Thinkpads Forum

The fan in my 14.1" 4:3 T61 has developed a slight rattle when spinning at low RPMs.

I'm debating between the two FRUs listed in the thread subject, and I am wondering whether anyone here has experience with both and can indicate how much better the T61p unit is at dissipating heat from the CPU.

The 42W2820 is more expensive and it seems as though achieving a perfectly even fit might be more difficult than with the stock unit, but if the cooling ability is much improved then it might be worth it on both counts...

Thanks!

maxemillian wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:29 pm

The 42W2820 is more expensive and it seems as though achieving a perfectly even fit might be more difficult

Hi, what I've noticed lately is that sellers on ebay/aliexpress will happily list multiple compatible FRU-s on the listings without that much concern about matching what they're selling precisely. Maybe we shall see the respected forum experts weight in on the question but my - novice - approach would be: inspect the fan assembly you currently have, look very closely at the photos of the one being sold, make yourself very sure that the mounting holes match what you have, I guess in T61 case there is also this mounting bracket that needs to fit.. So if the fan looked like it would fit I'd risk my money and buy it.

If your question is between a fan version that has 3 heat pipes and 2 heat pipes I would indeed pick one with 3 heat pipes. How much more expensive can it be?..

From my experience with T520/T530 fans: please also give the fan plug a glance over. Not sure about T61 but in *20/*30 generation it seems there may be 3 different plugs in use: 4 pin, 5 pin and 6pin Hopefully it's just one type of plug in T61 era though.

Thanks for the reply!

Yea, the primary consideration is the ease of installation; the difference in cost is not great in absolute terms.

I'll look out for a three-pipe heatsink and pay close attention to the plug.

Ideally I want to be able to run the computer without the fan in operation and without the palmrest heating up.

Lifting the fan rotor and insert a small drop of lubricating oil in the axle hole will often remove the rattling noise. From my experince a new fan unit has about the same life expectancy as a an old unit cured with a drop of oil.

I think there are at least three or four different versions of the heatsink, I have tested two with an integrated graphics motherboard and found no real difference in performance.

If your goal is a silent laptop I have set the CPU voltage to minimum, constant CPU speed multiplier and fan speed to 1500 rpm at level 1. This makes my T601 virtually inaudiable in a completely silent room.

Hi lab

What software can set fan speed at 1500 rpm on T61P wide screen models ?

Thanks for your advice,

Ska

SKA wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 11:01 pm

Hi lab

What software can set fan speed at 1500 rpm on T61P wide screen models ?

Thanks for your advice,

Ska

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