Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods that enable a memory controller to choose a particular operation mode for virtual memory devices of a memory module based on dynamic program behavior. In one embodiment, a method for determining an operation mode for each virtual memory device of a memory module includes selecting a metric (1001) that provides a standard by which performance and/or energy efficiency of the memory module is optimized during execution of one or more applications on a multicore processor. For each virtual memory device (1005), the method also includes collecting usage information (1006) associated with the virtual memory device over a period of time, determining an operation mode (1007) for the virtual memory device based on the metric and usage information, and entering the virtual memory device into the operation mode (1103, 1105, 1107, 1108).