Long / Short cooler question

[urgan]

Hi all, i've read this forum many times, but this my first post ever.
I've bought a T42 with Ati 7500 that I want to keep working as long/best as possible.
Since I've had parts from a T41 too, and had to assemble it anyway, I've replaced the short cooler with a long one from the T41 (ati 9000).
Was this a stupid thing to do (just read the 7500 it's not intended to be covered by the cooler) ?
I've other thinkpads like a 600E, a T61, a 200s (and some 390/38x odd ones) so this is not for heavy working, but really want it to last. Should I lower the GPU clock too, or this will not do anything ?
Sorry for my english, I'm unsually tired today.

[sktn77a]

I can't see it doing any harm if the contact between the heatsink and the GPU is good. Might even help, although not from the obvious standpoint. The T4x series has a potential issue with the solder connections from the GPU to the motherboard. I may be that heat from the GPU, combined with the flexing of the motherboard and the use of early lead-free (RoHS) solder, leads to solder joint failure and the dreaded "GPU" syndrome.

So hopefully, your mod will help reduce the thermal stress component of this potential issue.

[urgan]

Thanks sktn77a
I was aware of this problem and I'm trying to avoid, that's why I switched the coolers.

What temperatures should I be expecting as normal ? What threshold is considered dangerous ?

Did anyone tried using a cooper pentium cpu cooler on top of the gpu, possibly soldered on the long cooler instead of the thermal pad ?
Would it be more efficient than the thermal or the heat from the cpu would be harmful ?
They do have similar sizes, not sure about the height, though. The problem I see is the 7500 chips may not be even, it's not a single chip like the 9000, and the contact may not be very good.

[ajkula66]

Two things here...

Don't flex the chassis if you can help it, e.g. always pick the laptop up with both hands.

Secondly, try to minimize the number of heating/cooling cycles. All of my T4x machines (along with my A31p units that are prone to GPU issues as well) are always on. I just turn the LCD off when it's not in use.

Hope this helps.

[krayzie]

Sorry to thread jack but I've recently got a replacement long fan for my T43 but the heatsink part for the GPU seems to be smaller than the ATI X300 heat spreader (fan was probably made for another ATI chip) would that be okay in the long run? The ACPI temp sensor seems to be around the same range (high 40C to low 50C idle and 60C-ish on full load). BTW I can only achieve these temps with undervolting the Pentium M 2.0Ghz chip (the Arctic Silver 5 grease didn't seem to work any better than stock grease) or else I can hit 95C easy when watching a DVD and cause an overheat shutdown even before the old stock long fan started buzzing lol!

[ajkula66]

@krayzie:

There's something very wrong with the picture that you're painting of your T43. Machines with 2.0 CPU, with no undervolting, shouldn't idle higher than 40-42C.

FWIW, when I watch DVDs on my T43p, which has a hotter CPU as well as GPU, it never goes over 60C. I'll post the results for the standard T43 with 2.0 CPU once I install the hard drive, but it should be nowhere near what you're describing.

Find a proper heatsink.

Re-apply the thermal paste.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[urgan]

thanks ajkula66 that makes sense, I only knew about the 2 hands.

May I nag you with some more questions ?

Do you think is benefic (again as preventive measure) use something to "pad/press" the gpu down like I read in somewhere, or is it irrelevant ?

Is a A21 type 2628 worth collecting (price is good but needs repair) ?

Do you know if there is any other model that has a screen compatible witha 390X ?

Sorry if I'm abusing ...

[ajkula66]

I wouldn't be using anything to press on the GPU...

The only fairly collectible A2x series in my book are A2xp models, but even they feel very long in the tooth with anything more recent than Windows 2000...

Collector's items from that era would be 240Z, S30 and S31...

No clue on 390 series LCD compatibility, but I'm sure that someone could answer your question in the "legacy hardware" part of the forum.

Good luck.

[urgan]

thank you ajkula66

[Paul Pennington]

< Do you know if there is any other model that has a screen compatible with a 390X?

If you're talking about screen resolution, any ThinkPad with XGA (1024 x 768) would look about the same.

If you're talking about removing the screen and putting it in another ThinkPad, I doubt if that would work.

Paul Pennington
Augusta, Georgia

[urgan]

@Paul
I was actually hoping there was a screen panel in some other model that had the same connections, (even if the FRU is not shared with any model) and replace the smashed one it keeping the original bezel, inverter.
Since I'm not in the US, it's easier/cheaper to find a legacy thinkpad and reuse parts, than buying replacements.

Thanks,

[ajkula66]

I'm all for re-using, but do bear in mind that a screen on 390 series machine is likely to be about ten years old, and reaching the end of its natural life...

[urgan]

You are probably right ajkula66, but I just can't afford do spend a lot of money, so I will only fix if I find parts just as cheap laptop was, I have no real use for it.

Regarding the Japan models they are almost impossible to find here, but I'll keep an eye for the 240.

Been reading a little more about the A31p, and it seems a very nice thinkpad, NASA certified and all.
I do have a lot of stuff for it because I bought a IBM bag once for 5€ and the owner filled it with every IBM Thinkpad item he had including charger, a car charger, 2 cd drives, 1 floppy and a dock station and PC66 simms he had and other items).
The 2628 I asked about it's actually an 14" A22m and is missing a key and drive caddy (at least) but the seller doesn't know if works and won't even take it apart because she's afraid to damage anything.
Since it's a PIII@850, I was thinking I could at least try to use it in my PII@366 600E (my first thinkpad, got it for free and one of the best looking IMO).

I didn't mean to hijack my own thread, sorry mods, but it's very nice talking with you all, and you all have so much knowledge that I took a chance.

[RealBlackStuff]

That PIII CPU will NOT work in the 600E.

[krayzie]

@ ajkula66

Thanks for the advise. I've found out that I can hit the range of temperature you're describing with or without undervolting on my Pentium M 2.0Ghz T43 if I run it off battery power using either power optimized profile or maximum battery life profile, then it would idle at around 40C to 42C. As soon as I plug in the AC Adaptor and run it with maximium performance profile, it can only idle as low as 49C with undervolting (2Ghz @ 1.068V) and at prolonged full load will be at most 67C and never go over. I'm thinking maybe there is something wrong with the motherboard or my table which is black in color?

I'll most likely buy another headsink / fan assembly next month.

[urgan]

@RealBlackStuff
Thanks, I was about to bid on it, auction ended today.
I'll have to read the thread again and search for explanations for the MMC2 references.
Is it because it's an 600E and can only use 66Mhz or it's the chipset ?
I had idea it was possible if board ram was disabled.
But good call, thank you. (sorry for posting this on the wrong section )

[RealBlackStuff]

Here is all the dirt on 600 CPU upgrades: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=4118

[urgan]

I know this thread and reread it. But I don't get the reason, I'm sorry.
This what I was using for reference.
http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/Legacy-Think ... /m-p/70355

[RealBlackStuff]

You can not normally put this PIII 850 in a 600E.
That's why I said it wouldn't work.
I was also not aware of the extensive fiddling and modding by hard-core enthusiasts.
I'm sorry if I spoiled a possible good deal for you on eBay.

[urgan]

@RealBlackStuff
No worry. I've bought from her before and I have her contact if she doesn't reauction it.
She has quite a few thinkpads to sell which she always describes as IBM pentium 3 for parts (sometimes she's right) but she doesn't know which parts do work/are missing and she doesn't know how to dissamble them, which is a good thing anyway.

I think she divorced a forum member ...