Quote Originally Posted by Tiridum View Post
perf/watt is very good for nehalem, power draw is not....
Here is how Intel views "power draw".

Figure 3 there shows Intels statistical thermal analysis of MPUs across application workloads ->



Generally, the TDP target is determined as a function of the anticipated thermal stress load the processor will encounter, which in turn is a function of the application software run on the processor. For example, FIG. 3 shows a graph of CPU power vs. number of applications, which is illustrative of a typical power consumption vs. application type distribution. Generally, each application program has its own unique power profile, although the profile has some variability due to loop decisions, I/O activity and interrupts. The graph illustrates a statistical distribution based on averaged application power consumption.
US Patent 7275012 - Automated method and apparatus for processor thermal validation