Thinkpads Forum

Less than 10 day old Thinkpad T60, at boot up Fan Control software measures CPU temperature at 40 degrees C. 30 minutes later while only checking email and some basic web browsing of news and others sites (no software downloads, watching videos, games, etc), temperature has risen to 60 degrees C. At this hot, fan turns on for a minute or two. After that, with same of usage, fan stays off for about 5 minutes, back on for a minute or two, with same cycle continual repeating. Do I have a problem that I need to have Lenovo check? If so, any insights what may be the problem?

I am using the Thinkpd default power scheme, and the only change to BIOS that I saved and has helped is disabling the SpeedStep option. Machine has a Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0GHz), a Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 screen, 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory, and 80 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm. Machine has been scanned for viruses and malware, and there was none. The malware scans were done with Spybot and Lavasoft (latest versions and definitions).

Putting this laptop beside two older laptops of different manufacturers, their fans only turn on during period of heavy use such as scanning hard drives, not during basic email and web browsing. The fan is not loud, but a bit annoying in a quiet environment when it turns on and off every few minutes.

Are you sure no process is being eating up the CPU? Watch task manager and see something unusual going on.

50-60C is normal range for a processor under light use in a laptop. Remember, macbooks with cooling issues were pushing 80-90C in these situations. My desktop is only at 45C because I have a heatsink the size of a kleenex box hanging off it.

My T41 rarely exceeds 45 C under any load, and idles under 40 C most of the time (ambient temperature affects this so that Winter is cooler and Summer is warmer). Your T60 may run hotter, and I would defer to others.

Nonetheless, run Task Manager and see what it tells you. A well tuned T23, T30, T41 or T42 runs at under 2 percent CPU 95 percent of the time or more. As noted in the previous post, something maybe making your CPU work hard all the time.
... JD Hurst

jdhurst wrote:My T41 rarely exceeds 45 C under any load, and idles under 40 C most of the time (ambient temperature affects this so that Winter is cooler and Summer is warmer). Your T60 may run hotter, and I would defer to others.

Nonetheless, run Task Manager and see what it tells you. A well tuned T23, T30, T41 or T42 runs at under 2 percent CPU 95 percent of the time or more. As noted in the previous post, something maybe making your CPU work hard all the time.
... JD Hurst

True, but you have to also remember that a Core Duo processor when under use will use 25% more power/heat than the older pentium M models. The TDP of the P-M is 27W, with the C2D at 34-35W

i had same issues on my t60p......lenovo replaced the system board.

Trying to bring up Task Manager on my T60. Am hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL like any other PC, but only brings it up for a second and then disappears from screen. Is there a special Thinkpad key sequence to bring this up or can you suggest another Task Manager tool?

You are doing it right, there is no special sequence.

Never mind question about Task Manager. Downloaded Process Explorer from Microsoft website which provided more detail info than Task Manager.

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:29 pm Post subject:
Are you sure no process is being eating up the CPU? Watch task manager and see something unusual going on.

Anyway, what I found the only process using much CPU resources was logmon.exe (varies between 3% and 15%) which found controls the Lenovo Rescue and Recovery utility. I don't think I should disable this one, but what do you think? When this is not running, have over 95% System Idle Process.

This wouldn't be a bit annoying, except the frequent off and on running of the fan.

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject: hot cpu
i had same issues on my t60p......lenovo replaced the system board.

Lenovo replaced the system board and fan on my T60 this week, and the problem is twice as worse. 2 degree C temp increase per minute and fan on majority of time now. Since I am within the 21-day return period, I have received an RMA number to return the machine.

This is completely NORMAL behavior. I really don't know why people are getting freaked out by the temperature jumps.

The CPU temp is measured by either 1) on chip temp resistor or 2) diode just below the CPU in the socket.

I could get my Dothan 2.1 up to 90C on a full load after 30 min (ran 40-60C for day-to-day usage).

You are going to experience this CONSTANTLY with every T60 (and any other Core / Core 2 laptop for that matter).