Friends who often pay attention to our three easy lives may remember that since a few years ago, we have been emphasizing a point of view, today's PC processor (including CPU, GPU) performance progress, to a large extent, rely on higher frequencies, more core numbers, larger cache "heap" out of the results, in contrast, the process progress brought about by the energy efficiency ratio is not enough to make up for the power consumption growth caused by the heap specifications, so today's PC processor power consumption is generally higher per generation. Moreover, this phenomenon will be more prominent on the mobile end than on the PC, and the consequences will be more serious.
For such a point of view, we have conducted more than one technical analysis and have also been verified by computational methods. However, although this matter has been popularized many times, there are still many friends who do not want to believe this statement, and their biggest reason is often the following points.
"Doesn't the processor manufacturer's official website clearly state that the power consumption data is written?" In the recent generations, the power consumption has not changed much. ”
Product power consumption data on the official website? Wait, when did the processor manufacturer write the product's power consumption data on the official website.
"You see, this is not, clearly printed TDP 65W, this W is not watts, 65W is not power consumption 65 watts, can there be fake?"
Emmmm...... It is not false, obviously processor manufacturers do not dare to cheat on the official parameters. But the question is, can "TDP" be understood as "power consumption"?
First of all, in the most basic literal sense, the full name of TDP is Thermal Design Power, which literally translates to "thermal design power consumption". Yes, although it does have the word "power" in its name, many friends may have selectively ignored the three words "thermal design" in TDP.
So, what is thermal design? On Wikipedia, we can find such a description. TDP is often used as an important reference index for heat dissipation/consumption reduction designs such as desktop and notebook cooling system designs, and mainframe cooling designs. The larger the TDP, the greater the amount of heat per unit time that the CPU generates when it is operating. For the heat dissipation system, it is necessary to use TDP as the minimum standard for heat dissipation capacity design, that is, the heat dissipation system must be able to emit at least the heat per unit time represented by the TDP value.
Don't you feel a little dizzy? It doesn't matter, in more general terms, the TDP (Thermal Design Power Consumption) of a processor actually refers to the size of the heat dissipation capacity that the heat sink must have at least to ensure that the processor does not burn out when it operates normally.
Yes, TDP doesn't actually refer to either the processor's power consumption (power consumption) or even the processor's real-time heat generation. In fact, in order to facilitate players and manufacturers to equip them with heatsinks, processor manufacturers give a reference index of "typical heat dissipation capacity required by processors".
TDP is actually an indicator that teaches you how to choose a heatsink, and is not directly related to the "power consumption" of the processor
For example, if the nominal value of a CPU's TDP is 280W, then in order for it to function normally (note this qualifier) and not break due to overheating, it is necessary to purchase a radiator with a heat dissipation capacity of at least 280W. If a heat sink with a thermal dissipation capacity of 240W or less is used, the processor may overheat and degrade, or even burn out.
Knowing what "TDP" really means, we're going to answer a really critical question. How exactly is TDP alienated and misunderstood as a processor "power consumption"?
For this problem, some enthusiasts are actually dismissive, as an old friend of ours said: "The meaning of TDP, people who really need to understand it are actually absolutely not mistaken." On the contrary, those who do not actually use this indicator at all look at the text and righteousness, and pass it on to distort things. ”
There is some truth to this statement, but it is not entirely true. After all, we actually found such a description on Intel's official website.
Finding no, this is actually a typical misunderstanding of TDP. However, it appeared on the official Q&A page of a well-known chip manufacturer.
However, the matter is not over, and this page was reviewed in November 2019. In another official Intel article that was revised in July 2021, we saw a completely different and closer explanation of TDP.
Isn't that interesting? But that's not all. Because not long ago, with the release of the 12th generation of Core processors, there were new changes in Intel's product database (Intel ARK).
As you can see, this time Intel directly does not use the term "TDP" in the product parameters. Instead, the products began to be labeled as "Base Power" and "Maximum Turbo Power". Compared with TDP, the new parameters really refer to the processor's power consumption index (rather than the heat index) under specific operating conditions, which is obviously more in line with the consumer's intuitive understanding of the word "power consumption".
Of course, from another point of view, although the new power consumption labeling method is no longer ambiguous, the guiding significance for consumers to choose a radiator is actually completely absent. From this point of view, it is not difficult for us to appreciate how much confusion and trouble the "TDP", which originally had a good intention of the product indicator, has caused in the end due to various misunderstandings and misinformation.
【The picture of this article comes from the network】