Hot air is the only safe way to remove soldered RAM.

For chips like soldered RAM (usually BGA, but also QFN), a regular soldering iron is the wrong tool. You need a hot air rework station, good flux, and a steady hand.

The heat needs to hit the entire chip evenly to melt all the solder balls or pads at once. A soldering iron tip can only touch a few pins, and you’ll just rip pads or damage the board. Hot air (or an infrared preheater for big boards) is the way.

Here’s the short list: hot air station with a nozzle that roughly matches the chip size, flux (the gooey kind, not the pen), tweezers (thin, ceramic or metal with good grip), and Kapton tape to shield nearby components. A preheater helps if the board has a large ground plane that sucks heat away.

Don’t cheap out on the hot air station. A $30 gun will overshoot and cook the chip. Get one with adjustable airflow and temperature. And yes, practice on scrap boards first. This is not a beginner project.