The only true way to gauge cpu power consumption is just before the voltage regulators. When tested this way the results are often surprising.
Lost Circuits has the P4 840EE 3.2MHz (Smithfield) consuming 147W at load, while having an actual rated TDP of 130W. I only observed power consumption becoming a major purchasing point after it also became a concern of Intel. Or perhaps AMD isn't as good at marketing their assets, and will only ever be known for their shortcomings. For instance, I would often go looking for power consumption numbers, as little as 2 years ago, only to find speed benchmarks instead.
BTW, the Phenom 9850 tested 101.2W at load, with an rated TDP of 125W. And yet AMD is beaten up for their latest "more realistic" thermal scheme. Now to be fair here we must also ascertain power consumption of the 780G Radeon HD 3200 IGP, and factor this into the power equation, or deny the laws of physics and thermodynamics. And a micro ATX is also going to have 25 percent less real estate for traces, meaning lower voltage threshold. Cheaper mosfets, as found in any budget or value boards, will have a higher rds(on) and therefore have more waste heat to dissapate. Guess I'm just looking for a little more parity and fairness in any criticisms and reviews.
http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_phenom9850/5.shtml
idle - load - stated TDP
=========================================
24W - 73.6W - 95W ---------- Phenom 9600 (2.3 GHz)
30W - 101.1W - 125W ------- Phenom 9850 (2.5 GHz)
34.8 - 115.6W - 140W ------- Phenom 9900 (2.6 GHz)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
8.0W - 30.4W - 45W -----------Athlon X2 BE-2350 Brisbane (2.1 GHz)
8.4W - 30.8W - 89W ---------- Athlon 64 3800+ Venice (2.4 GHz)
????? - 60.4W - 104W --------- Athlon 64 FX-57 San Diego (2.8 GHz)
35.2W - 99.8W - 125W -------- Athlon 64 FX-62 Windsor (2.8 GHz)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
48.4W - 115.2W - 130W ---------- P4 820 D Smithfield (2.8 GHz)
57.2W - 121.2W - 130W ---------- P4 670 Prescott
54.0W - 147.2W - 130W ---------- P4 840EE Smithfield
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
20.4W - 53.6W - 65W ------------- C2D E6700 Conroe (2.7GHz)
21.2W - 64.8W - 130W------------ C2 QX9650 Yorkfield (3.0 GHz)
?????? - 114.4W - 136W ---------- C2 QX9700 Yorkfield (3.2 GHz)
24.8W - 114.8W - 130W ---------- C2 QX6700 Kentsfield (2.7 GHz)
67.2W - 118.4W - 130W ---------- C2 QX6850 Kentsfield (3.0GHz)