TDP="Thermal design power"... (the amount of designed cooling power to get max cpu performance). ̶W̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶t̶e̶r̶y̶?̶
Mystery might be also in the nuance of turbo vs base frequency draw. So even if you design for TDP as the "max thermal dissipation" you might get only base frequency performance.
On a side note people often confuse TDP with the max power draw of the processor. Intel does not specify total power draw probably because processor scaling is such an important consideration. If you have a system, the easiest way to figure out what max draw from the power source is to consult the power brick.
> Mystery might be also in the nuance of turbo vs base frequency draw. So even if you design for TDP as the "max thermal dissipation" you might get only base frequency performance.
That is really what is happening. If you have '4 core 3Ghz Base 4.5Ghz turbo 95W TDP' what that means is that the CPU will pull, by spec, a maximum of 95W with all cores running at the base frequency under full load. Turbo can exceed this power spec and maximum power draw under turbo is ill-defined.
> On a side note people often confuse TDP with the max power draw of the processor.
It's the same thing, any 'power' a CPU 'draws' is converted to heat, by definition.
Mystery might be also in the nuance of turbo vs base frequency draw. So even if you design for TDP as the "max thermal dissipation" you might get only base frequency performance.
On a side note people often confuse TDP with the max power draw of the processor. Intel does not specify total power draw probably because processor scaling is such an important consideration. If you have a system, the easiest way to figure out what max draw from the power source is to consult the power brick.