Idle power consumption of that chip should be around 10-15 watts, not 90-100. That's just crazy.
Unless you're measuring full system power consumption... in which case you have other things to think about than just the CPU.... the chipset and graphics card for example. An intel system will typically have an intel GPU, which is super weakness and probably doesn't eat much power... so on a wall socket power consumption measurement, an intel system, even with a CPU that eats more power, might still have a lower "full system" power consumption.
Note: according to this: http://www.behardware.com/articles/7...0-and-630.html --- that athlon 630 draws 12.6 at idle and 80.4 full out.
The fact that there is more to the story than the CPU.1) Why is AMD K10 draining so much more in performance per watt than Core or even Core2Duo? Whats the reason behind so much difference?
Again, more to the story than just the CPU!!!2) Will there be any change with Bulldozer?
Error margin to ensure maximum stability for everyone, including chips that are a little "out"... improves yields and saves money (for them).3) Why is Athlon II X4 spec'ed at 1.4v when it runs with 1.25v (or even 1.20v if u do internet search) just fine?