T60p overheating while playing games

Message

chrysb · #1 Post by **chrysb** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:49 pm

My Laptop: T60p 2623-DLU, 256MB ATI Mobility (FireGL), 7200 RPM HD, and 2 GIG RAM. I believe it's a Core Duo. Purchased in October 2006.

Hey,

I read another thread here and I downloaded some software for underclocking my GPU, but it wouldn't let me change the clock speeds.

As for the issue. When I play games, the systems just shuts off after a while. I'm pretty sure it's because of the heat issue.

So my questions are.

1. Does anyone have a solution for this?
2. Why pack a laptop with all of this power if it can't handle it?
3. The fan doesn't seem to speed up too much while playing games, maybe up to 3400 RPM. Very quiet. Normal?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Current reads:

CPU 77°C (0x78)
APS 46°C (0x79)
PCM 43°C (0x7a)
GPU 85°C (0x7b)
BAT 43°C (0x7c)
BAT 38°C (0x7e)
BUS 51°C (0xc0)
PCI 58°C (0xc1)
PWR 60°C (0xc2)

Aren't these temperatures very high for a laptop?

My desktop runs at 40 :/

#2 Post by **gator** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:29 am

By "Current reads" do you mean the temperatures for regular usage or after playing games? If it is for regular usage, then the CPU seems to be running pretty hot - the usual range of temp.s for a core duo/core 2 duo is between 45-50 C ...

o1sowise · #3 Post by **o1sowise** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:25 am

gator wrote:... the usual range of temp.s for a core duo/core 2 duo is between 45-50 C ...

I'm not playing any games right now and I just booted 2h35m ago.
My CPU1 is 93°C and CPU2 is 91°C.

That's too high, correct?

How do I change the fan settings?

The Power Manager gives me only two choices (and those change more settings than just the fan).

chrysb · #4 Post by **chrysb** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:01 pm

gator wrote:By "Current reads" do you mean the temperatures for regular usage or after playing games? If it is for regular usage, then the CPU seems to be running pretty hot - the usual range of temp.s for a core duo/core 2 duo is between 45-50 C ...

Those reads were probably 10 minutes after my computer had shut down and I had to wait a while before it could start up properly again.

abu_sme · #5 Post by **abu_sme** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:04 pm

Woah!

My T60p with a 2.33mhz processor doesn't get that hot even during intense gaming. The hottest my processor ever gets is about 70-73 C. The GPU gets up to about 80C

That is crazy hot, I'd possibly contact Lenovo over this.

chrysb · #6 Post by **chrysb** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:21 pm

What speeds do you guys' fans reach when things get hot? Mine doesn't seem to get loud at all... and I'd expect it to sound like a mini vacuum like in my past laptops, but mine just remains silent and around 3400RPM.

Craven · #7 Post by **Craven** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:09 pm

Hi chrysb,

I had a similar problem with my T60p. It went way over 90°C whenever I actually used the CPU and I also had the effect that sometimes it would just turn off. The machine was getting so hot I nearly burnt my hand on it. I reported it to IBM/ Lenovo and since I have on site support they sent me another T60p until mine would be repaired. That machine stayed at 40-45°C all the time and even under heaviest load with both Processors running at 100%, the graphics card working at full capacity ant all periphery going wild it never went over 80°C but instead stayed at 70°C most of the time with the fan barely noticeable.

So just make use of your Guarantee ;)

Greetings
- Robert

chrysb · #8 Post by **chrysb** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:36 pm

Craven wrote:Hi chrysb,

I had a similar problem with my T60p. It went way over 90°C whenever I actually used the CPU and I also had the effect that sometimes it would just turn off. The machine was getting so hot I nearly burnt my hand on it. I reported it to IBM/ Lenovo and since I have on site support they sent me another T60p until mine would be repaired. That machine stayed at 40-45°C all the time and even under heaviest load with both Processors running at 100%, the graphics card working at full capacity ant all periphery going wild it never went over 80°C but instead stayed at 70°C most of the time with the fan barely noticeable.

So just make use of your Guarantee

Greetings
- Robert

Awesome, I suppose I'll give them a call. How long did it take them to handle this stuff? I do all of my business on my laptop as well, so that's a big factor to me.

Appreciate it!

Craven · #9 Post by **Craven** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:24 pm

Well if you don't have on site support I can't give you any numbers since i had quite a few complaints about the T60p in general and the process goes on from october last year to this very day while I had a borrowed machine all the time I can't give you any numbers there. Perhaps I'll soon talk about a few engineering errors of the T60p in this forum.

If you have to send it in and just want it to be fixed and sent back, I guess it should be done in two weeks. That may be quite long if you depend on your ThinkPad, so I'd suggest you just contact IBM/ Lenovo and talk to them about the issue. Perhaps they could borrow you a machine for an affordable fee or it takes less time at all.

In any way it would be nice if you could keep me updated on your case for I am very interested in changes to the ThinkPad experience under the "reign" of Lenovo.

Greetings
- Robert

primedude · #10 Post by **primedude** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:38 pm

Many times I used depot service, turnaround was less than five days -- receive the shipping box the day after I call, send it to IBM/Solectron that day, it arrives, is fixed, and sent back to me the day after that, and I get it the following day.

Craven · #11 Post by **Craven** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:31 pm

That applies if it is a simple repair, not if the cause of the defect still has to be found out. You'll be surprised how long such a story can take.

I guess they will find the cause quite quickly and he'll get his Thinkpad back soon. But you simply have to count complications in.

