Thinkpads Forum

I am interested in a T60 (14" 4:3) but I have some concerns given the heat and fan discussions -- I am looking for one that can run reasonably cool and doesn't run the fan frequently.

Does anyone have experience with the lower-end configurations and their temperature characteristics? I was looking at the T5500 CPU and the 950 integrated graphics -- does that combination run significantly cooler than the faster CPUs and discrete graphics? And I would probably use a 5400 rpm disk to minimize the heat there as well.

From there, I would probably run NHC to keep the heat down further -- I'm hoping for 50-60C range under light usage.

Any suggestions much appreciated ...

Well, I'm running a T60p w/a T7600 and FireGL V5200 and heat hasn't been an issue AT ALL.

Fan is not as noticeable as that on my T42 w/ 2.1GHz Dothan.

brentpresley wrote:Well, I'm running a T60p w/a T7600 and FireGL V5200 and heat hasn't been an issue AT ALL.

Fan is not as noticeable as that on my T42 w/ 2.1GHz Dothan.

What are your CPU temperatures like? How often does the fan operate?

My reference point is my X31 which typically runs around 40C and the fan comes on maybe once a week or so.

If you get that CPU and the integrated graphics and set the fan to "balance all parameters" in the power manager rather than "maximize performance" I doubt you will have the fan on very much at all.

I have a T60 with the 950 integrated graphics, a 80GB 5400 rpm disk, a 15 in 1024 x 768 (4:3) screen, and a T7200 2Ghz CPU. At bootup, at 40 C, normally runs between 45 C and 53 C though has been as high as 63 C. Though I may have a faulty system board causing frequent fan on/off (every 5 min) problem, but Lenovo hardware support I called today to be onsite here this Tue (12/12) and I'll report again after that.

integrated graphics on T60 will be a good choice if u want low temp.

spurkza wrote:I have a T60 with the 950 integrated graphics, a 80GB 5400 rpm disk, a 15 in 1024 x 768 (4:3) screen, and a T7200 2Ghz CPU. At bootup, at 40 C, normally runs between 45 C and 53 C though has been as high as 63 C. Though I may have a faulty system board causing frequent fan on/off (every 5 min) problem, but Lenovo hardware support I called today to be onsite here this Tue (12/12) and I'll report again after that.

Those temperatures look promising -- thanks!

Has the fan on/off system board issue been addressed in the currently shipping T60s? Or are people still reporting it in T60s thy have just purchased?

There's nothing wrong on having a fan that turns ON/OFF. Remember the system needs to evacuate the heat generated by the laptop components. ATi discrete GFX chips on T60 tend to be the culprit on the fan hyper-activity.

I agree that the system needs to stay cool. The objective here is a quiet T60 though -- as close as possible to my X31 which runs all day long without turning on the fan. So low power consumption is the objective!

But it does sound like the 950 integrated graphics might be the way to go for low power/low heat/low fan activity, rather than the discrete graphics options. And the 950 is already supposed to be Aero-capable, which is as much graphics activity as this T60 would see.

tomh009 wrote:

brentpresley wrote:Well, I'm running a T60p w/a T7600 and FireGL V5200 and heat hasn't been an issue AT ALL.

Fan is not as noticeable as that on my T42 w/ 2.1GHz Dothan.

What are your CPU temperatures like? How often does the fan operate?

My reference point is my X31 which typically runs around 40C and the fan comes on maybe once a week or so.

CPU fan is on pretty constant on low. I don't have a clue what the temps are b/c Vista RC2 doesn't run NHC.

[quote="spurkza"]I have a T60 with the 950 integrated graphics, a 80GB 5400 rpm disk, a 15 in 1024 x 768 (4:3) screen, and a T7200 2Ghz CPU. At bootup, at 40 C, normally runs between 45 C and 53 C though has been as high as 63 C. Though I may have a faulty system board causing frequent fan on/off (every 5 min) problem, but Lenovo hardware support I called today to be onsite here this Tue (12/12) and I'll report again after that.[/quote]

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.

Are you getting another identical one? Or something different?

It's a trade-off. Fast CPU means more heat dissipation. Tight space means more fan noise because the fan must run faster and air turbulence is worse. Maybe one of these days they will come up with a way to use the lid behind the screen as a radiator. But I'm not holding my breath for such a clever development, especially since it would add quite a bit to the cost for a feature that most people with iPod-damaged hearing would not perceive.

[quote="tomh009"]

Are you getting another identical one? Or something different?[/quote]

Besides the fan/temperature issue, I was not thrilled with the display. My five year old Toshiba has a brighter display than the Thinkpad I tried.

I am looking at other manufacturers with brighter displays.

claudeo wrote:It's a trade-off. Fast CPU means more heat dissipation.

Not really.. The cpu's run at the same nominal voltage, the LV chips are the only exception.

claudeo wrote:It's a trade-off. Fast CPU means more heat dissipation. Tight space means more fan noise because the fan must run faster and air turbulence is worse. Maybe one of these days they will come up with a way to use the lid behind the screen as a radiator. But I'm not holding my breath for such a clever development, especially since it would add quite a bit to the cost for a feature that most people with iPod-damaged hearing would not perceive.

Haha, that was already implemented on the good, old T20.
And was not very effective. They dropped it on the T21 and put in a larger metal frame. The best way to cool the CPU is a good thermal connection to the keyboard, which is not right now.
The Macbooks have a nice tool to control the fan. Most folks seem to run the fan at 1000rpm, which is dead silent. Thinkpad fan control does only 3000rpm, bummer!

beeblebrox wrote: The Macbooks have a nice tool to control the fan. Most folks seem to run the fan at 1000rpm, which is dead silent. Thinkpad fan control does only 3000rpm, bummer!

MAcbooks have a good function to cook eggs.
the part below lcd screen is XXXtra HOT when it came with CoreD.
what about C2D macbook? is it still hot?

Just to note that Apple intentionally runs the fans slower in the MBs and MBPs because, in general, they would like them to run quieter even at the cost of increased temps. Some have complained that the new firmware has a tendency to keep the fans on at higher RPMs (again, brought due to complaints about heat). So it is almost a direct engineering trade-off.