T30, P4, and Heat!

[emeraldgirl08]

Guys what is the deal with the P4 and heat? I really love my T30 even though it's underpowered to do things I would like! I'm asking because it seems to get very hot when I attempt to run even basic things like a virus scan. I generally don't like to use any program that sends my temps into the upper sixties. The only time I've seen it go high was when attempting to burn an avi file to DVD. Also when transcoding 320 kb/s songs to 192 kb/s. Those apps sent my temps into the upper 60 C's and even a 70 C which prompted me to abort the operation!!! The music I can do if I do them one song at a time. I know that multimedia is out on this laptop but now when I'm virus scanning and that's sending my laptops temps high- it brings me down!

Am I going to have to take this apart and do some maintenance work on it? Like new thermal pasting etc? Or do I just sell my T30 and go for an Pentium M or shell out for the Core 2 Duo? The problem is finances... I can't really afford the Core 2 Duo and buying one would just clean me out!

I'm at a loss guys. Any inexpensive suggestions?

[sjthinkpader]

P-M run hot too. My wife's R52 integrated GPU ran into 80's with YouTube.

intel chips are rated for 90 deg C. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[emeraldgirl08]

I think that 90's are critical temps!

You may want to watch out! If anyone knows where I can get some Arctic Silver online could you let me know? I think that for an older machine it may be time to put on some fresh thermal compound and clean out the fan anyway especially since I live in a high desert environment.

[RealBlackStuff]

$6.45 with free shipping (from CA)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Arctic-Silver-5-Hig ... 0434560289

PS: does your T30 have "air-slots" in the MiniPCI cover?
Shown in the left cover here: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T30-La ... 0341561412

[emeraldgirl08]

Thanks RBS!

and Yes my T30 has the slots.

[ajkula66]

Well, let's start from what I see as the bottom of the issue:

a) P4M CPUs do run hot, and given their low (for today's use) 512MB cache, can be easily strained with different applications. Having said that, they are well-known to run at high temperatures for extended periods of time with no damage incurred.

b) You may want to consider getting a stronger fan for your T30, whether the CPU warrants it or not. Then re-apply AS and enjoy a brand new experience.

c) The real bottleneck of these machines (my opinion only) is their GPU, and you might get extra heat from running any type of video applications.

d) TPFC versions 0.25 or 0.33 have worked pretty well on some of my past T30 units, as well as on many of their P4M siblings.

Hope this helps.

[jronald]

I posted this for someone else, but here it is again:

Keep in mind there are different exits slots also
My later model 2.0 has huge exhaust openings compared to my earlier 1.8/1.9
It probably would not hurt to remove the exit grill all together, if your a worry wort
Take it out and remove either every other upright, or all of the horizontal bars and reinstall it.
Dont forget the vented minipci cover either.
Also look real carefully at the grey 'sponge' they use on the heat sink.
Its supposed to seal top and bottom, many, many times it obscures the exits, move it back into place and button the machine up.
Finally, Arctic Silver the heatsink. use way less product than you think you should.
Install the heatsink, then take it back off and make sure it spread over the entire heat surface on the cpu

Ron

[nikki605]

I think that 90's are critical temps!

You may want to watch out! If anyone knows where I can get some Arctic Silver online could you let me know? I think that for an older machine it may be time to put on some fresh thermal compound and clean out the fan anyway especially since I live in a high desert environment.

I know you asked for an online source for Artic Silver, but its also sold at Radio Shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2216879

It may be a few bucks more, but if you want it sooner and there is a Radio Shack nearby, its another source to consider.

[emeraldgirl08]

@jronald- I don't want to take out any parts from my T30. If I'm going to give my T30 to anyone else I don't think that removing anything would be nice. Especially since I'm a novice at this stuff! I'm going to do the Arctic Silver though.

@nikki605- @ RadioShack??? That is real nice! There's a Radio Shack where I'm going today so I've definitely got to pick one of those up!

To everyone else- I've got the Hardware Maintenance Manual downloaded for reference. This is my first time that I'll dismantle my laptop so I'm "askeered" a little! I wonder if you guys have any suggestions or tips for applying the compound???

[nikki605]

...To everyone else- I've got the Hardware Maintenance Manual downloaded for reference. This is my first time that I'll dismantle my laptop so I'm "askeered" a little! I wonder if you guys have any suggestions or tips for applying the compound???

Keep track of the screws. Its easy to forget which screw went in which hole. As I take mine apart, I try to leave each screw in the hole of the assembly being removed. Follow the HMM step for step, its very precise in the sequence you must follow. Trust it, its very well written... for a reason.

[vanaya]

What I do to keep track of screws is to use "post-it" notes. I write down on top of note what part they are from, fold the note 1/3 of way. Then fold the corners to make a pocket. Put the screws in and fold again to keep screws from falling out. Finally tape down last fold so it stays down and you can read which part they are from. You can then transfer all the sticky notes in order on a sheet of paper for any additional notes.

[RealBlackStuff]

Just take a blank sheet of paper. Start removing the screws from thew bottom. As you take them out, use scotch tape to stick them onto the paper, and write down where they come from. Make any other notes as you dismantle it.
Work your way back when you re-assemble. Never have a single screw left over when I'm finished.
I made a template for the T23, because that's the one I work(ed) on most.

[t140568]

$6.45 with free shipping (from CA)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Arctic-Silver-5-Hig ... 0434560289

I just bought some of this from this exact seller. Well worth the $6.45.

