What makes it all the more complicated is when none of those turbo modes go down to the base frequency. The all-core turbo value for a processor like the Core i7-8700 is 4.3 GHz, which is well above the guaranteed 3.2 GHz. As mentioned, something like the Core i7-8700 can have a turbo of 4.7 GHz, which draws a lot more power than the processor running at 3.2 GHz. On top of the base values, Intel implements Turbo. Intel does not guarantee any level of performance above this 3.2 GHz / 65W value. This means that a processor like the 65W Core i7-8700, which has a base frequency of 3.2 GHz and a turbo of 4.7 GHz, is only guaranteed to be at or below 65W when the processor is running at 3.2 GHz. For any given processor, Intel will guarantee both a rated frequency to run at (known as the base frequency) for a given power, which is the rated TDP. If a processor used the TDP as its maximum power limit, then we would see the same benchmark produce graphs like this with a high-powered, many-core processor.įor the last however many years, this is the definition of TDP that Intel has used. Within a system, the TDP is a value that can be set in the firmware. Some energy dissipation also occurs through the socket and motherboard, which means that technically the cooler rating can be lower than the TDP, but in most circles TDP and power consumption are used to mean the same thing: how much power a CPU draws under load. TDP is the minimum capacity of the CPU cooler required to get that guaranteed level of performance.
Most people equate a chip's TDP rating directly to its maximum power draw, given that the heat energy that needs to be dissipated from the processor is equal to the power consumed in doing calculations. Normally, the TDP rating is that specific power.īut TDP, in its strictest sense, relates to the ability of the cooler to dissipate heat. With every processor, Intel guarantees a specific frequency at a specific power, often with a particular grade of cooler in mind. In this guide, we want to give you a proper understanding why this is the case, and why it gives us reviewers such a headache. Intel’s latest eight-core processors are still rated at a TDP of 95W, and yet users are seeing power consumption north of 150-180W, which doesn’t make much sense.
Intel what is turbo boost Pc#
One of the recent topics permeating through the custom PC space recently has been about power draw.