Desktop ATX motherboards with SO-DIMM memory slots? It's not as silly as it sounds

Asus desktop ATX motherboard with SO-DIMM memory slots
(Image credit: @wxnod)

Sometimes, engineers have some free time on their hands. There are many examples of 'skunkworks' projects, including an Asus RTX 4060 Ti with an onboard SSD slot, motherboards with rear-side connectors, and going back a little further, an ASRock X299 HEDT ITX motherboard, to name just a few memorable examples.

The latter board included SO-DIMM (small outline dual in-line memory module) slots as a way to save space due to the large size of the LGA 2066 socket. It's not the only example of a desktop motherboard with SO-DIMM slots. Asus cooked one up in its labs, and it was spotted by wxnod at X/Twitter, who posted a picture of an Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero with SO-DIMM memory slots.

In another picture posted by wxnod, the Z590 system features a Kingston Fury BIOS landing image, indicating the board is a test vehicle for testing Kingston SO-DIMM memory. It's certainly easier to test memory on a desktop motherboard with a comprehensive BIOS full of adjustable options than it is on a laptop with a threadbare BIOS.

But while ATX motherboards with SO-DIMM memory slots are unlikely to see a widespread retail release, I believe there is a use case for them, or at least some kind of compact memory standard. It's all about saving PCB space.

Moar RAM

An image of the best DDR5 RAM for gaming 2022 on a blue background with a PC Gamer recommended badge.

(Image credit: Future)

Best DDR5 RAM: the latest and greatest
Best DDR4 RAM: affordable and fast

Unless you start doing some double stacking of M.2 drives, the realistic limit for an ATX board is five slots, and less for mATX and Mini-ITX boards. By using SO-DIMM memory instead of full-size DIMM slots, you create a bit of PCB space that could be utilized for an additional M.2 slot, or some other controller.

Of course, that's easier said than done. SO-DIMM memory has never been an enthusiast oriented solution. Its primary use case is in laptops and NUC-type systems, and currently available SO-DIMMs cannot match the 8000MHz+ speeds of the best DDR5 memory, because such speeds are unsupported (and unnecessary) in laptop form factors.

SO-DIMM memory will likely never become a standard part of our desktop PCs, but if nothing else, it gives some food for thought. The rise of hot and demanding NVMe SSDs means some kind of change needs to happen. 

A revision or replacement of the ATX standard would be a good place to start.

TOPICS
Chris Szewczyk
Hardware Writer

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.

Read more
A promotional image showing multiple Corsair Vengeance CUDIMM memory sticks on a desk
Corsair rolls out its first CUDIMM memory sticks for Intel Arrow Lake gaming PCs and they're as pricey as you'd expect them to be
MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WIFI PZ
MSI intros cheaper 'back connect' Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to afford
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 2025 with the underside panel removed.
The SSDs and RAM on this new Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 can be upgraded entirely without tools
Intel modular laptop
Intel's modular designs could make your next laptop last longer, but probably won't deliver the holy grail of cheap GPU upgrades
A screenshot from a promotional video for ASRock B860 motherboards
AMD and Intel launch mainstream and budget motherboard chipsets at CES but some of the codenames are so similar that I've already mistaken them for each other
A Gigabyte and MSI pair of motherboards against a coloured background, with a PC Gamer Recommended logo
Best gaming motherboards: these are the mobos I'd build a system around today
Latest in Memory
A photo of Corsair's Vengeance DDR5-8400 CUDIMM memory kit
Corsair Vengeance DDR5-8400 CUDIMM review
Corsair's personalized memroy on a gradient
Corsair's new 'personalised RAM' gives you the option to pick the look and speed of memory you hide in the case anyway
A promotional image showing multiple Corsair Vengeance CUDIMM memory sticks on a desk
Corsair rolls out its first CUDIMM memory sticks for Intel Arrow Lake gaming PCs and they're as pricey as you'd expect them to be
Corsair Vengeance RAM sticks
We've more or less hit RAM price equilibrium: this 32 GB 6000 MT/s DDR5 kit is closing in on the price of a comparable DDR4 kit
G.SKILL DDR5
G.SKILL and Kingston break the 12,000MT/s DDR5 memory barrier with Intel's new Arrow Lake CPU
A pair of Team Group DDR5-RAM kits against a teal background with a white border
Need some speedy DDR5 for a new build or gaming PC upgrade? This Team Group 32 GB kit is just $86
Latest in News
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021