I'm noticing that my Intel i9 14th gen CPU is drawing around 70 watts when I hardly have any apps open. This seems really high to me, especially since my CPU temperature has risen by over 20°C in just a few months. Could this power usage be related to the temperature increase?
2 Answers
It seems like your CPU might be automatically boosting due to having some performance headroom, which is likely contributing to the heat you're seeing. If you want to reduce power usage, consider tweaking your power plan. You can limit CPU usage to 99% instead of 100%, but keep in mind that it could reduce your performance.
At idle, you really should see your CPU using less than 30 watts if everything is working as it should. It sounds like your CPU might be in a boosted state instead of idling properly.
How do I go about changing that?