A system for setting a power cap state is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of power monitor sensors generating power monitor sensor data and a plurality of thermal monitor sensors generating thermal monitor sensor data. A controller has a plurality of inputs configured to receive the power monitor sensor data and the thermal monitor sensor data, to assign a priority to one of two or more power cap states and to generate a control signal. A power limiting circuit coupled to the controller is configured to receive the control signal and to modify one or more power settings.