Last week Intel unleashed a lot of info on the Comet Lake-based laptop processors. However, when you zoom in on the specifications a bit further, you're going to stumble into some remarkable things. The documentation shows that Intel set a maximum power limit of 135W on its Core i9-10980HK processor for notebooks.
Now, the reality is that this level of consumption will likely never be reached due to power target limits, but 107W, when all cores are under load consistently and simultaneously, is a given fact for the 8-core part. Btw it is labeled as being a 45 Watt TDP mobile processor. Add to that the GPU power consumption btw, so you're looking at 200~250 Watts with an RTX 2080 or something in that genre.
New information also has become available on the Thermal Velocity Boost, which confused many people as it is yet another boost mode, further limited on temperature. But basically, it looks great to show 5+ GHz as a label on a box.
So Thermal Velicity Boost raises the clock boost frequency on a single thread by 100MHz if the processor temperature is between 65C and 85C, however, if the temperature is below 65C, that value is 200MHz. So the reality of the 5.3 GHz Turbo boost is simple, it is on a single thread core and the advertised 5.3GHz is achieved only when the CPU is below 65c, which we think would be rare with a laptop CPU and it's limited cooling. BTW after 85 Degrees C that turbo will be 5.1 GHz single core.
I do feel all the turbo's and related power/temp targets are becoming a huge confusing flurry just to mention that frequency on the box, which is good for sales and showing muscle. Real-world numbers will be different. It's still, of course, an 8-core part in the 5 GHz range, which is an amazing value for mobile all by itself.
 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Cores/threads | Clock speed | Max. turbo | TDP | Overclockable | Cache |
| Intel Core i9 10980HK | 8/16 | 2.4 GHz | 5.3 GHz | 45 W. | Yes | 16 MB |
| Intel Core i7 10875H | 8/16 | 2.3 GHz | 5.1 GHz | 45 W. | No | 16 MB |
| Intel Core i7 10850H | 6/12 | 2.7 GHz | 5.1 GHz | 45 W. | Limited | 12 MB |
| Intel Core i7 10750H | 6/12 | 3.6 GHz | 5.0 GHz | 45 W. | No | 12 MB |
| Intel Core i5 10400H | 4/8 | 2.6 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 45 W. | No | 8 MB |
| Intel Core i5 10300H | 4/8 | 2.5 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 45 W. | No | 8 MB |
Laptop Core i9-10980HK CPU has a power allowance of 135 Watts
