Lower Power Processors

In the absence of a true standard measure of processor efficiency comparable to the U.S. Department of Transportation fuel efficiency standard for automobiles, Thermal Design Power (TDP) serves as a proxy for server power consumption. The typical TDP of processors in use today is between 80 and 103 Watts (91 W average). For a price premium, processor manufacturers provide lower voltage versions of their processors that consume on average 30 Watts less than standard processors. Independent research studies show that these lower power processors deliver the same performance as higher power models. In a 5,000-square-foot data center model, these low-power processors create a 10 percent reduction in overall data center power consumption.