Thinkpads Forum

The fan on my T60 seems to be on all the time
even when doing next to nothing on the laptop.
It's not noisy, but I can hear it and I can feel the
slight draft of air coming out from the left side.
Is this something that is expected? I had heard
about fan issues on the T43, but I thought the T60
had fixed that problem. The laptop does run very
cool, though.

Anoop

I'm curious - in the power settings, is your CPU speed set to "adaptive?"

The last five Thinkpad T42's I've come across, brand new from IBM, the CPU speed was cranked to Maximum even though there is no advantage to doing so, except that it generates more heat.

Try double-clicking on the power meter (near the tray bar, bottom right of your screen), create a new power scheme, and set both the plugged-in and battery power modes to "Adaptive" for the CPU.

ghanwani - which T60 do you have? here are instructions for locating the machine type & model #:
http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 9QTT6.html

hoya wrote:which T60 do you have?

200768U.

anoop, i ordered the 68u today... is the fan noise too loud/irritating? wud it be disturbing to my neighbor if i used it on a flight?

any other issues u came across?

-vasanth

bart wrote:anoop, i ordered the 68u today... is the fan noise too loud/irritating? wud it be disturbing to my neighbor if i used it on a flight?

any other issues u came across?

You won't be able to hear it on a flight...there's too much
ambient noise on an airplane. I can't even hear it when
the fan for the heating system in my apartment turns on.

I am gonna try the suggestion from RonS this evening
and will report back.

So far I haven't encountered any other problems.

Anoop

guess i could live with that then.....
overall how do u like the system? any major differences with T43?? did u try any gaming to stretch the proc?

bart wrote:guess i could live with that then.....
overall how do u like the system? any major differences with T43?? did u try any gaming to stretch the proc?

Haven't used a T43 so I can't help there. The only thing that I can
compare it to is my 5+ year old T20. See
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=21965.
I'm not a gamer and I haven't done anything that
really pushes the CPU.

If you want to know the general differences as compared to
T43, you can look at the review at notebookreview.com.

I've only used the machine for one evening and like it so far.

Anoop

I have the same issues. My model is 200766U. Fan is always on but not too loud. Right palm gets warm. You can turn the power setting to adaptive as it was originally. It will be quieter but the processor speed will be only 1G. My computer isn't as fast as I thought even it runs on full speed. Maybe because the hard drive is too slow? only 5400rpm.

Maybe because the hard drive is too slow? only 5400rpm

5400 is still fast... that cannot be the reason for slow system, but then depends on how u r measuring perf

RonS wrote:I'm curious - in the power settings, is your CPU speed set to "adaptive?"

Set to "Low" when operating on battery, and set to "Adaptive" when
operating on AC power.

The fan is on even when running on battery!

What surprises me about this is that my experience does not
match what the review at notebookreview.com says:

"The T60 is cool running, very cool running in fact. After playing
Doom 3 and running 3D benchmark applications the T60 fans didn't
even kick in. The back area where the fan and vents are got a
bit warm as they pushed the heat out, but certainly not uncomfortably
warm or anything. The fact that there's an extra heat vent now on the
back where the parallel port used to be probably helps quite a bit to
dissipate heat."

The laptop does run very cool and the fan is about as quiet as
can be. But it does seem to run practically all the time.
However, it's good to find that there's at least one other user
who is seeing the behavior that I see.

Anoop

bibo wrote:I have the same issues. My model is 200766U. Fan is always on but not too loud. Right palm gets warm. You can turn the power setting to adaptive as it was originally. It will be quieter but the processor speed will be only 1G. My computer isn't as fast as I thought even it runs on full speed. Maybe because the hard drive is too slow? only 5400rpm.

that's a very nice config! have you already tried the usual tweaks to optimize performance? (adjusting swap file, disabling system restore, uninstalling non-essential software, etc.)

I also find that Norton Anti-Virus slows down a system terribly. my favorite is EZ AntiVirus by eTrust (Computer Associates). there is a 12-month free trial, though you have to uninstall Norton AV first.

ghanwani wrote:What surprises me about this is that my experience does not match what the review at notebookreview.com says:

The T60 is cool running, very cool running in fact. After playing Doom 3 and running 3D benchmark applications the T60 fans didn't even kick in.

