AMD introduces new CPU metric
Consumers of semiconductors often rely on the metric given as a specification to decide their purchase as they believe the metric tells them useful information regarding the semiconductor. This has not always been the case as one company pushes one metric over the other. The secret is ensuring the public believe the metric you use has value. Of course the real secret is knowing the semiconductor device you need for a specific task. Once again the manufacturers are vying for new metrics to better inform the consumer of the real power behind their purchase.
AMD has introduced the Average CPU Power (ACP) metric, which represents processor power usage, including cores, integrated memory controller, and HyperTransport technology links, while running a suite of typical and relevant commercially useful high utilization workloads to be more indicative of the power consumption that end-users can expect. ACP is a useful metric for data center operators when estimating power budgets to size their datacenters. AMD will continue to provide thermal design power (TDP) specifications to platform designers in AMD power and thermal datasheets.
AMD has stated their new Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are measured at the 55- and 75-watt ACP. For system designers, AMD will continue to state its TDP specifications.