Thermal Considerations

The Processor Base Power (a.k.a TDP) is the maximum sustained power that should be used as a baseline value for the processor thermal solution. Processor Base Power (a.k.a TDP) is the average power dissipation and junction temperature operating condition limit, specified in this document, that is validated during manufacturing for the base configuration when executing a near worst case commercially available workload as specified by Intel for the SKU segment. Processor Base Power (a.k.a TDP) may be exceeded for short periods of time or if running a very high power workload.

The processor integrates multiple processing IA cores, graphics cores and a PCH on a single package. This may result in power distribution differences across the package and should be considered when designing the thermal solution.

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 allows processor IA cores to run faster than the base frequency. It is invoked opportunistically and automatically as long as the processor is conforming to its temperature, power delivery, and current control limits. When Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 is enabled:

• Applications are expected to run closer to Processor Base Power (a.k.a TDP) more often as the processor will attempt to maximize performance by taking advantage of estimated available energy budget in the processor package.
• The processor may exceed the Processor Base Power (a.k.a TDP) for short durations to utilize any available thermal capacitance within the thermal solution. The duration and time of such operation can be limited by platform runtime configurable registers within the processor.
• Graphics peak frequency operation is based on the assumption of only one of the graphics domains (GT/GTx) being active. This definition is similar to the IA core Turbo concept, where peak turbo frequency can be achieved when only one IA core is active. Depending on the workload being applied and the distribution across the graphics domains the user may not observe peak graphics frequency for a given workload or benchmark.
• Thermal solutions and platform cooling that are designed to less than thermal design guidance may experience thermal and performance issues.