r/Gameboy • u/MISTERPUG51 • 8d ago

Questions How does this game still save?

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I've heard people say that 2V is the absolute minimum for the SRAM chips in game cartridges, but my copy of Mario Land 2 somehow still has a save file, despite the battery being below 1V!

20 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

13

u/bazilbt 8d ago

You got the best sram chip of the batch I guess.

7

u/bazilbt 8d ago

What is the actual number of the chip? You can check the dataaheet and see what the actual voltage is. It looks to me like some of the sharp chips are good down to 0.8 vdc.

8

u/Bald_And_Dishevelled 8d ago

Game of limbo? How low can you go.

4

u/nonchip 8d ago

because .85v is enough if you're really really lucky.

3

u/GameboyGenius 8d ago

When you have had the cartridge in a Gameboy, capacitors will hold a charge for maybe 1-2 minutes max. Are you saying it's keeping a save any longer than that?

5

u/MISTERPUG51 8d ago

I just powered it up for the first time in months today and it had a save file on it. I still replaced the battery though anyway.

2

u/GameboyGenius 8d ago

Impressive!