Power draw varies wildly by load—idle Proxmox sips ~20-60W system-wide (CPU ~10-30W), but Ollama inference spikes to 200-500W+ with GPUs dominating. Tune BIOS ECO modes and C-states for your homelab efficiency.
TDP Breakdown
These are CPU package TDP/max ratings; real Proxmox idle draws 10-40W per CPU, load hits 80-90% TDP under VMs/multi-threading.
- Ryzen 9 7950X: 170W TDP—eco mode caps ~105W for 5-10% perf hit, idles ~15-25W. Killer for single-node labs.
- Threadripper PRO 7965WX: 350W TDP—scales to 300W+ under load, idles ~30-50W; efficient per core for multi-VM.
- EPYC 9554: 360W TDP—cluster king, but idles higher (~40-60W); Proxmox loves the cores despite juice.
Power Scenarios
| CPU | Idle (Proxmox) | Ollama Load | Full Tips proxmox+1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 7950X | 15-25W | 100-160W | ECO BIOS, disable unused PCIe |
| Threadripper PRO 7965WX | 30-50W | 250-350W | C-states on, RAM power down |
| EPYC 9554 | 40-60W | 300W+ | Undervolt if possible, cluster optimize |
