The meaning of the term TDP for processors and graphics cards
But what exactly is TDP and what does its value mean for CPUs and graphics? In this article we will answer these questions in detail.
Thermal Design Power (TDP)
Interestingly, TDP stands for more than one definition, some refer to Thermal Design Power, others express it as a short for Thermal Design Point and sometimes Thermal Design Parameter, all of which mean the same thing.
Thermal design power is a measure of the amount of heat generated by a CPU or GPU under relatively heavy use.
But the heavy use here is not the same as the upper limit of the temperature that the processor can generate, since the maximum temperature can exceed the estimated TDP value in stages; this can occur in several cases such as computer virus infection or overclocking the processor and overclocking.
While the thermal design capacity reflects the amount of heat that is expected to be produced by the processor as a result of running normal programs on the computer, which must be dissipated by the cooling system used to keep the computer operating normally, so depends on the value of TDP specified by the manufacturer when searching for the appropriate cooling system .
Thermal design energy is expressed in Watt, which is more commonly known in the calculation of electric power but can also refer to heat.
This is probably why this misconception stems from the fact that the thermal design energy value is the same as the maximum energy consumption - just because they are measured in watts, but the reality is otherwise.
Taking the Core i9-9900K processor, for example, according to official specifications, its thermal design power is 95W. In tests conducted by Tom’s Hardware, the average power consumption of this processor was 249.7W.
This proves the fact that the TDP value is not the same as the power consumption value, it is not adopted when determining the size of the computer's power supply. But although they are different aspects of the processor but they are related on the other hand, this will be clarified in the next lines.
The difference between thermal design power in Intel and AMD processors
If the thermal design capacity reflects the amount of heat generated during heavy use, then on what basis is this usage determined, or in other words, how fast should the processor work to determine the value of TDP?
Since there is no standardized approach, each manufacturer devises its own methods to achieve this, creating completely different views on the accuracy of AMD versus Intel's approach.
But in general, many agree that AMD's TDP numbers with their processing are more accurate and realistic than Intel, which often releases fewer numbers than users see from their experience, and the reason became clear after Intel's mechanism for assigning Thermal design power of its CPUs.
The problem is that Intel adopts thermal design power measurement when the processor runs at the base frequency rather than the optimized frequency (the maximum speed the processor reaches) and as a result the processor will become hotter than you might expect or what is listed in front of TDP within the specifications.
If the cooling system cannot dispel high heat, the processor forcibly reduces its speed to avoid damage, resulting in poor computer performance. But with a better and more efficient chiller, these problems are less likely to occur.
On the side of AMD, there are many reviewers who assert that the original air cooler that comes included in the box of AMD processors is enough, even after overclocking the processor and exceeding the maximum frequency.
What is the purpose of knowing the thermal design capacity?
TDP
Or why is it something the user should care about? We have already mentioned that this value is used when searching for the best computer cooling system as each refrigerant also has a TDP value which determines the amount of heat designed to dissipate.
But most likely, any air cooler or water cooler will be able to dissipate any heat generated by the processor.
This web page lists more than 60 air-cooled units designed by well-known Cooler Master in the manufacture of computer peripherals. From this list, we note that more than half of the units have a TDP rating of 150W and above, which should be sufficient for most CPUs for the average user.
In general, if you know the value of the thermal design capacity of your processor, then you can buy the right coolant. However, if you don't plan on overclocking your processor or playing video games for a long time, you can skip buying a dedicated cooler since the air cooler that comes with the processor will do the job.
