2GB VS 1GB pertaining to battery life

For the purpose of maximizing battery life on a notebook computer, would it be better to use one single stick 2GB as opposed to 2X1 (pair) of 1GB stick? According to CPUZ, 1GB of stick uses 1.8V so if one were to use two it would be 3.6 volts of power. However, if you were to use only one single stick 2GB of Ram it would only use 1.8V, my question is...

For curiosity's sake, is there a significant difference in terms of battery life if one were to use only one stick of 2GB of ram?

 

That's a good question.
I never thought RAM was ever really an issue when it came to battery life, but I'm interested in hearing what others have to say.

 

in theory, I am sure 1x2gb is better, but if i was to bet on the battery life savings I would guess at maybe 1 minute? its pretty low compared to your screen and processor.

 

I remember reading that a stick of RAM was about 1 Watt of power. However that was back in the day of Desktop DDR 1Gig Sticks.

I guess with two sticks you're doubling the consumption of power. But it's nothing compared to the CPU, Screen, Harddrive.

 

Although voltage is related to power consumption (ohm's law), it is not additive in this case. I agree that the power consumption of additional RAM is negligible. If you are using page-file or swap-file memory on your hard drive, then that would use more power than the energy required to keep your RAM refreshed. The way to save power as far as memory is concerned is to have enough RAM to eliminate the need to page or swap frequently used memory on your hard disk and to power-down your hard disk when not needed.

 

The power will used by two ram cards will not double voltage, it will doble the amperage. Each memory card consumes between 3 and watts of power per Gb.

DDR1 takes about 4watts per Gb based on 4 memory chips to the sodimm
DDR2 takes about 2.5-3 watts per Gb, based on 8 memory chips to the sodimm

A single 2Gb memory card is more efficient and power saving than two separate 1Gb cards. This is becuase the memory cards in the 2Gb model are twice as dense as the 1Gb modules.

A single 2gb card will take about 85% of the power that 2 1Gb cards will take.

The power saving is really negligable and not worth the extra costs. You may gain 3-4 minutes at max from thi idea.

You can get more battery life, by undevolting your processor. CPU Rightmark Clock Utility is a great program for this.

K-TRON

 

Those power consumption numbers look a little high for notebook RAM.

Google found some data sheets here which include power consumption.

Typically, 512MB = 0.93W and 1GB = 1.1W. I can't find any numbers for 2GB but my guess would be in the 1.5 to 2W range.

I presume these numbers are for RAM being actively accessed and less power is needed just to keep the contents refreshed. Power consumption also depends on frequency.

The disadvantage of using a single module is that it most likely will operate as a single channel with slower performance. See the dual channel RAM thread.

John