Testing DDR3 power consumption
Did a little power consumption testing of 6 different SODIMM DDR3 memory modules.
Here are the readings of a Kill-A-Watt kind of device, measuring Watts on a Fujitsu Lifebook s792.
– First reading is Watts at idle.
– Second reading is average Watts while running MemTest+ 5.01.
Hynix 1Rx8 2GB 10600-9-10-B1
(HMT325S6BFR8C-H9 NO AA)
Idle: 9.6 / Load: 21.6 – 21.8
Samsung 2Rx8 2GB 10600S-09-10-F2
(M471B5673FH0-CH9)
Idle: 9.6 / Load: 24.0 – 24.5
Kingston 2GB 2Rx8 PC3-10600S
(SNY1333D3S9DR8/2G)
Idle: 9.8 / Load: 23.2 – 23.7
Kingston 8GB 12800/1600MHz
(KVR16S11/8and lots of other seemingly random numbers, see pic 🙂
Idle: 9.8 / Load: 24.2 – 24.6
Hynix 4GB 1Rx8 PC3L-12800S-11-13-B4
(HMT451S6BFR8A-PB NO AA)
Idle: 9.6 / Load: 23.5 – 23.9
Samsung 4GB 1Rx8 PC3L-12800S-11-12-B4
(M471B5173QH0-YK0)
Idle: 9.7 / Load: 23.7 – 24.1
Some takeaways:
- Size doesn’t seem to make much difference.
- Even the count of memory chips doesn’t seem to matter much if at all, with most 4-chip-per-side modules pulling comparable watts with the 8-chip-per-side.
- One exception being Hynix HMT325S6BFR8C, pulling ~2-3 Watts less under load.
- Idle consumption is nearly identical
Test machine: Fujitsu Lifebook s792
CPU: Core i5 3230M
Battery: None
PSU: Toshiba 65W brick (sorry, I don’t have it any more to see the efficiency rating 🙂
