Gadgetory

t D P stands for thermal design power it's a specification measured in watts that is found on pretty much any processor it's meant to tell us the maximum amount of heat that component is expected to output in a realistic but heavy use scenario okay but lion is hold on a second I'm a bit confused this is what I measure a power consumption I was planning out my new building my friends told me that because the TDP my graphics cards are 250 watts each that I need at least a 500 watt power supply we'll hold on a second there Charlie contrary to what you may have heard around the world's largest water cooler TDP is not directly a measure of power consumption but honestly it's not your fault if you're a bit confused right now a watt is a unit of measurement for energy over time so that can refer to electrical power being consumed or the thermal power being output and both uses are correct to further complicate matters even though TDP isn't a measure of power consumption it's actually pretty directly related so that is to say a processor using the same manufacturing process and design architecture but with a higher TDP we'll also consume more power and besides even if TDP was a power consumption rating every manufacturer handles it slightly differently anyway often entire families of processors with significant differences in power characteristics and even thermal output can be assigned one blanket rating for convenience not to mention that while some manufacturers are basing it on a worst-case scenario like prolonged heavy video-editing others are using it as more of a guideline for what a typical user should see in the real world and then on top of that no one accounts for the use of power viruses like fur mark pieces of torture test software that are specifically designed to cause processors to exceed their TDP okay Linus so now that I understand what TDP is why exactly should I even care about this if it doesn't help me choose my power supply and all the manufacturers are basically making it up as they go anyway great question TDP is all about choosing an appropriate cooling solution processors need to be kept below a maximum operating temperature called t-junction at which point they will either stop working suddenly or engage advanced protection mechanisms turn down their own performance to save themselves from being overheated and damaged not to mention that new or more advanced processors can do more than just turn themselves down to prevent damage if you don't cool them adequately Intel's turbo boost as an example of something that does just the opposite if you've got more than adequate cooling and some power and thermal Headroom to spare this fascinating technology will actually allow the processor to temporarily exceed its normal TDP to give a small boost in performance on demand I've actually going to full video about this check it out here so that is why aftermarket coolers for hot running chips like CPUs and graphics processors are such a hot commodity in the old days they could make our computers run cooler and quieter and last longer well now they can actually even improve performance in some cases particularly when you're overclocking and that specified TDP starts to go through the roof which I guess leads us pretty well into our sponsor spot for today Coolermaster has been making cooling solutions for processors since basically the dawn of time so if you're looking for all that stuff I just mentioned before especially if you're an overclocker a great way of saying thanks to them for sponsoring tech quick you would be to check out their extensive lineup of air and liquid cooling solutions check the link in the video description to do that thanks Coolermaster for making this episode possible and thanks to you guys for watching like the video if you liked it dislike it if you just like to leave a comment if you have suggestions for future graphs of possible topics and as always don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already