48 GB DDR5-5600 laptop RAM SO-DIMMs start selling in China for ~US$165 per module

Besides offering superior performance with read/write speeds of over 100 GB/s, the DDR5 standard also promises to increase the capacity by up to 50% per module. Up until now we have only seen 16 GB and 32 GB DDR5 modules for laptops, but OEMs such as Lenovo have already listed upcoming workstation models with up to 96 GB of RAM, so 2x 48 GB configurations are certainly coming soon. Judging by a recent ITHome article announcing availability for 48 GB modules in China, we could be seeing laptops with larger RAM capacity options later this summer.

The ITHome article includes a picture of a dual rank X8 48 GB SO-DIMM with DDR5-5600 speeds featuring 20x 24 Gb chips produced by SK Hynix. One such module is apparently selling on the open market for ~US$165. As a more affordable option, 24 GB DDR5-5600 SO-DIMMS have been available since late Q1 in China and these are now priced at ~US$85 per module. Major laptop OEMs are expected to announce availability for such options very soon, but prices might be inflated due to limited initial supply.

Most dual-slot laptop models with Intel Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7040HX processors could benefit from the hefty capacity increase, but OEMs probably need to update the mainboard BIOS first. This is also true for desktop motherboard makers, and some companies like MSI have announced that select models already support up to 96 GB for dual-slot and up to 192 GB for quad-slot configurations.

Buy the MSI PRO Z790-A motherboard with support for up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM on Amazon