x220 memory voltage

I will be getting my x220 in about a week and first thing I need to up the memory to 8Gb. I accidentally came across Crucial's memory wizard that recommended 1.35V chips instead of the usual 1.5V. This got me curious. I searched online and found this outdated article which tells me that 1.35V uses 20% less power.

Micron Launches World?s First 1.35V DDR3 SODIMM Modules - News on Download3000.com

1) Does anyone have a x220 running an i5 with two 4Gb low-voltage chips, 1.35V DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600)?

2) Will I be sacrificing performance by going with low voltage memory?

 

i have samsung PC3L-12800S (1.35V, 1600MHz) modules in my X220.   performance is absolutely identical with 1.35V and 1.5V modules.

battery life is maybe 10 minutes longer over my former 40nm samsung 1.5V 1333MHz modules (and that's a purely anecdotal guess on my part based on experience thus far).   samsung rates 2 x 4GB 40nm 1.5V modules as drawing 1.89W and 2 x 4GB 30nm 1.35V modules at 1.75W.   that's a difference of only 0.28W for a pair of modules.   drop your display brightness a notch or two and you'd have the same savings.

if you truly want to use less power, install one module instead of two.   this will save much more wattage draw than the minuscule difference in voltage.

product specs can be found here: http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MV-3T4G3D/US
a table with wattage specs can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-Extreme-MV-3T4G3D-US/dp/B00592005E

 

Thanks for the link with the power consumption data. I would assume that the data is for full load condition (maximum reads / writes) and that the idle power consumption would be less. Or is the power used to refresh the contents the main power drain?

That does, however, come with a significant performance penalty, particularly for the graphics (see this thread).

John

 

Thanks. Yes, I was going to say - having 2 chips would be necessary to run mobo in a dual channel mode.

So sounds like 1.35V modules work/"feel" identical to the more common 1.5V chips. Appreciate the info.

 

it's most likely at full load.   pulling one module definitely doesn't drop total system draw by a full 1.75W at idle.   it's usually closer to 0.25W~0.5W.

agreed.   since performance isn't a concern when trying to get the longest battery life, i figured the OP might want to know that pulling a module would net a bigger power savings over 1.35V modules since he initially asked about the "20% less power" claim.

 

I threw one of those newer samsung 30nm 1.35V modules in my w7 tablet, since I was buying it for a mini desktop anyways I figured why not swap it for the noname sodimm that came with the tablet.

I don't have any real benchmark and I don't watch the battery religiously, but it definitely seems to last a couple minutes longer between each of low battery % warnings and the final cry of "shutmedownnow". Keep in mind compared to most laptops this thing is a power miser, so cutting even <1W has a more pronounced effect.

 

I've been running the Crucial (Micron) 1.35V 16GB kit for a while. I have no idea how to confirm what voltage is being set by the BIOS.