Low-Voltage DDR3 Modules Now Available

Low-Voltage DDR3 Modules Now Available

Micron Technology has introduced its latest technology: low voltage DDR3 modules for Nvidia processor-based notebooks. The modules area vailable now in up to 2GB sticks, with 4GB sticks coming later this year. Standard notebook DDR3 memory runs at 1.5V, but Micron's low-voltage DDR3 runs on only 1.35V; Micron has been able to do this without any performance penalty.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com

 

This starts to make DDR3 look more attractive with these modules potentially using less power.

John

 

Will less than half a volt really make a huge difference in battery life or heat?

 

not huge..but this is an improvement...
well , we can expect more companies offer RAMs with further lower voltages

 

I wonder how much more they would cost?
If it comes at a premium price saving .15V is not worth it.

 

If everything else is the same, power is a function of V squared, so the lower voltage could mean about 20% less power consumption by the memory.

John

 

How is the performance as opposed to a regular DDR3 ram? Is it the same plus it uses less heat?

 

The performance is the same; it is offered in 1333MHz.

 

oh ok thats great to hear then.

 

Won't these function at 1,35v on Centrino 2 notebooks?

 

This is great. Lower power + same or greater preformance is always the right direction.

If its offered in 1333mHz as well then thats even better.

Notebooks are pulling ALOT of power from less and less power it seems. If they can knock it down another .15 volts then DDR4 will have to be VERY impressive to compete eventually

 

i know i was thinking about that, this would be ideal with a quad core to use just a little less power.

 

Hi guys, nice to joint the forum

Well, I wonder if DDR3 memory is worth to be purchased now.
1st, the CPU can't use all the wide bus.
2nd, of course it'll help you to save energy, but RAM is 1 of the least energy consuming parts in the laptop.

 

What do you mean that the CPU can't use the wide bus?

 

Sorry, English is not my 1st language

Basically, the fastest speed that laptop CPUs today connect to the memmory (through the bus) is 1066 MHz. Actually, we just need 2 pieces of 533MHZ RAM to reach that speed. Oh uh, I forgot that Intel CPUs connect to RAM via the Northbidge chipset.

So a 13333 MHz memory dim is so wasteful. Only the most modern CPUs for desktop like Intel Nehalem or some of AMD Phenom 2 family have that fast bus to RAM. And for Phenom 2 CPUs which can work with both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, the difference in performance is not noticeable.