DRAM power consumption reliable?

[snovvman]

I realize that HWiNFO can only report what is available, so this post is not questioning HWiNFO's reporting of the data. Rather, is the information from the hardware accurate and reliable? In testing DDR4 16x2 vs 32x2 (different brands), I saw on average only 0.1 to 0.2 watt increase in power consumption. Mind you, only about 7GB was being "used" with the 16x2 and 32x2 combos. However, I thought doubling the RAM would show a more significant increase in power consumption.

By the way, when expressed in watts, I presume it is watt-hour? That is , when DRAM consumption is showing 1.2w, it means that the DRAM is consuming 1.2 watt per hour?

Getting back to RAM--I am puzzled as to why doubling the RAM did not show a higher percentage of power consumption. I can see that when more memory is actually being used, perhaps more power will be needed, but doesn't the refresh cycle need power too?

I would appreciate some insight.

 

[Martin]

Which exact sensor value are you referring to and what CPU is that?
Most systems cannot truly measure DRAM power consumption as the hardware is not equipped with such logic. So they only estimate it based on modelling and actual bandwidth.
Yet this information is often used internally for power management decisions.

 

[snovvman]

Which exact sensor value are you referring to and what CPU is that?
Most systems cannot truly measure DRAM power consumption as the hardware is not equipped with such logic. So they only estimate it based on modelling and actual bandwidth.
Yet this information is often used internally for power management decisions.

Thank you, as always, for your speedy and helpful reply. It is a Dell XPS with a 9750H chip. The data came from CPU: Enhanced section. In this case, would you say that the memory consumption is not accurate? And, for watts, it means watt-hour?

While I am here, on starting HWiNFO, a choice appears to whether monitor some sort of embedded device, and the monitoring can cause latencies. The message only appears on first boot (when HWiNFO is set to autostart). Subsequent shutdown/startup of HWiNFO show no such message. If possible, will you please shed some light on what type of data points are available with the embedded device and the sort of latency can be expected?

Many thanks.

 

[Martin]

I assume you're referring to the "Total DRAM Power" entry right? I wouldn't consider this value as absolutely reliable, but only Intel knows this for sure and won't share full details how this is estimated.
Yes, Watt per hour.
The warning you're getting is most likely related to the "DELL EC" sensor.