A CAM system includes an integrated circuit chip having: logic & control circuitry, a CAM cell array, read/write access circuitry that performs read and write accesses to the CAM cell array, comparison access circuitry that performs comparison operations to the CAM cell array, a first voltage supply pad coupled to the read/write access circuitry; and a second voltage supply pad coupled to the comparison access circuitry. A first voltage supply, external to the integrated circuit chip, provides a first supply voltage to the first voltage supply pad, wherein the logic & control circuitry is powered by the first supply voltage. A second voltage supply, external to the integrated circuit chip, provides a second supply voltage to the second voltage supply pad, wherein at least a portion of the comparison access circuitry is powered by the second supply voltage, wherein the second supply voltage is less than the first supply voltage.