But basically I agree with you. Though I am not quite sure about the customer satisfaction policy of Lenovo. But that belongs somplace else ;)

Greetings
- Robert

WPWoodJr · #12 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:34 pm

chrysb wrote:What speeds do you guys' fans reach when things get hot? Mine doesn't seem to get loud at all... and I'd expect it to sound like a mini vacuum like in my past laptops, but mine just remains silent and around 3400RPM.

Silent? Mine goes to 3400rpm or so too but it has an annoying whine sound - does yours whine too or is it really silent?

Craven · #13 Post by **Craven** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:30 am

Define "whine".
With my T60p even under high load I would rather call it a mild blowing sound than a whining. Every few seconds the fan speeds up a little bit and slows down again which could get on ones nerves, but fortunately it has become much better compared to the T43p.

Perhaps you could record the sound of your fan so we can hear for ourselves. ;)
Since after my experience Lenovo seems to have quality problems with the T60, a hardware defect could be likely. :-/

Greetings
- Robert

WPWoodJr · #14 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:03 pm

For your enjoyment, my whiny fan at 2 different speeds:

Slower
Faster

How does yours sound compared to this?

Craven · #15 Post by **Craven** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:30 am

Hm how did you record that? Internal microphone, external microphone held directly at the vent opening?

agarza · #16 Post by **agarza** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:41 am

I think that most of the time overheating problems are simply a cause of bad thermal interface between the CPU/GPU to the heatsink. If you're brave enough to open your machine you could download the Hardware Maintenance Manual and re-seat the heatsink to the chassis making sure the CPU core is having contact with the heatsink. I much rather prefer trying to fix things by myself (taking care not to mess things up) before sending the machine and God knows which subsequent problem might arise after the fix. Just my thoughts

WPWoodJr · #17 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:26 pm

Craven wrote:Hm how did you record that? Internal microphone, external microphone held directly at the vent opening?

I used the Edirol R09 recorder. Great recorder!

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-b ... em/ED-R-09

abu_sme · #18 Post by **abu_sme** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:04 pm

I feel incredibly lucky. When I am using my T60 heavily when it is unplugged the CPU sits at about 40C. Considering ambient temperature is about 22 degrees this is simply amazing.

whakojacko · #19 Post by **whakojacko** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:49 pm

just running a couple of applications for 5 hours, im getting 82C cpu and 86C gpu, fan speed 3400rpm. Is this send-in worthy? I can't really afford to not have my t60p until around may, though

Craven · #20 Post by **Craven** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:28 pm

whakojacko wrote:just running a couple of applications for 5 hours, im getting 82C cpu and 86C gpu, fan speed 3400rpm. Is this send-in worthy? I can't really afford to not have my t60p until around may, though :(

Well, that depends. In what performance mode does the machine run during that time? And what applications are running?

If the machine is under really heavy load on full performance on both cores and the GPU is going wild, then this thermal behaviour is possible or even normal.

But if the machine is basically idle in powersave or ondemand mode, then you have the same problem I had and you should definitely send the machine in. Because that would be an intolerable behaviour.

Greetings
- Robert

Craven · #21 Post by **Craven** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:43 pm

benottomex wrote:I think that most of the time overheating problems are simply a cause of bad thermal interface between the CPU/GPU to the heatsink. If you're brave enough to open your machine you could download the Hardware Maintenance Manual and re-seat the heatsink to the chassis making sure the CPU core is having contact with the heatsink. I much rather prefer trying to fix things by myself (taking care not to mess things up) before sending the machine and God knows which subsequent problem might arise after the fix. Just my thoughts

That is the wrong way. It cannot be that the customer of a premium class machine has to perform any repairs on his own because of lack of trust to the service quality of the manufacturer. That must not happen. Lenovo must feel that they are in the high end segment now and that those customers expect more for their bucks than "You bought a Lenovo, so that's your fault". It is pityful enough what Lenovo did to the Thinkpad already, but to resign now and say "Well... it's just a ThinkPad" is the wrong way and I want to encourage anyone who experiences problems with their new ThinkPads to step Lenovo on the feet and show them that there are people who care and will not stop complaining until Lenovo seriously addresses and fixes its quality issues.

Now that was my speech for the day.

I think I will get to more detail in an own thread.

Greetings
- Robert

WPWoodJr · #22 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:52 pm

Craven wrote:Hm how did you record that? Internal microphone, external microphone held directly at the vent opening?

So how does your fan noise compare to mine? Does yours whine like mine? Should I get mine repaired?

Craven · #23 Post by **Craven** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:51 am

It's generally hard to rate the absolute intensity of the noise by a recording.
My question was not what device you used for recording but where you put the microphone(s) (;

Having heard your recording I can say if I firmly attach my ear to the vent opening, I can hear a similar noise. But while sitting in front of it, it is audible but not uncomforting. Of course that greatly depends on subjective perception.

I would advise you to take your Thinkpad to a Lenovo Store or any other dealer who has Thinkpads on display and compare them. That would in my opinion be the best way to test whether your ThinkPad has an exceptional behaviour there.

Greetings
- Robert

WPWoodJr · #24 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 10:50 am

Thanks. I put the mic near the vent. Its not the fan blowing that bothers me, its the whine.

darrenf · #25 Post by **darrenf** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:34 pm

FYI: When OCing the GPU in my T60P (V5200) I routinely run over 100C without a problem. I run into *other* problems getting OC to work on the V5200 but they are not heat related.

For comparison, My idle CPU temp is 45C but it regularly gets hotter under load. I run the CPU in "adaptive" mode, even on AC, so if you set CPU to "maximum" it will run hotter at idle.

If you are running under XP, you might want to run Mobile Meter for a while to keep an eye on CPU load and core temps.

-darren

T60p overheating while playing games

T60p overheating while playing games

Who is online