Thinkpads Forum

Anyone knows if the T61p heatsink 42W2820 (discrete graphics) would fit in a T61 with integrated graphics (orig. part number 42W2821)?
When looking at the pictures, I can see small differences between the two, but will they really prevent a proper fit?
Or should I look exclusively at 42W2823, which seems to be the T61p version for integrated graphics?

Any help would be much appreciated.

billyj wrote:Anyone knows if the T61p heatsink 42W2820 (discrete graphics) would fit in a T61 with integrated graphics (orig. part number 42W2821)?

Yes.

When looking at the pictures, I can see small differences between the two, but will they really prevent a proper fit?

No.

Or should I look exclusively at 42W2823, which seems to be the T61p version for integrated graphics?

Any help would be much appreciated.

There never was a T61p with integrated graphics. None of the "p" models had them in any generation.

All T61/p fans are pretty much "plug & play" amongst the different submodels.

With that being said, one should't use an "integrated" fan on a machine with a discrete graphics, but vice versa is perfectly fine.

Thank you.

Looking at all the different parts, I saw there was a 42W2823 with double CPU heatpipe, but otherwise looking exactly as mine (42W2821).
Now someone is offering me a 42W2820, which is listed in the Service manual as a version for discrete graphics, but with a double CPU heatpipe (which I understand was a feature of p models). However, there are pictures on the web that show 42W2820 has a single CPU heat pipe.

Would you happen to know which retention mechanism would work?

TuuS will chime in, I'm sure...he's the godfather of all the T61-related wisdom on this forum...

I believe that either will work.

If your T61 is a 14" standard or 15.4 widescreen the heatsinks differ only by the type of guides used to route the antenna wires, but can easily be interchanged. The T61p heatsink has 3 heatpipes and three platforms to cool three chips, cpu, gpu and the boards chipset controller. The Intel fan has two heat pipes and two platforms. If you use an Intel fan on a discrete board you're going to fry your nVidia chip. Using the T61p or discrete T61 heatsink on a board with Intel graphics isn't a problem but you'll need to use extra care to assure it's seated properly, you'll also need to remove the grey pad from the chipset cooling platform and replace it with some thermal paste such as Arctic Silver #5, the Intel board has the gpu integrated into this controller and needs better cooling then the grey pad can offer.

I've found these discrete fans will offer more cooling of the cpu, but they aren't needed on the intel boards as the intel fan will more then suffice and is cheaper and is designed to fit without any modifications and whenever you do any modifications of the cooling system it's important to be sure the cooling platforms sit flush and level on the chips, if off even by a tiny bit the cooling will suffer. To picture it in your mind, imagine a sheet of glass laying on your table, there are infinite points of contact, but if you tilt the glass even a tiny bid, then you have only one tiny point of contact. Your cooling platform needs to fit flush so the entire surface of the die sits flush on the heatsink so use care to assure your fit is proper.

The 14" widescreen used a two pipe system for integrated and discrete, but a 3pipe t61p style heatsink was introduced later in manufacturing but are rare. I can get these parts but they are expensive, about twice the cost of a T61p fan and three times the cost of the integrated fan.

If you need a fan I have most of these available, integreated for $20 and discrete for $25 plus shipping. These can also be used to upgrade a T60.

Great stuff as usual TuuS. Thanks.