I'm curious whether anyone has explored the idea of using external RAM that's connected directly to the motherboard using a custom slot. Since USB connections to RAM are too slow, what if we had a way to put a RAM stick in its own external slot connected by wires or a ribbon cable? This would allow direct access to the motherboard. I realize this would probably require significant modifications, but has this concept ever been attempted?
5 Answers
There are a lot of issues with the idea of using long cables for RAM. The induced noise would make it pretty unreliable. Plus, exposing your computer's internals to unregulated connections could lead to all sorts of problems. If you have the capacity to add RAM, it's simpler and safer to just do that.
Even if it could be built properly, you'd end up with more errors than useful data. In reality, this is why motherboard manufacturers integrate RAM directly onto the board. It's just a more practical solution.
Connecting RAM externally has been attempted in the past, but it generally just doesn't work due to speed limitations. Motherboards and RAM are designed to function together with maximum efficiency, so any external solution turns out to be too slow to really make sense in terms of design or manufacturing.
The distance between the RAM and CPU affects how fast they can communicate. Unless there's a huge breakthrough in data transmission tech, RAM's going to remain integral to the motherboard to keep that connection close and fast.
What you're talking about sounds a lot like expanded memory—a technique that was common decades ago. Nowadays, with features like virtual memory, you can extend memory without needing external RAM. For instance, Windows had ReadyBoost to use USB drives for extra memory, but that gets disabled if you have an SSD since SSDs are much faster.
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