Thermal Design Power (TDP)
pcTDP is the maximum amount of heat a computer component such as a CPU or GPU is designed to dissipate under workload.
expanded
Thermal Design Power (TDP) refers to the highest power consumption a component can reach when running software applications, and thus the amount of heat that the cooling system must be able to dissipate effectively. TDP is crucial for ensuring that a system runs efficiently without overheating and is particularly important for designing cooling solutions that maintain the component within safe temperature ranges during peak operation.
examples
The Intel Core i9-13900K has a TDP of 125 W.
This TDP value indicates the required cooling capacity for systems using this processor to ensure proper thermal management in high-performance computing setups.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card features a TDP of 320 W.
This TDP specification is critical in gaming and workstation environments, requiring efficient cooling solutions to maintain GPU performance and stability under heavy graphical loads.