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    Memory Myth?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by theworldwonders, Jun 7, 2008.

  1. theworldwonders

    theworldwonders Newbie

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    Hi,

    I'll confess that I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to computers, so I apologise in advance.

    I'm going to be buying a new computer, I've so far decided on the Toshiba Satellite Pro A300-1C2... but I'm still looking.

    I've heard that if the laptop has more memory then the battery will be drained much faster, and the lifeline of a battery will be greatly reduced. Is this an urban myth or is there credibility to it? If so what's the story?

    I'm concerned because the 'A300-1C2' has 3GB of memory, which from what I've seen is quite a lot.

    Hope someone can help :)

    Thanks in advance
     
    theworldwonders, Jun 7, 2008
    #1
  2. Hep!

    Hep! sees beauty in everything

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    It's DDR2 which is fairly low power. Having less SO-DIMMS (sticks of memory) will increase battery life ever so slightly, but the quantity does not affect it assuming the chip count is the same on the DIMMS. So for instance, a 512MB stick of RAM uses the same power as a 2GB stick. And that system probably has 1x2GB and 1x1GB, like most 3GB systems.

    Most of what you said is not true, so no need to worry. Whoever told you otherwise is misinformed or messing with you.
     
    Hep!, Jun 7, 2008
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  3. theworldwonders

    theworldwonders Newbie

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    Phew, I was getting worried.

    The person that told me also doesn't really know much about computers too, but had heard it from a friend, lol

    Thanks for clearing it up :)
     
    theworldwonders, Jun 7, 2008
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  4. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    the amount of power which memory uses is pretty negligable. I upgrade my dell 8500 from 512 mb of memory all of the way to 2Gb of Pc3200 memory and my battery life decreased by about nothing.
    New memory is very power efficient, since you only use the memory the system needs. When more memory is used, more memory cells are powered. However, even at peak memory usage, the battery life will not decrease much. You should only worry about processor and harddrive when talking about battery life.
    If you are concerned, check out the undervolting guide, where you can find out how to get about 20 minutes more battery life without sacrificing any performance.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Jun 7, 2008
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  5. wave

    wave Notebook Virtuoso

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    Haveing more ram might even increase battery life because the harddisk needs to be used less for caching. Harddisk can stay off longer.
     
    wave, Jun 7, 2008
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  6. jisaac

    jisaac Notebook Deity

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    yep, and to improve battery life further you can disable your pagefile (as long as you have enough ram).
     
    jisaac, Jun 7, 2008
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