDs in M.2 slots (those will only get PCIe 4.0×4, as Intel processors don’t have dedicated PCIe 5.0 lanes for SSDs) and 20Gb/s USB-C. The board is equipped with a 2.5Gb/s Ethernet adapter from Intel and will have integrated Wi-Fi 7 presumably also made by Intel.
This board is still based on the LGA 1700 platform and is therefore esigned for Core 13th and 14th generation Raptor Lake processors. A new LGA 1851 platform for Arrow Lake processors should be available this fall and it’s quite possible that MSI is developing some boards for Arrow Lake with CAMM2 memory slots instead of DIMM slots as well.
Higher gaming performance for Intel
So enthusiasts will soon have another new toy in their hands. It will be interesting to see how the CAMM2 compression modules improve the memory speeds achieved when overclocking, be it extreme overclocking stunts or practical daily usage for example in gaming PCs. It’s possible that these modules will be able to enable clock speeds via XMP profiles that weren’t hitherto really possible to achieve with DIMMs while maintaining stable operation.
For now, however, it seems that all teh presented boards with CAMM2 memory are made for Intel processors. If you were bothered by the fact that manufacturers are (fer example) less likely to use higher quality sound cards and similar other improvement features on AMD platform boards, you may soon have another reason to complain.
It is also possible that this initiative is simply actively pushed by Intel. One could speculate that the company is looking at ways to improve the maximum clock speeds of DDR5 memory due to it being one way it could compete a bit with the X3D Ryzen processors’ 3D V-Cache in gaming performance. That’s because fast memory is also capable of boosting FPS in games, and while Intel can’t quickly add the equivalent of V-Cache to their existing processors, using CAMM2 modules to achieve faster DDR5 can improve Intel Core processors’ position in games a bit even while keeping the same CPUs and the same LGA 1700 socket.
Sources: MSI, techPowerUp (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), G.Skill, Tom’s Hardware
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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