AMD Ryzen TDP Deep-Dive & What Cooler Manufacturers Think of 'TDP'

This video talks about AMD's definition of TDP in great detail, deep-diving on Ryzen thermal design power, power consumption, heat load, and best CPU cooler choices.

Article: pending publication after the video!

Most people have likely seen "TDP" on a cooler box at some point, and it unfortunately has no useful correlation to "TDP" on a CPU box -- Intel or AMD -- and mostly correlates to formulas used to work backwards into a number that's nice for marketing. There are some useful applications for TDP numbers, but for consumers, it neither measures power nor heat (particularly accurately), so different metrics are needed to determine the best CPU cooler for a product. The most common mistake is for people to use TDP to compare processor power consumption between parts, especially cross-brand (e.g. AMD vs. Intel TDP), and this is a fair mistake to make when considering the unit of "Watts" in the TDP figures. Unfortunately, electrical power doesn't ever once show up in the AMD TDP formula, so this isn't really a useful metric for comparing power consumption.

In this video, we're defining TDP, particularly as used for AMD Ryzen parts (e.g. AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs on Zen 2, but it's the same for the others). We won't be talking about Intel today. The focus is on TDP, what it is, where it's useful (or not), and what cooler manufacturers think of the Thermal Design Power metric that they're provided.

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Host, Additional Research: Steve Burke
Editorial, Research: Patrick Lathan
Video: Josh Svoboda, Andrew Coleman

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[rujigo]

Stopped studying for a thermodynamics test for this. End up studying anyway

[derauer]

Must watch video for everyone! Loved the Watt is Watt part :D I guess there are engineering Watt and marketing Watt

[thegirthquake]

"There's no rgb cpus... Yet.."

Steve do NOT give them ideas!

[FrankLeeMadeere]

ME: "deep dive"?? I thought almost every GN video was a deep dive
STEVE: Hold my cryonaut

[KarzGuitar]

I can't wait til we have a better, agreed-upon standard for what TDP is trying to convey

[JarrodsTech]

10/10 for unexpected Limmy's show

[DavidWilsonsays]

Can you please create an online test I can take after one of these lectures for Gamers Nexus University credit?? All grading of course in "X"s where more "X"s are better. I'd like to graduate fully ray traced with RGB honors and a minor in hair care. The Mod mat diploma suitable for framing will be greatly covenanted.

[Bmoney]

This was long, This was made longer by how complex this piece was, having to go back and make sure I understood the concepts. This was very well needed in the community. Thank you Steve and Team! There will be a beer waiting for you @ The Corner bar soon haha!

[BrianThomas]

Gosh, this was done a couple of years ago. I have to say that Linus Sebastian did a great job explaining TDP, but You guys went above and beyond in explaining TDP. I commend you and your team for gathering the details that matter. I love that you're not afraid of formulas as well. True engineers at work. I love this channel, and so doesn't 1.7 million other people.

[turkepic]

PC users:What is TDP?

Companies: *WeLl iT dEpeNdS*

[LFCACID]

OMG...Limmy on Gamers Nexus?...never expected to see that.

[sbrewski]

Im literally blown away by how in depth your work went on this topic - Thanks.

[SickPrid]

TDP should be listed as how much energy you need to dissipate to keep it at a stable-safe temperature while maintaining maximum performance for prolonged period of time (not 10seconds)
power consumption should be listed separately

[Katman]

As a computer engineer I really appreciate the deep dives like this that get into the technical details. I find it super interesting and I'm happy to see someone on the outside of these companies doing the research and reverse engineering to figure out how things like this work.

[pavelsovicka]

0:20 "Voodoo mysticism" - Anyone remembered 3dfx at that moment? Would be a nice retro review regardless of what Voodoo card...

[allenjunge]

Hey GN, since you wanted a definition on "amortize", I have one for you. In Computer Science and Engineering, amortization is used as a term to essentially mean an approximation of the best case scenario, with the knowledge it's guaranteed to have infrequent worst case performance.

Example: an algorithm implementation of a set will have an amortized time complexity of O(1) when adding a new item to the set, but if enough items are being added, you'll get a couple O(n) insertions into the set.

[colossalcubes]

i swear steve's hair just grow larger and longer the more i watch this video. cant tell if its a reflection of his growing judgment, his power, or both.

[katerwhall]

When a "deep dive" on any other channel is standard fare on this channel, deep really does mean deep. good work :}

[Soldierblue]

OMG that 8700k looks like its been in battle!!!!

[notlisten]

Absolutely thrilled with this level of detail! Very happy to already being a patreon supporter!

Now I just need to get a mod mat...

"4x2 - in Freedom Units" - priceless!