Let's get to the crux, here: > Unless your "typical load" used for determining TDP does not actually make use of the full number of cores > If the 4 core actu

Let's get to the crux, here: > Unless your "typical load" used for determining TDP does not actually make use of the full number of cores > If the 4 core actually needs to dissipate 140W under a typical use case, then the 6 core should absolutely need to dissipate more unless the "typical use case" is uselessly applied. Taken from Intel's own specs for the E5-1650: "Thermal Design Power (TDP) represents the average power, in watts, the processor dissipates when operating at Base Frequency with all cores active under an Intel-defined, high-complexity workload. Refer to Datasheet for thermal solution requirements." Immediately notice "Base Frequency", not Max Turbo, "all cores active", and "Intel-defined, high-complexity workload." Until you can perform the same test on both chips, you cannot assume that "these two processors should be dissimilar under any load." In regard to your car analogy, if the sport version had a management interface to limit speed due to the rating on the tires, then it would be like an Intel CPU. Read this: http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/guides/xeon-e5-v3-thermal-guide.pdf http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/...