Hacker News Reader

Comment by blackoil | Hacker News Reader

If the processor comes with builtin GPU, NPU and RAM will you be really building the system

Sure. Building a PC already is barely building anything. You buy a handful of components and click them into each other.

A lot of flexibility still exists

While that is mostly true there is a large variety of motherboards. It took me a while to find something with the right SATA and PCIE slots that I wanted. But after that it is just using a screwdriver and some cable ties.

Yes, as that's already the case with phones. There is more to a phone than the SOC.

Who builds phones?

It's mostly factory workers. But hobbyists could do so too if they wanted. Most people want to just buy something that works out of the box so it's not a popular option.

RAM? Are we expecting on-chip RAM any time soon?

Apple's done it since 2020. Intel was planning to, but walked it back. It dramatically increases performance, and allows vendors to sell you RAM at 8x the market price, and requires you to replace your entire computer to upgrade it, thereby inducing you to overspend on RAM from the outset so that you don't have to spend even more to replace the entire system later.

There's literally no reason for shareholders not to demand this from every computer manufacturer. Pay up, piggie.

Exactly. Better performance and higher profits. Seems inevitable to me.

> allows vendors to sell you RAM at 8x the market price, and requires you to replace your entire computer to upgrade it,

Good luck then. Some of us build our own computers to be upgreadable.

Same, but about ten years after the last modular RAM computers go on the market, you and I are both going to have a Problem.

Incidentally, this is why I bought a hot air rework station and a heater. Won't help me if they blow an efuse on the package to permanently set the RAM spec, or use part pairing For Your Security And Protection, but maybe they won't all be that evil.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com