Thinkpads Forum

Has anybody read/discussed the issues in this article?

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/inqui ... die-2.html

My T61 has the NVS 140M or whatever it's called, and uses one of the chipsets in question, the 86. Has anybody had overheating problems?

Paul

i think that was the whole problem esp. with the t61p and the 570m which we also had here at the forum...

this is the exact reason why my T61p with the 570M is at the repair shop in Memphis right now, it overheats like no other mobile video card. I really do hope they replace my system planar..

replace with what ? i doubt that they still produce these old graphic cards....

Estrogen Kid wrote:this is the exact reason why my T61p with the 570M is at the repair shop in Memphis right now, it overheats like no other mobile video card. I really do hope they replace my system planar..

Could you please tell me a bit more about your overheating experience.
What did you do to make the graphics chip overheat? Were you gaming or did it happen during normal operation? Are you using any 3D CAD etc apps?

Thank you

idle temperature is about 52 C, which is high but acceptable.

however, under load (gaming, etc) it goes up to 98 C and then the frame rate stutters. it will randomly crash, or the system will standby or power off because of the heat.

I told lenovo on the phone that this is the problem that I'm having and I hope they replace the system planar.

Not to rub salt in anyone's wounds, but ThinkPads and nVidia never mixed well...

Estrogen Kid wrote:idle temperature is about 52 C, which is high but acceptable.

however, under load (gaming, etc) it goes up to 98 C and then the frame rate stutters. it will randomly crash, or the system will standby or power off because of the heat.

I told lenovo on the phone that this is the problem that I'm having and I hope they replace the system planar.

excuse my ignorance but how do you check the temperature?

Well one way is to use a free program like PC Wizard http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
You can set it so when it is minimized it will display various temps and voltages in a little translucent dialog that you can position wherever you want.

ok thanks

Had the same problem where CPU/GPU were hitting 100c and causing shut downs and lock up when using second monitor. Tech came out and replaced fan and added some more thermal grease and solved it for now. Apparently a little dust in there was all it took to make it unable to keep up with the load. So much for a much cooler/efficient laptop. If you have a service plan have them come out and replace fan.

Last t40p lasted me 4 years (still have it as extra for guests). Looking to replace this t61p after a year...

All dual core laptops I support at work, both Dell (M65) and Lenovo Thinkpads models T60(p) and T61(p) have a problem with sucking up lint/dust which gets trapped in the heat sinks. The Dual core heat sink fins are much closer together than the T40 series laptops and can get clogged up fairly quickly depending the environment the lapop is used in.

If you're experiencing random shutdowns or the CPU fan seems be running excessively fast under light load, you may need to take the keyboard and palm rest off, and blast the dust out.

I think I've posed elsewhere on this forum how I do this at work...

By the way, two weeks ago, i removed a lint "dust bunny" from a dual core laptop that was 1/2 cubic inch in size It was packed in there tight and was jamming the cpu fan. It was like a cotton ball was stuffed in there!

I have a picture of it - it's nasty.

Intel gives out the heat sink design along with the processor as a package. Not sure if that is the case with lenovo also, definitely not with IBM in previous designs.

In older models, comparable systems i.e a pentium-4 IBM with pentium-4 Dell etc.. others used the Intel design as is and intel did a cheap job, with the design.

My 14.1 inch T61 is starting to have these problems too. It got so hot while in my docking station and connected to 2 monitors, i couldn't even touch it.
I actually put the computer in the refrigerator for a few min.

I am so dissapointed with this computer. Its always hot, and battery life stinks. I liked my z61t much better.

Anyway, does anyone know if lenovo will fix this?
Is there a way to go to integrated graphics instead of the nvidia?

Also, will integrated graphics be able to use 2 external monitors using 1920x1200 WUXGA each?

nivida said the problem of G86/G84 only appears in laptop but not desktop. I feel more nervous about my T61 w. quadro nvs 140m

My suggestion would be to keep your work space dust free and if you notice the fan running more than normal, consider taking the palm rest and keyboard off and blasting the fan and heat sink vents both from the inside and the outside of the laptop (do this outside of your work place or home as you may get a big cloud of dust and debris blown everywhere!

NOTE: I always hold the fan from spinning when blasted with either my finger or a toothpick. I don't think it's a good idea to spin the fan with the jet of air.

Angle sunlilght or a flashlight into the fan so you can look from the outside in to see if the heatsink is clean. Also look carefully in the fan blades for any lint - you may need to use small toothpicks or tiny flat blade screwdrivers to "tweeze" the lint out.

the best you can do is keep it clean and hope for the best...

