Thinkpads Forum

i only saw one pad, but someone else thinks that a second one should be there.

The heatsink fan (HSF) assembly covers both the CPU and GPU. Thermal paste should be applied on the CPU and GPU. Make sure the HSF is seated properly and have not been bent out of shape during removal/re-install.

edit - You are removing old thermal paste and reapplying new?

Cigarguy wrote:You are removing old thermal paste and reapplying new?

yes thats what im doing thanks.

If you're talking about the grey pad on the heatsink, a discrete model has three platforms, one for cpu, one for gpu and one for the chipset, the chipset uses a grey pad instead of thermal paste. The Intel boards have the gpu and chipset combined in one chip and it uses paste instead of the grey pad.

So the answer to your question depends on your definition of the word "pad" and what type of T61 you have.

awesome thanks for replies

TuuS wrote:If you're talking about the grey pad on the heatsink.....the chipset uses a grey pad instead of thermal paste.

so why is that (sorry for the thread jack)? Does the pad offer more/less protection, or vice versa for Thermal paste?

Hi,

I've found a guide on how to replace thermal paste/pads on T6x series and tripped on something.

Can please someone explain what is the thermal pad from fig13 and fig16 used for ?
I'm having some problems with my T61p, after replacing the thermal pads it's shutting down after watching a few minutes of 720p video on YTB.

http://www.actatek.biz/sales/ACTAtek_UK ... nGuide.pdf

Thanks

BuzzTTC wrote:Hi,

I've found a guide on how to replace thermal paste/pads on T6x series and tripped on something.

Can please someone explain what is the thermal pad from fig13 and fig16 used for ?
I'm having some problems with my T61p, after replacing the thermal pads it's shutting down after watching a few minutes of 720p video on YTB.

http://www.actatek.biz/sales/ACTAtek_UK ... nGuide.pdf

Thanks

Dude! That's not exactly a 'thermal pad', it's the CPU with the remains of (too much) paste-type Thermal Interface Material (TIM) around the edges.

For the CPU use something like Arctic Silver 5, follow directions on their site. I'm not surprised it's shutting down, you're lucky it's the CPU as it has thermal shut-down built-in - if it were the GPU it'd just fry. Please, make sure you know what you're doing before you do it.

a thermal pad, by my definition is exactly that, a square pad on the underside of the heatsink fan unit. That pdf you link does not show any of these.

Thermal paste is the goo you apply to the CPU and GPU chips. I'm sure the experts here will correct me, but the pads were typically covering the South bridge chip. Or something along those lines.

misfit wrote:

BuzzTTC wrote:Hi,

I've found a guide on how to replace thermal paste/pads on T6x series and tripped on something.

Can please someone explain what is the thermal pad from fig13 and fig16 used for ?
I'm having some problems with my T61p, after replacing the thermal pads it's shutting down after watching a few minutes of 720p video on YTB.

http://www.actatek.biz/sales/ACTAtek_UK ... nGuide.pdf

Thanks

Dude! That's not exactly a 'thermal pad', it's the CPU with the remains of (too much) paste-type Thermal Interface Material (TIM) around the edges.

For the CPU use something like Arctic Silver 5, follow directions on their site. I'm not surprised it's shutting down, you're lucky it's the CPU as it has thermal shut-down built-in - if it were the GPU it'd just fry. Please, make sure you know what you're doing before you do it.

Thanks for the reply. Of course I do know the difference between a PAD and Paste. But if you pay more attention, you'll see a small THERMAL PAD on the left side from the CPU. Actually there's a hole that is kind of FILLED with a thick thermal pad (Fig 13a, Fig 13b and Fig 16). That's what I was asking.
And yes, I am using Arctic Silver 5 for both CPU and GPU.

The issue was solved by replacing the heatsink !

BuzzTTC wrote:Thanks for the reply. Of course I do know the difference between a PAD and Paste. But if you pay more attention, you'll see a small THERMAL PAD on the left side from the CPU. Actually there's a hole that is kind of FILLED with a thick thermal pad (Fig 13a, Fig 13b and Fig 16). That's what I was asking.

Well it's hardly a matter of me paying more attention - more a matter of you being more specific in the first instance (and save us both time).

You can safely ignore that - it's just Lenovo-quality (oxymoron alert!!) anti-vibration, anti-stress padding...

BuzzTTC wrote:And yes, I am using Arctic Silver 5 for both CPU and GPU.

The issue was solved by replacing the heatsink !

With? Another T61 'sink?

With? Another T61 'sink?

Yes. Thanks for the reply and sorry for not being specific.
Strange thing...only the GPU was overheating...

Before [idle]:
GPU=80*C (176 Fahrenheit)
CPU=70*C (158 Fahrenheit)
Test:
GTA San Andreas
Time: about 2 minutes
GPU Temp=100*C (max) (212 Fahrenheit)
Result: Forced Shutdown

Now [idle]:
GPU=40*C (104 Fahrenheit)
CPU=45*C (113 Fahrenheit)
Test:
GTA San Andreas
Time: 30 minutes
GPU Temp=55*C (131 Fahrenheit)
Result: No shutdown

I presume that one of the three heat pipes sticked to the heatsink cracked and was not cooling the GPU properly.
Thanks God it was a cooling-system issue... I was already thinking that it was a GPU chip hardware issue or even "the infamous" FX570m w/ 4GB RAM incompatibility issue.
Now it runs great as in the good old times .

BuzzTTC wrote:I presume that one of the three heat pipes sticked to the heatsink cracked and was not cooling the GPU properly.
Thanks God it was a cooling-system issue... I was already thinking that it was a GPU chip hardware issue or even "the infamous" FX570m w/ 4GB RAM incompatibility issue.
Now it runs great as in the good old times .

Excellent result! Yes, the only logical assumption is there was a failure of at least one of the heatpipes in your original cooler. That's the sort of result that can only be explained by a total loss of the working fluid inside a pipe (or two).

It makes me wonder how common a scenario that actually is. Even worse in some ways would be a partial loss of fluid - That would be much harder to pin down and could result in a otherwise perfectly good machine being thrown out. It's not something that can be easily checked - Although that said I have been known to apply a small butane torch to one end of a heatpipe cooler and to hold the other end just to check that heat is migrating along the pipe/s properly.