This is a laptop with 256GB of RAM, yes RAM, not SSD.

You can buy this EVOC laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, 256GB of RAM and an Nvidia Geforce RTX 5080 GPU with 16GB GDDR7 memory for only $4,239.

Whether you want to use it as a gaming laptop or a mobile workstation is up to you but the amount of memory it contains – the largest of any laptop – is its main selling point.

And you can use RAM disk software (Softperfect RAM Disk, Arsenal Image Mounter OSFMount, ImDisk, Gilisoft RAMDisk, Primo Ramdisk or StarWind RAM Disk) to create a virtual drive that runs on a portion of your dedicated RAM.

This RAM-based drive will be much faster than most standalone SSDs on the market and offer extra security features as they usually disappear when you switch off your device.

This useful characteristic is why RAM disks are used for VPN servers by the likes of ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and PIA. I don’t know if you can run two (or more) RAM Disks in RAID-0 for even faster performance.

Regardless of the appeal, having 256GB of RAM is something that will be important for DevOps (running large amounts of virtual machines), scientists (running large computational tasks), creative professionals (for 8K video editing), and STEM students, beyond just sheer computing power.

And of course, then there’s generative AI, which requires a large amount of local memory with as low latency as possible for LLM training.

Don’t forget that this laptop has an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU as well plus the ability to offer 32TB of SSD storage (up to four 8TB Gen 4 SSDs) – and the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor which powers this EVOC laptop remains one of the fastest CPUs on the market.

All laptops with 256GB of RAM currently on the market use the same unit from a common vendor, the X580WNS-G from Clevo. A handful of vendors put that amount of memory in this chassis.

As such, it lacks the finesse one will find on chassis by more mainstream laptop vendors like Dell, Lenovo or HP. However, it more than makes that up through the incredible level of customization and expansion.

It has nine ports (yes, nine), including two Thunderbolt 5 and two 2.5GbE LAN ones. In addition, it has five speakers, one of which is a subwoofer, and a 5-megapixel webcam.

I also applaud the inclusion of Windows 11 Pro, an Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 wireless card and an International pre-paid shipping service that will draw a smile on prospective overseas customers that are wary about aftersales warranty.

Just don’t expect it to be a particularly portable laptop. It is clearly a desktop replacement unit with a 18.1-inch 2560 x 1600 pixel 240Hz monitor and a total weight of 7.25 pounds (about 3.3Kg). Its 99WHr battery won’t last long under load either.

Two vendors offer 256GB RAM laptops: Eurocom and Schenker. Dell is expected to start selling a Pro Max 18 Plus mobile workstation that will offer 256GB using CAMM2 technology.