Essentially yes. The higher the work load the part the more power it will use, same with a Graphics cards, hard drives. Idle desktop might be say 35W for a GPU compared to gaming with 85 - 100% load it could use anywhere up to 300 - 500W depending on GPU model etc.
Download something like HWINFO64 or GPU-Z and it will list the Pc's different components power draw, voltages, temps etc.
** It's also why a graphics card with a recommended PSU of 700W might work in in a system with only a 550W doing light desktop / video play back but crash or glitch when gaming under full load.
@JimmyRuddle wrote:
Does the required wattage of a CPU get drawn constantly, or is that the maximum used ? If I edit 4k video for 2 hrs so the processor is going like the clappers, then spend another 2 hrs just using Word, will wattage use be less ? Am I getting confused with current, so the cpu draws more current when it has to process more data, but the wattage stays constant ? I still can't get my head around watts and current. I've read that it can be represented as water pipes - the wattage is the diameter of the pipe and the current is the flow of water. The CPU might need x wattage to operate ( so it needs x sized hole ), but it's the process ( video editing or word processing ) that uses more/less current and the current determines the running costs, not the watts.
