Quote Originally Posted by qurious63ss View Post
I see. Well the method I was talking about uses the formula P=I*E. So Watts is a function of current and voltage. The way you are getting wattage numbers is by reading how much heat a chip generates?
Correct - the 'I' you are measuring may or may not be going to the CPU, and likewise you don't know what 'E' actually gets supplied internally, but there is no question about the heat load.

Here's a good write-up on heatsink characterization by some guys who actually know what they are doing:
http://www.frostytech.com/testmethod_mk2.cfm