I dont know enough about the hardware details of DDR5 admittedly. But it doesn’t seem improbable to architect x86_64 cpus to include a set amount.
Yeah, you lose the ability to upgrade it, but you gain guaranteed compatibility, one less component to damage and troubleshoot. People don’t seem to complain about the integrated RAM in ARM processors .
CPU makers can’t really make system memory affordably, unfortunately. That’s why it’s separate in the first place :(
Intel has actually done this in the past, with a little eDRAM cache for their integrated graphics on some older 5000 series CPUs, like the 5775C. It topped out at 128MB.
AMD already does something similar with their X3D CPUs, albeit with SRAM… it tops out at 64MB.
They will sell you a bigger version, with IIRC 768MB of L3 memory, for many thousands of dollars.
Another issue is that CPU designs take many, many years to go from initial idea to manufacturing, along with truckloads of cash. So they couldn’t even respond to this shortage in 2026 if they wanted to.
Another is that AMD outsources their manufacturing anyway, though not Intel.
In the case of Strix Halo, it was a signal integrity issue that prompted AMD to forego user replaceable RAM like LPCAMM. Soldered memory offers a more reliable channel to feed the iGPU at expected performance levels.
Strix Halo (AI Max CPUs) are basically that.
But they’re still DDR5 hanging off a bus, manufactured in the same place as sticks, so that wouldn’t really affect the price.
I dont know enough about the hardware details of DDR5 admittedly. But it doesn’t seem improbable to architect x86_64 cpus to include a set amount.
Yeah, you lose the ability to upgrade it, but you gain guaranteed compatibility, one less component to damage and troubleshoot. People don’t seem to complain about the integrated RAM in ARM processors .
CPU makers can’t really make system memory affordably, unfortunately. That’s why it’s separate in the first place :(
Intel has actually done this in the past, with a little eDRAM cache for their integrated graphics on some older 5000 series CPUs, like the 5775C. It topped out at 128MB.
AMD already does something similar with their X3D CPUs, albeit with SRAM… it tops out at 64MB.
They will sell you a bigger version, with IIRC 768MB of L3 memory, for many thousands of dollars.
Another issue is that CPU designs take many, many years to go from initial idea to manufacturing, along with truckloads of cash. So they couldn’t even respond to this shortage in 2026 if they wanted to.
Another is that AMD outsources their manufacturing anyway, though not Intel.
In the case of Strix Halo, it was a signal integrity issue that prompted AMD to forego user replaceable RAM like LPCAMM. Soldered memory offers a more reliable channel to feed the iGPU at expected performance levels.