TDP (short for thermal design power or thermal design point) measures how much heat is generated by electronic hardware, such as a CPU. For example, a CPU cooler rated for 65 W TDP can dissipate the heat generated by 65 watts of electricity. TDP rating indicates how much power is required by an individual computer component.

TDP ratings may vary depending on the hardware manufacturer. Therefore, the TDP listed by one manufacturer may not compare exactly to that of another.

What does TDP indicate?

In the same generation of processors, those of a higher frequency generally use more power and have a higher TDP. Other factors affect how much power a CPU uses, including its number of cores and the size of its onboard memory cache.

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However, TDP does not necessarily correlate to performance. Dennard scaling dictates that as circuitry becomes smaller, it becomes more efficient, consuming less power while achieving greater performance. For this reason, processors fabricated with a smaller process node (and therefore smaller transistors) may be more powerful than those with a higher TDP.

A rule of thumb is that a CPU with higher TDP than another is either more powerful, less efficient, or both.

Why is TDP important?

If you are building a computer system, two of the most important factors are power and cooling. Your PSU must provide adequate power for all the components in your system, and the heat inside the computer must be adequately removed.

When choosing a PSU, find the specifications for all computer hardware, including motherboard, RAM, CPU, GPU, and disk drives, and add up the TDP of each. The total TDP, measured in watts, represents the amount of power your PSU must provide. Ensure you install a PSU rated to provide at least that many watts of power, plus about 100 watts, to account for variance in TDP ratings and real-world usage. If you plan to add additional hardware to the computer later, budget for that expected increase in TDP when choosing your PSU.

For each component that requires passive or active cooling, ensure that its cooler is rated to dissipate the same or greater TDP than the component. So, if your CPU has a TDP of 65 watts, make sure its heat sink and fan are rated to dissipate at least that much heat. The same is true if you are using a liquid cooling system.

TDP examples

For comparison, the following is a list of different CPUs, their TDP, frequencies, number of cores, onboard cache, fabrication process, device type, and price.

AMD Threadripper, Computer abbreviations, CPU terms, Electronics terms, Hardware terms, Intel Core i9

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