Core i5 power = 112W

kidscruff · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:05

When working my CPU (Prime95, etc), my CPU shows up as 112 watts in HWMonitor. I thought the maximum power was 95 w?

I seem to remember it used to show 95 stable, but now it just hops up to 112.xx watts

blaineoliver · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:29

I was pretty sure they were 125w, unless i made that up?!

Is it overclocked?

PermaBanned · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:31

Power consumption is not the same as Thermal Design Power.

Hotwired · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:37

No they're 95W TDP.

Mine says those kind of numbers normally. But if I set it to maximum energy saving...

Ahahah

kidscruff · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:42

No, stock speeds. If I disable the power saving options in BIOS, the power is steady 112.x W. If I enable power saving options, then it drops to very low wattage, but does increase to 112.x W (again) when running something like Prime95 blend test.

Hotwired, what's your max power when running all cores??

Thanks

Hotwired · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:47

Stays at 112ish watts no matter what unless in power saving. In the above case it was overclocked to 3.6 and still 112 watts. At stock still 112.

blaineoliver · 22 Oct 2009 at 22:52

I guess it includes chipset power too??

kidscruff · 23 Oct 2009 at 00:41

It's odd, I've had a look and some online screengrabs of OCed i5 CPUs in hwmonitor show 95 W min/max. I'm sure mine used to sit at 95 W. Also pretty sure my min core voltage in idle is <1v, will have a look tomorrow evening when I'm back home.

Reason I'm concerned is that in idle the CPU seems to choke the video card / system causing BSOD. Stressing the system is fine, no instability! Although I freaked when Prime95 failed instantly on all cores, but that was solved by bumping memory voltage up to recommended spec (1.65 V).

kidscruff · 23 Oct 2009 at 13:14

Found a picture of 95 watts. Linky:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-750-core-i7-860-870-processor-review-test/10

phod · 23 Oct 2009 at 13:52

My i860 at stock goes up to 111W in Hardware Monitor, should have same TDP as i750. For some reason i got a minimum reading of -0.77W, so maybe my processor is a power source at minimum

blaineoliver · 23 Oct 2009 at 13:55

I would say that its turbo going over the TDP, and also, have you see now much power i5's draw at heavy overclock?!

phod · 23 Oct 2009 at 14:03

kidscruff said:
Found a picture of 95 watts. Linky:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-750-core-i7-860-870-processor-review-test/10

BTW, those pictures are with overclocked chips at 3.8 and 4.1Ghz, theres no way the chip is only drawing 95W in those cases. Perhaps the power draw sensor just shows TDP max when loaded at overclock?

Temi_D · 23 Oct 2009 at 17:52

TDP and power consumption are 2 completely different things. TDP means the maximum heat the cpu will produce (as in waste energy), aka ineffenciency. Add that to the useful energy and you've got the power consumption

Also, how is it possible for software to know power comsumption? :confused:

Thats impossible...

Gazb · 23 Oct 2009 at 22:33

Temi_D said:
TDP and power consumption are 2 completely different things. TDP means the maximum heat the cpu will produce (as in waste energy), aka ineffenciency. Add that to the useful energy and you've got the power consumption

Also, how is it possible for software to know power comsumption?Thats impossible...

Not entirely impossible but unlikely. The motherboard would need to be measuring the current draw on the voltage rails supplying the processor at the socket and then somehow software would need to tap into the reporting of that function but I doubt any motherboards can do that.

gurusan · 23 Oct 2009 at 23:08

speedfan/ hwmonitor are trash programs.

and btw lots of motherboards can accurately measure power draw...it's not that hard. x38/p45 and anything after that measures current draw no problem.

And superweza is right, TDP is much different than actual power draw.

FreeStream · 24 Oct 2009 at 01:34

According to my Mac Pro sensors with a 2.66Ghz i7:

Idle: 10-20W
Load (20% CPU time): 50W (It kicks out of full power saving mode here I think!)
Full load (100% CPU time): 80W.

Those numbers are what you really want to be heading for!

Hotwired · 24 Oct 2009 at 01:41

Concorde Rules said:
According to my Mac Pro sensors with a 2.66Ghz i7:

Idle: 10-20W
Load (20% CPU time): 50W (It kicks out of full power saving mode here I think!)
Full load (100% CPU time): 80W.

Those numbers are what you really want to be heading for!

You're using a different program and a different chip.

How can anyone be heading towards a default wattage different to the default wattage they have? It's what it is. The only real question is how to read it correctly.

FreeStream · 24 Oct 2009 at 14:42

Hotwired said:
You're using a different program and a different chip.

How can anyone be heading towards a default wattage different to the default wattage they have? It's what it is. The only real question is how to read it correctly.

They are still the "numbers you should be looking for".

In fact I should in theory be using MORE power as I have HT.

Your program is wrong, mine is in the right ballpark.

Happy · 24 Oct 2009 at 14:48

gurusan said:
speedfan/ hwmonitor are trash programs.

and btw lots of motherboards can accurately measure power draw...it's not that hard. x38/p45 and anything after that measures current draw no problem.

And superweza is right, TDP is much different than actual power draw.

Any links to any programs, I'd be interested see my usage - DFI X38

Jokester · 24 Oct 2009 at 14:49

Temi_D said:
TDP and power consumption are 2 completely different things. TDP means the maximum heat the cpu will produce (as in waste energy), aka ineffenciency. Add that to the useful energy and you've got the power consumption

Also, how is it possible for software to know power comsumption?Thats impossible...

A CPU is totally 100% inefficient, the power a CPU uses is entirely output as heat. For a stock CPU the power consumption shouldn't exceed the TDP, I suspect the software is just plain wrong in this case (there are current/voltage sensor that allow it to work it out).