CPU power dissipation

CPU power dissipation or Central processing unit power dissipation is the process in which Central processing units (or CPUs) consume electrical energy, and dissipate this energy by both the action of the switching devices contained in the CPU (such as transistors or vacuum tubes) and via the energy lost in the form of heat due to the resistivity of the electrical circuits. Designing CPUs that perform these tasks efficiently without overheating is a major consideration in nearly all CPU manufacturers to date.

Some implementations of CPUs use very little power, for example, the CPUs in mobile phones often use just a few hundred milliwatts of electricity. In comparison, CPUs in general purpose microcomputers dissipate significantly more power because of their higher complexity and speed. These microelectronic CPUs may consume power in the order of tens of watts. Historically, early CPUs implemented with vacuum tubes consumed power in the order of many kilowatts.

.