For lack of a better theory, I'm going to propose: It's the ambient temperature of the room!

Some reviewers like their rooms nice and toasty---and trigger the computer's thermal "I must kick the fan on" sensor---while others prefer a frigid "I will shiver if that's what it takes" environment---allowing the laptop's fans to chill out too.

Of course, this is just a theory (TM), like evolution.

I don't care if the fan runs all the time, but if the fan makes odd buzzing sounds like the occassional buzz from my T40, I'll get annoyed.

I hope the T60 has a nice, consistent whrrr.

pundit wrote: For lack of a better theory, I'm going to propose: It's the ambient temperature of the room!
...
Of course, this is just a theory (TM), like evolution.

I happen to think this is a good theory. If I'm at my parent's house, which is a good deal colder in the wintertime than where I live most of the year, the fan on my T40 hardly comes on at all, and if it does, it shuts off after only a few seconds.

If I'm at the office (which is overly hot in the wintertime) the T40's fan spins continuously.

K. Eng wrote: I hope the T60 has a nice, consistent whrrr.

I don't know about nice, but it's not annoying -- at least not to me.
I would have been happier without it, though.

Anoop

bibo wrote:IMy model is 200766U.

bibo, can you comment on the 14.1" SXGA+ screen? Bightness, viewing angle, stuff like that. I started a thread here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=21930

Also, do you know which screen you have? Samsung? Hydis? TMD?

Thanks.

It is not good at all if the fan is continously running!

Apart from sucking power from the battery in battery mode there is a substantial wearing on the fan.

I thought it should be good to have a fan running all the time to keep the motherboard and devices cool -> lower potential failure rate during the next few years.

However, my T40p has to be shipped to IBM for the 3rd time now.

That fan thing turns into a cluncker, similar to an old air conditioning in a cheap motel. The bearings don't stand the stress after 15 months.

I am running fan control now to stop the fan in lower temperatures.

beeblebrox wrote: I am running fan control now to stop the fan in lower temperatures.

How do you run fan control?

Anoop

donking! wrote: Also, do you know which screen you have? Samsung? Hydis? TMD?

How can one tell what they have?

Anoop

K. Eng wrote:I hope the T60 has a nice, consistent whrrr.

My T60 is very quiet. It is not silent, but there is a consistent, very low level whrrr...

My guess is that the reviewer at NBR mistakened a very quiet fan to a fan not running at all.

Even under heavy loading, my T60 is significantly quieter than my T43s at idle...

But, geeesus, the part of the palm rest that is over the PCMCIA slot is freak'n paper thin. Yikes.

Anything touches that corner and it's gonzo...

arrg,

my T60p's fan is constantly on also. Even when the computer is idle. My only wish is to have dual core on a T42. too bad for me.

beeblebrox wrote:It is not good at all if the fan is continously running!

Apart from sucking power from the battery in battery mode there is a substantial wearing on the fan.

Well, those tiny fans consume no more than 0.1-0.2 W of power so that doesn't affect to battery life more than a minute or two even if the fan is spinning at max speed all the time. The estimated life time of these fans (at max speed, lower speed -> more lifetime) is something like 15 000 hours and that is more than 1.5 years of 24/7 use.

pekka wrote:

beeblebrox wrote:It is not good at all if the fan is continously running!

Apart from sucking power from the battery in battery mode there is a substantial wearing on the fan.

Well, those tiny fans consume no more than 0.1-0.2 W of power so that doesn't affect to battery life more than a minute or two even if the fan is spinning at max speed all the time. The estimated life time of these fans (at max speed, lower speed -> more lifetime) is something like 15 000 hours and that is more than 1.5 years of 24/7 use.

Yeah, I thought so as well. The lifetime is certainly a few years. Motel fans also make 20 years, easily.

But I am more interested in a quiet fan, not an old air conditioning. I have to ship my T40 back for the third fan. That cluncker is more than annoying. It is really noisy as hell.

Unfortunately I have not figured out yet, how to use CHC and TPFanControl at the same time without errors. so the fan is on all the time.

Rays, the fan is on 24/7 on the T4x series too - its always going, at i think 2700 or so rpm for the T40-42 and 3200 for the 43, which is why everyone says its so much louder.