The long awaited 64GB DDR5 SODIMM memory modules from Crucial was just released this week! 😁
I was so excited about the news, I quickly splurged on a pair of these brand new modules, which are currently priced at $364 USD on Amazon! 😅💰
As of publishing this blog post, there is currently no "official" support for these new 64GB DDR5 SODIMM modules in any small form factor (SFF) or mini PC systems.
However, if we look back at history when 32GB DDR4 SODIMM modules were first introduced, I had successfully demonstrated their functionality (may have been the first) even though they were not "officially" supported with the existing platforms at the time which also included the Intel NUC 6, which was actually released several years back! This was also the case when the 48GB DDR5 SODIMM modules was released a couple of years ago and I also was able to demonstrate that the new memory capacity was usable with the existing compatible DDR5 SODIMM systems at the time.
The ASUS NUC 14 Pro is the latest DDR5 SODIMM compatible system that I currently have at my disposal, so I plugged in the new memory modules and powered on the system 🤞
The system actually took longer to boot than normal, I had gasped as the screen was blank for what felt like a couple of minutes and then I was able to enter into the system BIOS. As you can see from the screenshot below, the full 128GB of memory was fully detected 🥳 but interestingly, the DIMM slots was detected as not populated 🤔
Nonetheless, the first challenge has been cleared but the real test, which is most important for majority of my readers is whether VMware ESXi can see the fully memory capacity!
No surprises, it can indeed as you can see below with the ASUS NUC 14 Pro with 128GB memory (non-NVMe Tiering) 🥰
With the ability to go up to 128GB of memory within a small form factor system, I think we are going to see even more use cases open up within our industry and allow users to do even more with these tiny yet powerful systems that will only continue to grow in popularity and demand. For VMware-based users, this means the ability to easily deploy our VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) solution without needing a ton of hardware, which is always great for learning or testing purposes.
While the new 64GB SODIMM modules are not cheap by any means, you can see from the table below that the prices for prior generations of the memory technologies have dropped significantly from where they initially started from to where they are now. As adoption continues to ramp up this year with new kits on the horizon, several of which I am personally excited for and would greatly benefit from the new 64GB SODIMM memory modules, we will continue to see prices go down!
Capacity | Purchase Year | Purchase Price | Current Year | Current Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
Crucial 64GB (2x32GB) | 2019 | $298 | 2025 | $186 |
Crucial 96GB (2x48GB) | 2023 | $300 | 2025 | $202 |
Crucial 128GB (2x64GB) | 2025 | $364 | NA | NA |
Disclaimer: The product links above do contain my Amazon affiliate link, in case you would like to support me and help recoup some of the costs. All experiments, past and present, have been completely funded out of my own pocket, any support is welcome!
In the coming weeks, I will also be experimenting with other DDR5 capable systems and update this blog post with systems that will fully recognize the new 64GB DDR5 SODIMM modules, so feel free to check back or even share your own findings and successes.
Verified
Date Validated | Platform | CPU | Memory Recognized |
---|---|---|---|
02/19/25 | ASUS NUC 14 Pro | Intel Ultra 7 155H | ✅ |
02/20/25 | ASUS PN64-E1 | Intel i5-13600H | ✅ |
02/20/25 | ASUS NUC 14 Performance | Intel Ultra 9 185H | ✅ |
Amazing. Thanks for being our guinea pig.
Awesome. I am hoping that we start to see some mini pcs like the Asus with built-in IPMI/Aspeed for remote management. I built 2 x AsrockRack AMD matx systems becuase I require this functionality.
Any idea if these will work on the Beelink GTi 14's with the 185H CPUs? I have 96 gig in my twin hosts but obviously 128 is better. This is exciting stuff! 😃
Take a look at the blog post, its been updated with some additional kits I've been able to verify 🙂
Thanks William, is the full shopping list of the NUC and all its components available somewhere on Amazon ro purchase all configured in one spot by any chance ?
Michael - There's not, only because there's so many different options/requirements for the NUCs themselves (see ASUS/Intel NUC section for reviews https://williamlam.com/home-lab) and then for storage and as long as you use Samsung, Intel or WD for NVMe drives, they'll be fully recognized and for memory, you can use the links above
I'm interested in whether the Minisforum MS-01 will work with 128GB.
I'm also very interested in that.
Do you think that is compatible miniforum MS01
Not sure … still waiting for someone to confirm or deny 😄
Minisforum AI X1 Pro 128 GB possibile ?