CPU power consumption
CPU power consumption is the power that a CPU consumes and converts into heat .
Different processor types can have different energy consumption with the same clock signal . Depending on the application, cost-effective or energy-saving, the CPU power consumption has a different impact on design decisions.
definition
The energy consumed per unit of time is the same as the amount of heat given off by a CPU ( power loss ), as it can only give off the energy it consumes in the form of heat.
CPUs in their various forms require a certain amount of electrical energy . This energy is dissipated by heat generated both by switching the elements themselves (such as transistors or vacuum tubes ) and by heat generated by the sheer resistance of the electronic circuitry. Heat generation plays an important role in CPU design considerations.
Some types of CPU have only a low energy requirement. The CPUs in pacemakers , for example, only require a few microwatts. But there are also server and desktop CPUs which, due to their higher complexity and higher processor speed, consume significantly more energy and release it as heat. These processors have a power consumption on the order of 100 watts or more. The first computers that were built with vacuum tubes even converted many kilowatts of electrical power into heat.
Usually, CPUs in desktop computers require more power than any other component (usually between 45 and 130 watts), apart from the newer high-performance graphics cards , some of which have power losses of up to around 365 watts, e.g. B. Geforce GTX 590 (as of January 2012). The development of the power supply for processors in the last decade was primarily aimed at reducing the voltage, since the power loss increases with the square of this. By reducing the size of the structures ( conductor tracks , transistors, etc.), attempts are made to produce more economical CPUs. Some CPUs will also lower the clock or voltage when the processor is under low load or idle , but even without these measures, consumption is highly dependent on the load, especially when using an idle process and a CPU that supports the HLT command (abbreviation for "halt"). The instruction set of a CPU has a further influence on the power loss . RISC designs usually require significantly less energy than comparable x86 designs in terms of computing power .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.tomshardware.de/Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-E2140-overclocking,testberichte-239892-14.html
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
