Does notebook ram use less power than desktop ram?

nobb · 08-20-2007, 07:56 PM

I was wondering if notebook ram uses less power than desktop ram. People seem to be saying that their carpcs can be left on standby for only ~1 week, and they use desktop ram. This is it being powered from a car battery.

My Inspiron 6400 notebook has two sticks of 1GB ram and when left on standby with the AC unplugged, the battery drain is very small when left for a day. I think it was less than 10% drain for 24 hours. I suspect it can last atleast a week being on battery alone. So my guess is if I were to power it from the car battery and remove a stick of ram, my standby times would be so long that it wouldnt even be a concern. Is this a valid assumption?

Does notebook ram use less power then desktop memory?

strohj · 08-22-2007, 02:16 PM

you cant just worry about how much power draw there is to your ram.. the motherboard I am using requires a 5v as well as a 3.3v line to be active for it to go into suspend.. which causes all my USB devices to stay powered on... and that is the reason I cannot stay in standby for more than 5 days

I changed my power setting in windows however to go into hibernate after 4 days of standby ..

I would rather wait the 25 seconds for my carpc to resume after I havent driven for a week than to try and jump start my car potentially

nobb · 08-22-2007, 10:34 PM

Well I drive my car almost everyday. I just like the peace of mind knowing that my carpc wont be drawing too much power on standby. If I am going on vacation or something, then obviously my carpc will be on hibernate.

strohj · 08-23-2007, 08:28 AM

to answer your original question... I couldnt find any significant difference between notebook ram and desktop ram as far as power consumption as long as you compare the same type and speed

I am using 1gb of ram just because I couldnt source any 512mb ram when I needed it... but I think the power draw is per stick and not neccessarily by size anyways...