The RAM you see might be for the GPU. The system RAM could be soldered on the other side of the motherboard.
Grayden said:
The RAM you see might be for the GPU. The system RAM could be soldered on the other side of the motherboard.
Or on the other side of the motherboard
If that’s the case, upgrading might be trickier than I thought.
@Oak
Unless you’re skilled at soldering chips and modifying the BIOS, it’s almost impossible.
Leif said:
@Oak
Unless you’re skilled at soldering chips and modifying the BIOS, it’s almost impossible.
I think they’re just talking about unscrewing the board and adding RAM if there are slots on the other side. No need for BIOS modification.
Leif said:
@Oak
Unless you’re skilled at soldering chips and modifying the BIOS, it’s almost impossible.
I don’t think BIOS mods are necessary; it should be similar to other modular setups, just with the added soldering step.
It looks like one of the dies on the CPU is the chipset (PCH). Some laptop models include the chipset directly on the CPU package. If you don’t see a separate chipset on the board, then it’s likely integrated as shown here.
On my laptop, the chipset has its own dedicated chip, visible once I remove the cover.
There’s 4GB of SK Hynix RAM in this setup, which likely serves as VRAM for the GPU. If so, the system RAM might be on the back of the motherboard if this is a dual-sided design. Otherwise, the RAM could be shared between the CPU and GPU, though it would usually be closer to the CPU in that case.
@Quinlan
Why is the SSD only insulated halfway?
The insulation (mylar) on the SSD protects against accidental contact with the touchpad when pressure is applied. Beyond that area, insulation isn’t needed as there’s no metal or exposed circuit boards.
That’s the CPU along with integrated graphics. Around that time, Intel began introducing their new Iris Plus graphics with better performance, though not every model included it. The updated layout likely helped with cooling both CPU and graphics.
Edit: I’ve just realized from another comment that it’s actually a PCH chipset rather than integrated graphics.
@Kellan
No shared memory with dedicated GPUs—the dies in the CPU package are the CPU and PCH chipset.
Emil said:
@Kellan
No shared memory with dedicated GPUs—the dies in the CPU package are the CPU and PCH chipset.
Thanks for clearing that up! I thought it was a separate iGPU. I’ll update my comment.
@Kellan
Yep, that’s the CPU+PCH on the right, and RAM on the left near the SK Hynix branding.
One of the dies on this CPU board is the PCH.
On the right side, you have the CPU+PCH, and on the left, the GPU with two memory chips. The system RAM might be on the other side of the board, either soldered or in SODIMM slots.
Some CPUs have extra components like the chipset next to the main die. Most Ryzen CPUs have three dies, though I forget what each one does.
Aki said:
Some CPUs have extra components like the chipset next to the main die. Most Ryzen CPUs have three dies, though I forget what each one does.
Those would be PCH, CCD, and Infinity Fabric + IO.
The bigger square die is the CPU package built on a 10nm process, while the smaller rectangular one is the PCH on 14nm. The SK Hynix chips you see are likely VRAM for the GPU.
The RAM here could belong to the GPU, while the system RAM might be soldered on the other side of the motherboard.