My new PC

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ApacheKid

Joined Jan 12, 2015
1,533
I built a new PC recently, been ten years since my last build and it was time for a second box. I wanted to buy one ready built but with the specs I was looking at these were hugely expensive so I decided to just build it and save a grand or more.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing here is that I have some AMD software installed (Ryzen Master) that reports lots of info about the CPU including current draw.

I was astonished to learn that the CPU routinely draws 95 Amps when busy, I guess I should have expected that for a device that can consume over 100 watts and runs at just over 1V but it did catch me by surprise.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,845
CPU routinely draws 95 Amps when busy, I guess I should have expected that for a device that can consume over 100 watts and runs at just over 1V
Yep, that's why the motherboard has those multiphase VRMs - generating and distributing that sort of current is non-trivial - and its what still, to a large extent, separates a great MB from a just OK one!
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
The huge power consumption is why those processors have those large fan cooled heat sinks. The high current is because of the very high frequency of the switching inside the processor, coupled with the low power. Charging junction capacitance takes POWER.
And the reason for needing such a high clocking speed is at least partly due to such poorly written programs and the hugely bloated operating system. For a comparison, if you had to travel from Houston, Texas to Dallas Texas by way of Bangor, Main, in just one hour you would need to go a lot faster. The same with bloated code.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,845
And the reason for needing such a high clocking speed is at least partly due to such poorly written programs and the hugely bloated operating system.
Whilst there is some truth to that, many programs, particularly for FEA, CFD and other simulation software is highly optimised and independent of the operating system.

My new PC (Intel i9-12900k, 24-cores) is significantly faster than my 10y old i7-970 which it replaced earlier this year. Ignoring the 4Tbyte M2 SSD instead of HDD, and 64G RAM up from 16G there's virtually no obvious speed improvement on Windows, because the I7-970 was already way faster than I can perceive on non-hardware limited activity. But running simulations is a whole new ball-game... there's something very satisfying about watching all 24 cores ramp up to max speed (4.2GHz mildly overclocked) and complete in a few minutes what used to take a couple of hours or more before - and hardly a sound from the water-cooled case.

Edit: Most Windows\office\day-to-day activity results in <10% usage of 1 core at 50% speed.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
It is not the portion of the capability that is the problem. The flaw is just poor, inefficient, non-optimized programming, no apology offered. No marrer how fast and how capable your computer is, poorly written programs will demand very fast execution speeds to deliver merely adequate performance. And that is why each generation of computer must run so much faster to deliver the same performance. LA to Frisco by way of Seattle, Key West and New York City, it will take longer no matter how fast you fly.
 
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