This all started when researching whether a 95W processor would be a problem on a motherboard that had a recommendation of 65W.
The jury seems to be out on that one - but it does highlight a number of points.
The TDP is a "nominal" or a maximum value for the specified processor (it is likely that your processor will consume less power and processors can be selected from production runs for units that exhibit low power consumption)
These processors can be sold at a premium or they can get re-branded as low TDP devices. Due to the nature of how Intel and AMD market their products it is not clear how this manifests itself. Those at review sites, such as Anandtech, can speculate on this - but it will probably remain unknown to the exact state of affairs.
In any case, it is probably true that processors that have a lower TDP are not necessarily better capable to be overclocked. This seems to be the #1 concern of the "fanboys" on review sites.
NemesisChild On an AMD forum says: "Do your research!"
On the Zotac website: "GF8200-C-E with Phenom X3 8750 (95w TDP) 65w motherboard with 95w CPU" - this is the board I want to use a 95W, a poster comments:
"on here one person responds with a list of approved processors that says you can't use anything higher than 65w, but then it looks like a Zotac moderator says you can:"
The "Moderator" says:
"Any processor compatible with any AM2+ board should run fine. A BIOS update may be needed to recognize the name of processors released after the most most recent BIOS."
I am not sure that it does - I don't know that Infested Nexus is a Zotac Moderator (Update: Looking deaper on the Zotac website - Infested Nexus seems to be the main contributor - However, his profile says nothing of him (or her) being the moderator - I recieved my Zotac GF8200-C-E Motherboard - a quick look at the documentation - Zotac are not Asus! There will be a review of the ITX project posted later (see link below).
The links to these quotes were on my website, they will be republished on this blog.
My intention is to use an AMD 550 (95W) on the Zotac itx board - I purchased the m/b with a 190W AMD Phenom II X4 965 (which is going to be used in my "7 Box") - this would be "pushing it"
The jury seems to be out on that one - but it does highlight a number of points.
The TDP is a "nominal" or a maximum value for the specified processor (it is likely that your processor will consume less power and processors can be selected from production runs for units that exhibit low power consumption)
These processors can be sold at a premium or they can get re-branded as low TDP devices. Due to the nature of how Intel and AMD market their products it is not clear how this manifests itself. Those at review sites, such as Anandtech, can speculate on this - but it will probably remain unknown to the exact state of affairs.
In any case, it is probably true that processors that have a lower TDP are not necessarily better capable to be overclocked. This seems to be the #1 concern of the "fanboys" on review sites.
NemesisChild On an AMD forum says: "Do your research!"
On the Zotac website: "GF8200-C-E with Phenom X3 8750 (95w TDP) 65w motherboard with 95w CPU" - this is the board I want to use a 95W, a poster comments:
"on here one person responds with a list of approved processors that says you can't use anything higher than 65w, but then it looks like a Zotac moderator says you can:"
The "Moderator" says:
"Any processor compatible with any AM2+ board should run fine. A BIOS update may be needed to recognize the name of processors released after the most most recent BIOS."
I am not sure that it does - I don't know that Infested Nexus is a Zotac Moderator (Update: Looking deaper on the Zotac website - Infested Nexus seems to be the main contributor - However, his profile says nothing of him (or her) being the moderator - I recieved my Zotac GF8200-C-E Motherboard - a quick look at the documentation - Zotac are not Asus! There will be a review of the ITX project posted later (see link below).
The links to these quotes were on my website, they will be republished on this blog.
My intention is to use an AMD 550 (95W) on the Zotac itx board - I purchased the m/b with a 190W AMD Phenom II X4 965 (which is going to be used in my "7 Box") - this would be "pushing it"
2 comments:
There is a reason why the Zotac GF8200 has a rating of up to 65W - it is an ITX motherboard!
The mini ITX was designed for use with low power consumption processors such as the Atom and other 45nm processors from Intel and AMD. Only recently have m/bs come on to the market that support 775 and AM2+/AM3 processor sockets.
It will probably be ok as long as you are not using the computer for heavy gaming (media reproduction is fine). My 65W Intel E8400 barely gets over 25W of processor power useage when being used for movies. However, it is not so easy to measure this and the E8400 is monitored using an Asus utility that came with the Asus P5Q-EM.
The AMD Forum NemesisChild comment (when you read the full posting on the AMD page) does not make sense! He talks about Mosfets - but clearly doesn't know what they are (or at least doesn't explain what they are and why they could cause to processor or motherboard to fail) It is more likley that the motherboard has not been designed to carry the current (or supply power over the 65W point) without having "beefed up" circuit board paths and an extra power supply header (as fitted to some of the larger motherboards and ATX power supplies) [an 8 pin EPS connector in Intel-speak]
I think that NemesisChild definitely knows what MOSFETs are and is just trying to appear knowledgeable.
The transistors that are responsible for the control of the power and operation of the CPU could be seriously affected if they are allowed to over-heat. Typically these components are placed close to the CPU socket so that they can be somewhat in thermal proximity to the processor. When the processor warms up the controlling circuitry will adjust voltages and fan speeds on the motherboard accordingly. If a processor that dissipates too much heat is used on a motherboard the MOSFETs (should they be so) may have a hard time doing their job and suffer a premature failure.
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