SanMax Debuts 32GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMMs For Intel Alder Lake Laptops

by Brandon Hill — Friday, October 01, 2021, 10:40 AM EDT

Intel’s 12^th generation Alder Lake processors are right around the corner, with an official announcement coming as soon as October 27^th. However, in the lead-up to the launch, most of the leaks and news have surrounded the Alder Lake-S desktop family rather than the related laptop-centric processors. Thankfully, today we have some information to deliver on the laptop front courtesy of SanMax.

Hermitage Akihabara posted images of sample SanMax DDR5 memory modules on display at PC Shop Arc. The 252-pin SO-DIMMs are rated for DDR5-4800 speeds (CL40) and operate at 1.1 volts. SanMax is using Micron memory for these modules, with these samples coming in at a 32GB capacity.

The 32GB capacity for these SO-DIMMs is par for the course with DDR5 modules announced over the past few months. We’ve seen an across-the-board doubling in capacity compared to their DDR4 counterparts. Current DDR4 SO-DIMMs are more commonly found in 16GB and lower capacities (although you can find 32GB single-stick memory). The move to DDR5 should make 32GB capacities more widespread, which is good news for laptop power users that require a lot of memory.

SanMax also showed up standard 8GB DDR5-4800 288-pin DIMMs used in desktop PCs, which are single-sided using Micron memory.

sanmax ddr5 dimm — SanMax's DDR5-4800 8GB desktop DIMMs

Intel’s 12^th Alder Lake processor platform supports DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0. However, motherboard manufacturers will also have the option of pairing Alder Lake processors with current-generation DDR4 memory to hit lower price points. With its Alder Lake onslaught, Intel will beat AMD to the punch with DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. While AMD is expected to adopt DDR5 memory with its Zen 4 processor family in 2022, PCIe 5.0 support isn’t expected at launch.

According to earlier reports, Alder Lake systems could begin shipping as soon as November 4^th, so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Tags: Intel, (NASDAQ:INTC), ddr5, alder lake, sanmax

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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