Hi all,

since several months my X220 gets really hot. What most annoys me is the fan trying to cool the machine running at full speed. This behavior does not require a fully loaded CPU, listening to music and browsing the web are sufficient. The fan runs not only when the machine is placed on the isolating sofa, but also when on a desk.

Currently (idle) the thermal sensor says 62degC, yesterday when occasionally doing some number crunching it was over 80degC.

Also I have the impression that the battery is drained rather quickly.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Setup: X220, core i7, native Linux (Suse12.1, gnome).

My first approach would be to clean the fan, but before I dig into the machine I wanted to hear whether the small machine is maybe not well vented for the i7...

thanks for your help
Hecke

X220 ventilation is fine for an I7.

What version of the BIOS are you running in your X220? If you haven't updated the BIOS for a while, you should definitely do that now

Cheers,

Bill B.

Hi Bill,

a BIOS update is definitely worth a look. Thanks for the hint!

Is there a way to have the BIOS tweaks for the enhanced experience with it?
When I look at the time it takes for the bootloader to show up, it seems like I got a very generic BIOs with my X220 (which was shipped without OS).

best regards
Hecke

EE is a set of tweaks in the factory win 7 preload and not directly related to the BIOS.   the only way to make your BIOS load any faster is to disable the legacy BIOS, switch to UEFI mode, and install everything on GPT partitions.

besides not running the latest BIOS/ECP combo as bill suggested, part of the heat could be due to how linux handles power management.   have you had the same issues with heat while using windows and the lenovo power management driver?

Hi guys,

sorry to interrupt your debate.

First, thanks for the additional hints.

Then my status:
- Actually, the air vented by the fan is very hot and the back left corner of the machine is no longer comfortable on my legs, so i guess that heat transport from the CPU is going well.
- I tried a BIOS update but failed to produce a CD the X220 would boot from. Scary. But i did not have the time to go into depth there. I do not need a windows partition for the BIOS update CD to be recognized by the machine, do I? I'll next try to put the image into my boot menu, let's see.
- I have no windows on that machine, so no comparison to or tweaks related to windows are possible.

Overall I have the impression that something in the machine is producing more heat than usual. And it seems not the be the CPU speeds which i monitor...

thanks again,
Hecke

the BIOS CD is OS independent.   assuming the CD is in your boot device list, hit F12 at POST and select the CD from the menu to make sure your boot order isn't what's preventing it from booting.

it would be interesting to test your system with windows and the power management driver installed to see if linux has anything to do with your temps.

you might also try setting CPU power management in the BIOS at "maximum battery" to force it to run at lower voltages.   you mentioned above that your battery is drained quickly and this is typically the result of higher CPU speeds and voltages.

Hi Erik,

i got the CD running. It was the common admin voodoo, I usually encounter the other way round: When my colleague agreed to take a look and sat down, the CD was nicely recognized and booted fine.

Now I have the new BIOS and can start tweaking it. Thanks for the CPU power management hint. Will this affect performance when I need it?

Subjectively the machine feels cooler now, the sensor says something between 53 and 59degC when not on full load.

Concerning the battery I will have a look at the charge and discharge statistics. As I usually need it only for riding to work with the sleeping machine, I use the 4cell battery. With 8GB of RAM it may be drained also rather quickly when sleeping I guess. Resuming after 6hours of sleep on battery only, I am left with less than one hour of browsing, and listening to music...

thanks
Hecke