Cost to upgrade to RAM worth it? (Power Savings)

[ViciousXUSMC]

If I get a used Super Micro that comes with say 16x4GB modules for 64GB of RAM.

Is it plausible to rip that out and replace it with say 4x16GB modules and notice a real life power savings? Or, would the cost (Say $200) take so long to make up any difference so it would be of no feasible benefit to upgrade the RAM?

Assuming 24/7 NAS operation in this scenario.

 

[wildpig1234]

wont save you much of anything on power. that's not really a reason why people upgrade to bigger size ram modules. it's always so that they can have more ram for the limited number of slots.

 

[nk215]

Each ram stick uses around 5.5-6.5 watts (1.35V or 1.5V). Kingston published the max power usages for their ECC DDR3 memory. Unlike CPU, I don't think ram saves much energy at idle.

 

[cheezehead]

last time I tested it, I was getting about 1 watt per dimm savings with just pulling sticks....not swapping low capacity for high capacity. I'm guessing the savings is 5-10w, if you have the ram laying around feel free to swap it's not worth buying ram. CPU's you'll get a wider range but it really depends on on how hard they are getting used.