[thinkpadinside]

lol i gave up on my t30 after a while. the heat was killing me (ya know, im a male )
video was awfully choppy, and the thing felt there was a fire inside. I agree with george, the video card is way to outdated to do anything video related. Pentium 4 is known for its heat and power issues. Best way to procede: Clean your heatsink and processor! get all that old thermal compound off! With some compressed air, clean out the dust out of your heat sink and surrounding motherboard. Apply a VERY thin coating of AS, to both the processor die and the heat sink (square area, its a bit raised in the middle of the heatsink). It brought my temps down about 5-10 degrees, well worth it. However, the damage was already done to my unit. LCD begain to have issues, ram began to act up, the thing is up for sale now

[emeraldgirl08]

@thinkpad inside- I know it's an old machine but it's been good to me so far! I didn't get a chance to pick one up today.... was in too much of a rush so maybe tomorrow! You must've been running yours severely! I don't let my temps go above sixty if I can't help it

I'll get a more recent comp soon. I just got to save up b/c I have classes coming up in the fall so I have tuition and books to pay for. I guess an easy solution for a replacement comp would be to sell this one. It doesn't leave my desk @ home, has a keyboard cover so the KB is like new, has added RAM, just recently put in an miniPCI b/g wireless, and it has some accessories I could throw in. Wonder how much I could get for this???

I have a friend who offered to sell me her Toshiba A100 for $200 bucks so I may take her up on that soon. I'm not sure if there's a trackpointer on that thing but C2D, more VRAM, and Widescreen make it seem worth it. I may just keep this and work something out with her. Sell the T30 a little later and get a T42/T41 and have a Toshiba A100 at the same time.

Hmmmm.

[ajkula66]

Chances are that after half an hour of typing on a Toshiba keyboard you'll be quite willing to throw it against the wall...

Nothing wrong with a good T30...and if you're saving money, save it for something worthwhile, either a classic T42/T43 with a FlexView LCD (if you find 15" machines acceptable) or a nice T60 which are dime-a-dozen nowadays...

The fan that I was referring to in my earlier post is FRU 91P8908...

Good luck.

[FragrantHead]

To the original poster ... wonder whether you still have your T30 and will read this. Anyhow, I think you're worrying about nothing in this case. I have a 2GHz T30 from new, on which I've used an old DOS program daily for the last 6 years (within Windows 2000). This keeps the CPU running at 100% all the time and sends it into the 70s Celsius all the time. The BIOS fan is programmed to not even kick in until this happens (!); it then stays on until the temp comes down again to about 40-something, if I remember right, provided the DOS program is killed and CPU is idle. Otherwise the fan just keeps running and temp remains in the high 60s. My machine has been very stable all along. No blue screens, no errors, nothing. The usual things have gone wrong, e.g. the front memory slot, a hard disk failing after a few years and, after about 4 1/2 years, a gradual fan failure (grinding noises), which I replaced myself with a second hand part. However no sign of CPU or graphics failure.

CPUs are rated differently. If I remember right, the desktop parts of the day (P4 Northwood) were rated up to 75C, but the laptop parts (P4-M), up to 100C. The IBM BIOS appears to reflect this, as the fan doesn't even kick in until early 70s, although the exact algorithm varies with the BIOS version. Mine is quite old, version 2.03b. At one point I upgraded it and noticed the fan came on more frequently and at higher RPM. I found this annoying and downgraded the BIOS again after a few days!

At another point in it's life I played Tomb Raider Legend on this Thinkpad quite a lot, a recent-ish game which I'm sure used hardware T&L and was maxxing out the capabilities of the machine. It used to really bring it to it's knees, the fan would kick into high gear at times and gameplay would sometimes slow to a slideshow, possibly due to heat-related throttling in either the CPU or graphics chip. Even so the machine never crashed, not then (2006) and not since then.

70s are no problem. I think, if you get into the early to mid 80s Celsius with this CPU, you might start to get concerned. That said there was an article on Tom's Hardware years ago, which showed how the Pentium 4 handles inadequate cooling. Wheras the AMD (desktop) CPU of the day literally went up in smoke when the cooler was removed, the Pentium 3 stopped/crashed, but remained intact, and the Pentium 4, tadda, just kept going, albeit at greatly reduced clock speed until the cooler was replaced. I think that, if you push the T30s CPU and graphics card really hard together, this may happen, especially with an older BIOS like mine, but in my case at least it's had no other ill effects.

[emeraldgirl08]

Hi Fragranthead

I still have my T30 as a matter of fact!

It's still a trooper and the only thing it needs now is a new LCD screen. This old one is very dim compared to my R52. That lappy has a beautiful bright screen!

Thanks for the feedback on the heat problem. I did get around to taking it apart (with help from the Hardware Maintenance Manual), blew out the fan area with a can of compressed air, and add some new AS5.

So I'm keeping it. Oh and it also needs a better HDD. I put a 5400 in the R52 and kept the stock 4200 here on my T30 (yes I'm typing this response from it).

This time I want a BIG DRIVE. I'm talking about 200-300 Gb

Have a good PM!

[thinkpadinside]

ya mine needs a new lcd too, but its too expensive for the replacement. when it gives up, ill give it a proper burial. in terms of a new laptop. if your strained on money, go for a pentium m. if you got about 400, you can get a t60 dual core no problem (which is my recommendation. single core is not enough for me this days, thats why i built my own quad core laptop )