The Thermal Design Power (TDP) is the average maximum power a
processor can dissipate while running commercially available
software. TDP is primarily used as a guideline for manufacturers of
thermal solutions (heatsinks/fans, etc) which tells them how much
heat their solution should dissipate. TDP is not the maximum power
the CPU may generate - there may be periods of time when the CPU
dissipates more power than designed, in which case either the CPU
temperature will rise closer to the maximum, or special CPU circuitry
will activate and add idle cycles or reduce CPU frequency with the
intent of reducing the amount of generated power.
TDP is usually 20% - 30% lower than the
CPU maximum
power dissipation.
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