I got a T61 with Quadro NVS 140m and a T61p with Quadro FX 570m, none overheats. They run much more cooler than my past T60(p). They are cooler and the fan did not run all the time.

The day after the nVidia announcement made the news, a new video update was available--I think from the Lenovo System Update. I suspect that update was the one nVidia announced, a new driver that was designed to turn the fan on sooner and keep the card cooler to prevent the failures, while they figure out what to do next.

If anyone hasn't checked for a video update lately--take a look.

I've got a T61p with a Quadro FX 570M and if I don't have it on a cooling base with a fan pointed at it while gaming it easily hits 100C. It's pretty ridiculous. I have taken it apart and checked for dust and found nothing clogging any of the heatsinks or fans. I'm not a big fan of replacing thermal grease but I may end up trying that. I'd love to see Lenovo/Nvidia announce a recall/fix for us but I'm betting it won't happen.

If you're not using a docking station, you might try elevating the rear of the laptop slightly to permit better airflow.

If you run SpeedFan or some other temperature sensing software, what are the CPU core and GPU temps when you're not playing game? Also what is the ambient temperature where you're at?

I had a user whose work laptop only crashed at home but not at work, possibly because he was using a dock at work and work has air conditioning (around 72-74 F).

CeNG wrote:I've got a T61p with a Quadro FX 570M and if I don't have it on a cooling base with a fan pointed at it while gaming it easily hits 100C. ..

Mine runs so cooooooooooooool even with an hard overclocking :
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/3102/image5yr4.png

you are one of the lucky ones then. by the way, I still haven't gotten my T61p back yet and it has been over 3 weeks. How long does warranty repair usually take?

According to NVIDIA representative guy for laptop in Europe, the defective GPU were manufactured about 18 month ago, just after the GeForce 8m serie launch. If the laptop have a great cooling system (full copper, big heatpipes, uses keyboard or palm rest to spread heat), it should not have the issue even if the chip is from the defective batch. But it can ! If the laptop manufacturer use a poor cooling device and the chips have the issue, there are more chances it happends. But the GPU can never die !

NVIDIA will assume any defective GPU. All laptop manufacturer are aware about the issue. If your GeForce turn dead, the manufacturer will take it for support. You will have back an other unit. Thus the manufacturer have to ask NVIDIA to pay for SAV.

That's what they tell me last week.

I just purchased my new T61 w/ NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 140M

It is still sealed in box, do I unload this now avoiding all possible hassels with this system or is it very random that something will be wrong with it.. what is the turn around time on getting these replaced by warranty....

This sucks.. lol

Bwadd wrote:I just purchased my new T61 w/ NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 140M

It is still sealed in box, do I unload this now avoiding all possible hassels with this system or is it very random that something will be wrong with it.. what is the turn around time on getting these replaced by warranty....

This sucks.. lol

I've never owned a hi-end T60-T61 series laptops, but I would say that you should no worry at the moment. Typically a GPU overheats if there's no proper heat dissipation. This problem also was present in older T4xp systems, some had, other don't. This could vary from laptop to laptop it seems. Notice, that in MY case if I had an overheating GPU I would just simply open up the machine and would replace those nasty thermal pads with something else, lie combining cooper with Arctic Silver 5, but hey, some people do not want to mess with their new laptops and that's fine. I'm just saying that if you're a tech savvy guy you should not be worried.

Enjoy your new Thinkpad.

More nVidia problems: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4554

my R61 with the Nvidia NVS 140 M overheated but still works I had left it on at night and it had frozed in the morning I restarted than from there it ws lagging. I got told to talk to a supervisor but they didnt let me. I still have a year of warrenty.

http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/pdfs/NVF_NOT.pdf
Dell, HP and Apple. Lenovo Thinkpad not listed. IMO its probably better to take them to small claims court and use the outcome of the class action as proof that Nvidia must reimburse or replace etc.

does anybody know how many t61p customers are affected?


maybe it is meaningful to send an inquiry to lenovo and/or nVidia or the lawsuit in question itself.

I'd be curious to know why Lenono customers and systems aren't part of the same class action, since the NVidia (optional) graphics chip in the T61P was among the ones that overheat.

Lenono's solution to the problem WAS pushed out very quickly though. There was a software patch which slowed down the graphics unit to prevent overheating. (I don't recall if it slowed it down all the time, or based on heat, only that it was a patch for that specific problem.)