WARNING: T43/43P ATI & WD Scorpio docked 2 Monitor + Wi-Fi

[Maccess]

After experiencing a calamitous hard drive failure of a WD Scorpio where 20% of the sectors went bad, I learned the following:

WD Scorpio drives are very vulnerable to overheating according to this website:
http://datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd/we ... orpio+Blue

I'm not referring to the drive running hot, I'm referring to the drive running in a Hot environment--which is exactly what I've created by frequently using the T43 docked connected to dual 19" LCDs linked via Wi-Fi (hot running card next to HD) running multiple web browser tabs (20-50), various other rss feeds, etc. When it failed the computer had been running overnight--although ambient temperatures were in the cool 80s.

While WD drives generally have a good reputation, they may not be suitable for the T43, which has well known issues with internal heat. WD drives may work fine with other thinkpads which are cooler running at the HD area(e.g. T6x), but may be incompatible with the hot internals of a T43/p.

Seagate Momentus are reportedly more tolerant of hot environment, I'm also interested in finding out about Samsung Spinpoint drives in hot environments.

[RealBlackStuff]

Only some X60/X61 models are known to run hot due to their ex-factory wifi cards.
The problem there is easily resolved by swapping out the wifi card for a different one.

In the T4x series it's the Southbridge chip (big Intel chip under the wifi card) which can generate quite some heat.
The only solution I could see, would be to remove the wifi card altogether and put a passive heatsink on that SB chip.
Then use an ethernet cable to connect the laptop to your router (and forgo wireless).

And 20% of the HD sectors going bad all in one go sounds rather extreme...

[Maccess]

Yes, that's pretty extreme, so I thought until I read the link posted above. I was also running the t43 under very extreme conditions with every single chip running at very high loads: CPU (from all the flash on webpages), ATI (flash, dual monitors), Wi-Fi (shuttling data back and forth for constantly refreshing news & data feeds). I'm thinking of removing the Wi-Fi board, and just using a Cardbus or USB Wifi dongle when I need to--and use ethernet at home as you've suggested.

BTW, what is the Wi-Fi board you've mentioned as a cooler replacement for the factory unit in the X60/61? will it work in the T43? I think I already have the Intel Wi-Fi card, according to this thread it's cooler than the Atheros Wi-Fi Card

I've had this laptop for nearly five years--it doesn't get as hot in the office with airconditioning AND wired ethernet--although the dock and monitor configuration is identical.

[RealBlackStuff]

X6x series use a MiniPCI-e(xpress) card such as Intel Advanced-N 6200 as opposed to a MiniPCI card such as Intel 2200BG as used in the T4x.
These are not compatible.

[automobus]

I'm not referring to the drive running hot, I'm referring to the drive running in a Hot environment--which is exactly what I've created by frequently using the T43 docked…

Seagate Momentus are reportedly more tolerant of hot environment, I'm also interested in finding out about Samsung Spinpoint drives in hot environments.

In T23, the HDD is directly above the memory slots; in T23, the HDD can surely get hot. But T43? Not very likely. The HDD is in a corner all by itself.

If heat really worries you, then you should be looking for better disks than Seagate/WD consumer models! Consider Hitachi Endurastar or Toshiba commercial/automotive grade drives. Such drives feature enhanced reliability, in a trade-off for high performance.

[Maccess]

The connector end of the T43 can get quite hot from the Southdridge Chip & Wi-Fi Card as explained by RealBlackStuff. Certainly much more heat than memory chips.

Thanks for the tips on the automotive grade hard drives. I shall look for one.
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Things I've found help lower internal temperatures of docked machines:
1) Open the lid while it's docked. (You'll need to use ATI catalyst or Presentation manager to keep the image on both externals.
2) Use Rightmark to lower the VID (CPU Voltage)
Tutorial: http://www.notebookforums.com/t/70943/s ... m-m-dothan
Note: I never got the voltage as low as he did! Mine is stable at 1.180V (so its set at 1.196). It makes a 7-10 degree diference in CPU operating Temp!
3) Place a heatsink under the entire bottom front of the laptop that touches the area of the southbridge. Basically you can dump heat towards the PCCard cage---> to avoid over heating the hard drive (which is what started this thread in the first place).
4) Set ATI Powerplay to ON, set to "balanced" not maximum performance when plugged in. There is hardly any difference in performance but 5 degrees cooler gpu