Recommendation for RAM and M.2 SSD for Librem 15 v4

Hi Everyone,

I will receive my new Librem 15 v4 next week and I was wondering if you have any recommendation for upgrade the RAM and M.2 SSD.

Priority form me:

  1. Privacy issues
  2. Cost
  3. Speed

What I am looking right now is:

  • Kingstom 16GB DDR4 2400MHz SODIMM
  • WD SSD Black 1TB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen3

What are your thoughts and/or recommendations?

Thank you in advance!

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the thing with librem v4 is that they only have one slot of RAM and the memory runs in single channel mode. for some that is enough reason to wait for the v5 that promises to fix this.

RAM speed is ussually determined by a simple formula : divide the mhz speed by the latency (ex 13-15-17-19 )

for example : 2400/13 is aproximately 184,6

2666 (mhz) with latency 15-17-19-21 (randomly chosen) - you take the first 15 then divide the mhz with it

for example 2666/15 is aproximately 177,7

the one with the lowest number value is usually the faster RAM module.

also

then visit each RAM manufacturer site to find exactly what mhz and cas latency each individual ram module or kits allow out of the box (you can overclock in the UEFI BIOSES but it’s not recommended if you don’t know what each value influences). then you have to find out what each motherboard and CPU combination maximum (mhz value for RAM is allowed) and you can make and informed decision.

for m2 nvme you have to also take into consideration how much TB of data you know you want your drive to be guaranteed to last for write operations by the manufacturer.

samsung has the pro version for the 960 and 970 that have exeptional endurance and speed but they are more expensive. the evo is less enduring for write operations but is almost as fast and cheaper. the same goes for all manufacturers. you get what you pay for (or so they say :wink: )

1 Like

wow, great answer, thanks! I really appreciated your time and effort elaborating a so well explained and documented answer on my question.

Just a quick question about this subject. As Purism is all about privacy and openness, is there any privacy concerns about choosing ram and SSD (M.2 or not)? Any brand and/or type I need to avoid?

RAM means volatile memory so it’s ussually considered to be 99% safe and private …

SSD is a non-volatile memory so data persists. as such any brand/type samsung or not could potentially be a problem because the firmware is mistery code even if the rest is acceptable with purism.

computers generally suck and the WWW is a global centralized network ( server > client > server with or without VPN/TOR )

it is up to you to learn as much as possible how everything works and make informed decisions but nothing is really safe/private unless your mind is the type that fills every nook and crany everywhere with unlimited input/output or if your device is perfectly isolated …

@reC, thank you once more. Understood!

Regarding software, from more than 10 years I just have debian with only main repos, I use no third party apps and all my browser config is made on “user.js” with all disable by default. Also don’t follow every “honey pot” I found. With that said, my only concern right now is the hardware and that’s the reason I support purism and many other iniciatives like neo900, pyra, …

Thank you again!

if you are looking for pure speed and know very well how to backup and are not concerned about RAM volatility then your best bet regarding speed would be a minimal instalation of a GNU/Linux FLOSS distribution (based on Gentoo or Arch and https://suckless.org/) under a RAM disk. also take a look at https://www.qubes-os.org/

maybe someone else can jump in and say a few words about ram disks in general as i haven’t had much experience with them. it’s rather a purely SF scenario for me regarding that …