{"id":420847,"date":"2022-03-24T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2022-03-24T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T12:00:00","slug":"buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"#Buying a Laptop? GPU TDP Is an Important Spec, Here\u2019s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4075ef3851f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4075ef3851f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/#%E2%80%9CBuying_a_Laptop_GPU_TDP_Is_an_Important_Spec_Heres_Why%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Buying a Laptop? GPU TDP Is an Important Spec, Here\u2019s Why&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/#What_Is_TDP\" >What Is TDP?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/#What_Does_TDP_Mean_in_a_Laptop\" >What Does TDP Mean in a Laptop?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/#The_Problem_With_Modern_Laptop_GPU_Ratings\" >The Problem With Modern Laptop GPU Ratings<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/#Look_to_the_Benchmarks\" >Look to the Benchmarks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBuying_a_Laptop_GPU_TDP_Is_an_Important_Spec_Heres_Why%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Buying a Laptop? GPU TDP Is an Important Spec, Here\u2019s Why&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage size-full wp-image-788651\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/laptop-burning-fire.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/laptop-burning-fire.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/laptop-burning-fire.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A laptop on fire, engulfed in flames.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/laptop-computer-engulfed-flames-burning-677472424\">Ben Romalis\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Your laptop GPU often has a \u201cTDP\u201d or\u00a0<em>Thermal Design Power\u00a0<\/em>number buried in its specifications, measured in watts. It\u2019s easy to gloss over, but TDP could be a key performance number that you overlook at your own peril.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_TDP\"><\/span>What Is TDP?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Thermal Design Power (or sometimes\u00a0<em>Profile)\u00a0<\/em>is essentially the heat budget of a processor. It\u2019s designed to generate up to that amount and no more. TDP isn\u2019t quite the same as the amount of power that a processor like a GPU uses, but it\u2019s in that ballpark.<\/p>\n<p>What TDP is really about is cooling, If a GPU has a TDP of 100W, then it needs a cooling solution that can handle 100W of heat energy and move it out of the system quickly enough to prevent GPU throttling or even an emergency shutdown.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Does_TDP_Mean_in_a_Laptop\"><\/span>What Does TDP Mean in a Laptop?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Laptops have to be power efficient, they have all their components squashed into an incredibly tight space, and they don\u2019t have much room for cooling systems. This means the cooling system that fits in a given laptop chassis puts a limit on the TDP that its CPU or GPU can reach.<\/p>\n<p>The higher the TDP for a component, the faster it can run, the longer it can run under heavy loads, and the more power it can use to do it. In other words, if you have two 100% identical GPUs, but one has a TDP of 65W and the other 130W, there can be a massive difference between them when it comes to performance.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Problem_With_Modern_Laptop_GPU_Ratings\"><\/span>The Problem With Modern Laptop GPU Ratings<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Knowing a laptop\u2019s GPU TDP matters now more than ever. Why? It all has to do with how GPU makers, NVIDIA in particular, are naming their mobile GPUs. In the past, you would get different names for the low-TDP and high-TDP variants of a GPU. For example, the GTX 1080 Max-Q performs about <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.notebookcheck.net\/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1080-Max-Q-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.224730.0.html\">10-15% slower<\/a> than the normal model.<\/p>\n<p>With the latest generation of NVIDIA GPUs, the difference in names is gone. Instead, each GPU can be set by the laptop manufacturer for a specific TDP. The RTX 3060 mobile GPU ranges from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techpowerup.com\/gpu-specs\/geforce-rtx-3060-mobile.c3757\">80W to 115W<\/a> with eight TDP levels in total. The 80W card has a GPU clock range of 900-1425 MHz, and the 115W variant ranges from 1387-1702 MHz. That\u2019s a big difference in clock speed, without any indication in the name pointing to that difference.<\/p>\n<p>The good <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> is that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/2\/5\/22266921\/nvidia-requiring-companies-share-clock-speed-power-gaming-laptop-rtx-30-series-gpu-specs\">NVIDIA now requires TDP figures to be published<\/a> in gaming laptop specification sheets. However, if you don\u2019t know what the number means or that you should pay attention to it, you\u2019re not really any better off.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Look_to_the_Benchmarks\"><\/span>Look to the Benchmarks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The best way to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach buying a laptop with a modern GPU in it is to look at the laptop specification sheet and see what TDP that GPU is rated for as well as the clock speed range. Following this, you should compare it to the range of possible TDPs for that GPU and see where in the stack your prospective GPU falls.<\/p>\n<p>However, the most important thing is to look for benchmarks between the different TDP levels for a given GPU. If at all possible, you should find benchmarks for the specific laptop model you\u2019re looking to buy. Buying a high-performance laptop is a big investment and you don\u2019t want to find out that your low-TDP variant falls short of what could have been a great performance.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, if you prefer a cooler-running laptop with longer battery life, you might actually\u00a0<em>want<\/em> the low-TDP variant of that movie processor. What\u2019s important is getting the hardware that you actually wanted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/785896\/buying-a-laptop-gpu-tdp-is-an-important-spec-heres-why\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Buying a Laptop? GPU TDP Is an Important Spec, Here\u2019s Why&#8221; Ben Romalis\/Shutterstock.com Your laptop GPU often has a \u201cTDP\u201d or\u00a0Thermal Design Power\u00a0number buried in its specifications, measured in watts. It\u2019s easy to gloss over, but TDP could be a key performance number that you overlook at your own peril. What Is TDP? The Thermal&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":420848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/laptop-burning-fire.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-420847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}